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Foto: © Regine Mosimann / Diogenes Verlag

Donna Leon

Donna Leon, born in New Jersey in 1942, has worked as a travel guide in Rome and as a copywriter in London. She taught literature in universities in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia. The Brunetti novels brought her to world-wide fame. Donna Leon lived in Italy for many years, and although she now lives in Switzerland, she often visits Venice.

Movie Adaptations

Stille Wasser, Sigi Rothemund, 2019

Ewige Jugend, Sigi Rothemund, 2019

Endlich mein, Sigi Rothemund, 2018

Tod zwischen den Zeilen, Sigi Rothemund, 2017

Das goldene Ei, Sigi Rothemund, 2016

Tierische Profite, Sigi Rothemund, 2015

Reiches Erbe, Sigi Rothemund, 2014

Auf Treu und Glauben, Sigi Rothemund, 2013

Schöner Schein, Sigi Rothemund, 2012

Das Mädchen seiner Träume, Sigi Rothemund, 2011

Lasset die Kinder zu mir kommen (TV), Sigi Rothemund, 2010

Wie durch ein dunkles Glas, Sigi Rothemund, 2009

Die dunkle Stunde der Serenissima, Sigi Rothemund, 2008

Blutige Steine, Sigi Rothemund, 2008

Endstation Venedig, Sigi Rothemund, 2006

Das Gesetz der Lagune, Sigi Rothemund, 2006

Beweise, dass es böse ist, Sigi Rothemund , 2005

Verschwiegene Kanäle, Sigi Rothemund , 2005

Acqua Alta, Sigi Rothemund, 2004

Sanft entschlafen, Sigi Rothemund, 2004

Venezianisches Finale, Sigi Rothemund , 2003

Feine Freunde, Sigi Rothemund , 2003

Nobiltà, Sigi Rothemund , 2002

In Sachen Signora Brunetti, Sigi Rothemund , 2001

Davon stirbt man nicht, Christine Hartmann, 2001

Venizianische Scharade, Christian Castelberg, 2000

Vendetta, Christian Castelberg, 2000

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Awards

›Ehrenpreis des Bayerischen Ministerpräsidenten‹ für ihr Werk, 2024

›Gaudium Award‹ des Breukelein Institutes, 2021

Ein Sohn ist uns geboren war auf der Shortlist des ›Golden Dagger Award‹, 2019

›Lifetime Achievement Award‹ vom Strand Magazine, 2019

›B.Z.-Kulturpreis‹ (Berliner Zeitung), 2018

›Premio Pepe Carvalho‹ anlässlich des Krimifestivals BCNegra von der Stadtregierung Barcelonas, 2016

Das Hörbuch Mein Venedig ist auf den 1. Platz des österreichischen Publikumspreises ›Buchliebling‹ gewählt worden, der Roman Verschwiegene Kanäle erzielte den 3. Platz in der Rubrik ›Krimis und Thriller‹, 2006

›Silver Award‹ in der Kategorie ›Krimi/Thriller‹ des britischen Hörbuchpreises ›Spoken Word Awards‹ für das englische Hörbuch Blood from a Stone (dt. Blutige Steine) , 2005

Donna Leon erhält den ›Corine – Internationaler Buchpreis‹ für Die dunkle Stunde der Serenissima, 2003

Donna Leon ist im Rahmen der Veranstaltungen zum Welttag des Buches für Nobiltà mit dem ›Goldenen Buch‹ des Österreichischen Hauptverbandes des Buchhandels ausgezeichnet worden., 2000

Donna Leon erhält den ›Silver Dagger‹ der Crime Writers' Association für Friends in High Places (dt. Feine Freunde), 2000

3. Platz für Venezianische Scharade in der Internationalen Sparte beim 13. ›Deutschen Krimi-Preis‹, 1997

Japans renommierter ›Suntory‹-Preis für Death at la Fenice (dt. Venezianisches Finale), 1991

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»Brilliant.«

Sunday Times, London

»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«

The Sunday Telegraph

»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«

The Mail on Sunday

»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

The New York Times

»The most obvious appeal of Donna Leon's novels about Commissario Guido Brunetti is that they are so supremely civilized. For readers with a certain mindset—distaste for violence, love of Italy's cultural and sensual pleasures and scorn for officialdom — Donna Leon's novels are always a pleasure.«

Washington Post

»Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vàzquez Montalbàn through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.«

Le Figaro

»Donna Leon is a top thriller writer, on a par with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell. Women, so it would seem from literary history, have always been in their element with the genre of murder and violence.«

Sonntags Zeitung

»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«

The Times

»Brunetti's humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight.«

The New York Times, Book Review

»Brunetti remains unique – an everyman who's also extraordinary.«

Publishers Weekly

»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«

The Sunday Telegraph, London

»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«

The Mail on Sunday, London

»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

Ursula K. LeGuin / The New York Times

Patrick Anderson / The Washington Post

»Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vázquez Montalbán through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.«

Le Figaro, Paris

Sonntags Zeitung, Zurich

»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«

The Times, London

»Donna Leon is the undisputed crime fiction queen.«

Sarah Weinman / Baltimore Sun

»In the footsteps of Brunetti, endowed with a ruthless humor and a healthy appetite, Donna Leon's readers discover Venice better than with a guide book.«

Le Monde, Paris

»Donna Leon's books are a joy.«

The Guardian, London

»When writing about her beloved Venice, Donna Leon can do no wrong.«

The New York Times

»[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

Ursula K. Le Guin / New York Times, New York

»Hers is an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event.«

The New Yorker, New York

»[Leon] uses the relatively small and crime-free canvas of Venice for rips about Italian life, sexual styles and - best of all - the kind of ingrown business and political corruption that seems to lurk just below the surface.«

Chicago Tribune, Chicago

»Leon started out with offhand, elegant excellence, and has simply kept it up.«

The Guardian, London

»Leon whips up a brilliant narrative storm.«

Sunday Times, London

»Her depiction of Venice, its crimes and beauties, villains and heroes, high and low and the character of Brunetti and his family and friends has long been a delight for discerning readers. The warmth, understanding and shrewdness with which Leon’s elegant, witty prose depicts this particular part of Italy is a joy. She is one of the best European novelists around, and her unflinching address to current affairs makes her worthy of the highest regard.«

Amanda Craig

»Donna Leon's Venetian mysteries never disappoint, calling up the romantic sights and sound of La Serenissima even as they acquaint us with the practical matters that concern the city's residents.«

Marilyn Stasio / The New York Times Book Rreview

»She has reinvented Venice.«

Kristina Maidt-Zinke / Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

»Her love for this city shines through from every line of her crime novels.«

Maria Wiesner / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt

»Leon’s pedagogical eros is akin to that of Mary Poppins. Who could resist it?«

Simone Dattenberger / Münchner Merkur, Munich

»To read her is to restore the soul.«

Mark Sanderson / The Times, London

»Brilliant.«

Sunday Times, London

»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«

The Sunday Telegraph

»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«

The Mail on Sunday

»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

The New York Times

Washington Post

»Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vàzquez Montalbàn through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.«

Le Figaro

Sonntags Zeitung

»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«

The Times

»Brunetti's humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight.«

The New York Times, Book Review

»Brunetti remains unique – an everyman who's also extraordinary.«

Publishers Weekly

»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«

The Sunday Telegraph, London

»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«

The Mail on Sunday, London

»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

Ursula K. LeGuin / The New York Times

Patrick Anderson / The Washington Post

»Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vázquez Montalbán through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.«

Le Figaro, Paris

Sonntags Zeitung, Zurich

»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«

The Times, London

»Donna Leon is the undisputed crime fiction queen.«

Sarah Weinman / Baltimore Sun

»In the footsteps of Brunetti, endowed with a ruthless humor and a healthy appetite, Donna Leon's readers discover Venice better than with a guide book.«

Le Monde, Paris

»Donna Leon's books are a joy.«

The Guardian, London

»When writing about her beloved Venice, Donna Leon can do no wrong.«

The New York Times

»[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

Ursula K. Le Guin / New York Times, New York

»Hers is an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event.«

The New Yorker, New York

Chicago Tribune, Chicago

»Leon started out with offhand, elegant excellence, and has simply kept it up.«

The Guardian, London

»Leon whips up a brilliant narrative storm.«

Sunday Times, London

Amanda Craig

»Donna Leon's Venetian mysteries never disappoint, calling up the romantic sights and sound of La Serenissima even as they acquaint us with the practical matters that concern the city's residents.«

Marilyn Stasio / The New York Times Book Rreview

»She has reinvented Venice.«

Kristina Maidt-Zinke / Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

»Her love for this city shines through from every line of her crime novels.«

Maria Wiesner / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt

»Leon’s pedagogical eros is akin to that of Mary Poppins. Who could resist it?«

Simone Dattenberger / Münchner Merkur, Munich

»To read her is to restore the soul.«

Mark Sanderson / The Times, London

Expand all

Retract