Donna Leon
|
|
Donna Leon (born September 29, 1942) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for twenty years, where she worked firstly as a Professor of English Literature for the University of Maryland in Italy, then as a Professor and a writer. Some years ago, Donna Leon stopped teaching and has concentrated on writing and other cultural activities in the field of music (especially Baroque music).
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not Italian.
Setting
The melancholic police officer Guido Brunetti faces crime in his home town of Venice. The fact that he can never eradicate human evil lets him resignatet although he tries again and again. Part of the disillusioning scenery of the novels are Brunetti's wife Paola, a born contessa and the daughter of one of Venice's oldest families, still ignited by the spirit of 1968, and their growing children Raffi and Chiara. The philanthropic enthusiasm of the Brunetti family contrasts with the reality of the corrupt and cruel world pictured in the crimes. Venice's head of police, Vice-questore Patta serves as the vain and ignorant buffo, while Sergente Vianello and the ever-knowing and researching Signorina Elettra, Patta's secretary, are given as sidekicks to Brunetti.
Critics say that Donna Leon depicts a cliché-laden Italy the way liberal bohemians would love to see.
List of Brunetti novels
- Death at La Fenice (1992)
- Death in a Strange Country (1993)
- The Anonymous Venetian (1994) aka Dressed for Death
- A Venetian Reckoning (1995) aka Death and Judgment
- Acqua Alta (1996) aka Death in High Water
- Death of Faith (1997)
- A Noble Radiance (1997)
- Fatal Remedies (1999)
- Friends in High Places (2000)
- A Sea of Troubles (2001)
- Wilful Behaviour (2002)
- Uniform Justice (2003)
- Doctored Evidence (2004)
- Blood from a Stone (2005)de:Donna Leon