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Donna Leon

Born in New Jersey,Donna Leon is of Irish/Spanish descent. She originally visited Italy in 1965, and returned there at regular intervals while becoming an academic first here, then in Switzerland, Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, all of which contributed to her knowledge of foreign people and their affairs. It was after some unpleasant experiences in Saudi Arabia that she decided to move to Venice, Italy for good - and has remained there for at least twenty years.

Ms. Leon began her writing career as a result of a joke - a verbal discussion of a German conductor after an operatic performance she attended. The result was 'Death at La Fenice'(where she satisfactorily killed the fictional conductor).

Donna Leon is presently a crime reviewer for the Sunday Times; she's also an opera expert, even writing the libretto for one. Ms. Leon's former Commissario Brunetti novels have each been well received and highly praised. Donna Leon has won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction Award. With local color plus writing as good as hers, I'll certainly read some of Ms. Leon's other work, even though I can't recommend Uniform Justice to any but the most literal-minded readers. The actual awfulness of the political scene shouldn't go unpunished - at least in fiction. Hopefully her other books allow Commissario Brunetti not only to resolve crime, but to punish it as well!

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