Donna Leon (born September 29, 1942) is the author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.
Donna Leon has been living for twenty years in Venice. She works not only as a writer, but also as Professor of English Literature.
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not Italian.
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
Setting