Donna Leon

The twenty-fifth mystery in the New York Times–bestselling series “is cause for celebration. . . . Leon brilliantly exposes the corrupt world of Venice” (Bay Area Reporter).
 
At a fundraising dinner for a Venetian charity, a wealthy and aristocratic patroness asks Brunetti if he will investigate the fifteen-year-old attempted drowning of her granddaughter, which left the girl...

The identity of a transvestite prostitute's corpse erupts into a scandal and piques the suspicions of police commissario Guido Brunetti, who uncovers a connection among the victim, the city's most renowned institutions, and the underworld.

With his hometown of Venice, Italy, beset by hordes of tourists and baking under a glaring sun, Guido Brunetti's greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, where he can sleep under a down comforter and catch up on his reading. But before he can go on vacation, a folder with court records has landed on his desk, brought by an old friend. It appears that cases at the local court-hardly known as a model of efficiency-are being delayed to...

Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she's had to leave home to pursue her career. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England. Manchester, however, is no Venice. When Caterina gets word of a position back home, she jumps at the opportunity. The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a baroque composer have been discovered....

The New York Times–bestselling series continues with the murder of an American soldier in Venice: “This is definitely an author to watch (Kirkus Reviews).
 
Early one morning, Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young man is fished out of a fetid canal. All clues point to a violent mugging, but for Brunetti the motive of robbery seems altogether...

This illustrated history of the gondola-its cultural significance and ingenious design-includes audio recordings of Venetian barcarole.   First used in medieval Venice as a getaway boat, the gondola evolved over the centuries from a floating pleasure palace for the Venetian elite, to a tourist favorite in the city. In Gondola, international bestselling author Donna Leon tells stories about the history of these boats. She discusses how all 280...

“A dramatic and deeply satisfying climax . . . a high-stakes mystery in which the setting vibrates with as much life as the story itself.” —Publishers Weekly
 
As Venice braces for a winter tempest, intrepid Italian sleuth Commissario Guido Brunetti finds out that an archaeologist and old friend has been savagely beaten at the palazzo home of opera singer Flavia Petrelli.
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The internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her eighties In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than been planned. Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with frequent visits to her grandfather's farm and its beloved animals, and summers...