Commissario Brunetti

A conductor succumbs to cyanide at the famed Venice opera house, in the first mystery in the New York Times–bestselling, award-winning series. During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role. "One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever." — The Washington Post "A brilliant writer . . . an immensely likable police detective who takes every murder to heart." — The New York Times Book Review

Publisher's description via Google Books

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 too convenient. When something discovered in the victim's apartment suggests the existence of a high-level conspiracy, Brunetti becomes convinced that somebody, somewhere, is taking great pains to provide a ready-made solution to the crime. Rich with atmosphere and marvelous plotting, Death in a Strange Country is a superb novel in Donna Leon's chilling Venetian mystery series. Praise for Donna Leon and the Commissario Brunetti Mysteries "One of the best international crime writers is Donna Leon, and her Commissario Guido Brunetti tales set in Venice are at the apex of continental thrillers." — Rocky Mountain News "Leon's books shimmer in the grace of their setting and are warmed by the charm of her characters." — The New York Times Book Review "Brunetti . . . long ago joined the ranks of the classic fictional detectives." — Evening Standard "Commissario Brunetti, most charismatic current Euro-cop, uncovers deadly ants' nest of corruption. A highly accomplished, scary read." — The Guardian

Publisher's description via Google Books

Commissario Brunetti's hopes of a refreshing holiday with his family are dashed when a body is found in Marghera so badly beaten that the face is unrecognizable. Brunetti searches in vain for someone who can identify the body. Then he receives a call promising some tantalizing information.

Publisher's description via Google Books

When a lorry crashes on one of the treacherous hair-pin bends in the Italian Dolomites even Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Questura is appalled when he learns of its terrible cargo. This is Donna Leon's fourth novel to feature Guido Brunetti.

Publisher's description via Google Books

"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. Then, as the floodwaters rise, the corpse of a museum director is discovered—and Brunetti must wade through the chaotic city to solve his deadliest case yet. "An evocative peep into the dark underworld of the beauteous city." — Time Out London "A superb police detective." — Library Journal Also published under the title Death in High Water

Publisher's description via Google Books

Commissario Guido Brunetti is pondering the recent lack of crime in Venice, when a beautiful young woman appears at his office door. Now calling herself Maria Testa, his visitor is more familiar to Brunetti as the nun who once cared for his mother. But Maria has recently left her convent after the unexpected deaths of five patients. Is she simply creating fears to justify abandoning her vocation? Or has she stumbled on to a far more sinister scenario?

Publisher's description via Google Books

Commissario Brunetti delves into the shadows of a Venetian family's past in this "gripping intellectual mystery" in the New York Times–bestselling series ( Publishers Weekly). In A Noble Radiance, a new landowner is summoned urgently to his house not far from Venice when workmen accidentally unearth a macabre grave. The human corpse is badly decomposed, but a ring found nearby proves to be a clue that reopens an infamous case of kidnapping involving one of Venice's most aristocratic families. Only Commissario Brunetti can unravel the clues and find his way into both the hearts of patrician Venice and that of a family grieving for their abducted son. "Goes a long way to confirming Donna Leon's claim to have taken literary possession of Venice . . . A Noble Radiance gives the reader a delightful foretaste of the summer holidays to come, but it also offers much more than that." — The Independent on Sunday "The marvel of this book is that almost every detail on every page forms part of a succession of clues, planted with exquisite precision, to unraveling the mystery." — The Sunday Times "Brunetti emerges as an intelligent, somewhat world-weary individual who believes in his cause if not the system itself. In short, he's the ideal protagonist for this culturally rich mystery." — Publishers Weekly "In her detective novels with Commissario Brunetti, Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with a joyful suspense, lost in the environs of Venice and hopelessly in love with her central character and his wife." — Mail on Sunday

Publisher's description via Google Books

The Italian police detective's latest case hits close to home, in this novel in the New York Times–bestselling series. For Commissario Brunetti, it began with an early morning phone call. In the chill of the Venetian dawn, a sudden act of vandalism shatters the quiet of the deserted city. But Brunetti is shocked to find that the culprit waiting to be apprehended at the scene is someone from his own family. Meanwhile, Brunetti is under pressure from his superiors to solve a daring robbery with a link to a suspicious accidental death. Does it all lead back to the Mafia? And how are his family's actions connected to these crimes? The truth must be uncovered in this novel in the Silver Dagger Award–winning series by "one of the best of the international crime writers" ( Rocky Mountain News) . "Leon's devoted readers love her books for their juicy mystery plots, and also for the rich and varied cast of recurring characters, among which is the city of Venice itself." — Publishers Weekly

Publisher's description via Google Books

"By far the best" in the New York Times–bestselling, Macallan Silver Dagger–winning series featuring Venetian detective Commissario Brunetti ( Evening Standard). In this vivid and atmospheric mystery, Commissario Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the construction of Brunetti's apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is later found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold. Brunetti starts an investigation that will take him into the unfamiliar and dangerous areas of drug abuse and loan-sharking, and will reveal, once again, what a difference it makes in Venice to have friends in high places. "Beautifully written and immaculately plotted, Friends in High Places is further proof still that Leon can do no wrong." — Scotsman "Carefully plotted and full of colorful as well as sinister characters, this is crime writing of the highest order: powerful, relevant and all too full of human failings." — The Guardian "Leon tells the story as if she loves Venice as much as her detective does, warts and all. The plot and subplots unfold elegantly; beauty and the beast march hand in hand, and the result is rich entertainment." — The Sunday Times (London) "Leon's best so far . . . I don't think I could really understand a crime fan who didn't love Donna Leon." — Scotland on Sunday "Leon is a skillful plotter . . . Brunetti is a nicely shaded creation, a moral man who is also all too human. Friends in High Places is a splendid read, clever and provoking." — Observer (UK)

Publisher's description via Google Books

Donna Leon's latest Brunetti novel sees police secretary Signorina Elettra drawn into danger as she volunteers to go undercover among the fishermen of the Venetian lagoon.

Publisher's description via Google Books

When one of his wife's students is murdered, Commissario Brunetti's investigation opens up long-buried secrets of collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews during the war, secrets few in Italy are happy to explore.

Publisher's description via Google Books

A wall of silence surrounds a cadet's death at an elite military academy: "Superb . . . This is an outstanding book." — Publishers Weekly Detective Commissario Guido Brunetti has been called to investigate a parent's worst nightmare. A young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice's elite military academy. Brunetti's sorrow for the boy, so close in age to his own son, is rivaled only by his contempt for a community that is more concerned with protecting the reputation of the school, and its privileged students, than understanding this tragedy. The young man is the son of a doctor and former politician—a man of impeccable integrity, all too rare in politics. Dr. Moro is clearly devastated; but while both he and his apparently estranged wife seem convinced that the boy's death could not have been suicide, neither appears eager to talk to the police or involve Brunetti in any investigation of the circumstances in which he died. As Brunetti pursues his inquiry, he is faced with a wall of silence. Is the military protecting its own? And what of the other witnesses? Is this the natural reluctance of Italians to involve themselves with the authorities, or is Brunetti facing a conspiracy far greater than this one death? "Brunetti is a compelling character, a good man trying to stay on the honest path in a devious and twisted world." — The Baltimore Sun

Publisher's description via Google Books

"A smart and stylish fast-paced case of intrigue and corruption" in the Venetian-set, New York Times–bestselling mystery series ( Los Angeles Times). After a wealthy elderly woman is found brutally murdered in her Venetian apartment, the police suspect her maid, who has disappeared and is heading for her native Romania. But when it becomes clear the maid could not have had time to kill the old woman before catching her train, Guido Brunetti decides—unofficially—to take on the case himself. As his wife reads about the seven deadly sins, Brunetti realizes that this is probably not a crime motivated by greed—rather, the motive may have more to do with the temptations of lust. But perhaps Brunetti is following a false trail and thinking of the wrong sin altogether . . . "The detective's humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight; but it is this peculiar insistence on turning every case into a morality tale that gives Leon's fiction its subtlety and substance and makes us follow Brunetti wherever we must—even into the sea." — The New York Times Book Review "Holds together as an elegant puzzle, as a character study and as a story of an officer's need to reclaim truth in all its complexities from those who want to find easy answers to life's, and death's, perplexing mysteries." — The Washington Post Book World "A compelling and intricate series of events as convoluted and intricate as the canals of Venice itself . . . Another expert mystery." — The Baltimore Sun

Publisher's description via Google Books

When an immigrant dies on a Venice street, it will take a determined detective to pursue the case to its shocking end: "[An] outstanding series." —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review On a cold Venetian night shortly before Christmas, a street vendor is killed in a scuffle in Campo San Stefano. The closest witnesses to the event are the tourists who had been browsing the man's wares before his death—fake handbags of every designer label. The dead man was one of the many African immigrants purveying goods outside normal shop hours and trading without a work permit. Once Commissario Guido Brunetti begins to investigate this unfamiliar Venetian underworld, he discovers that matters of great value are at stake within the secretive society. And his boss's warning to avoid getting involved only makes Brunetti more determined to unearth the truth behind this mysterious killing. "[A] stunning novel . . . an engrossing, complex plot." — Publishers Weekly, starred review "The appeal of Guido Brunetti, the hero of Donna Leon's long-running Venetian crime series, comes not from his shrewdness, though he is plenty shrewd, nor from his quick wit. It comes, instead, from his role as an Everyman . . . [his life is] not so different from our own days at the office or nights around the dinner table. Crime fiction for those willing to grapple with, rather than escape, the uncertainties of daily life." — Booklist

Publisher's description via Google Books

'Leon ... has once again, apparently effortlessly, produced a wholly absorbing read.' Sunday Telegraph A Book Sense Notable Book __________________________________ It is a luminous spring day in Venice, as Commissario Brunetti and Inspettore Vianello come to the rescue of Vianello's friend Marco Ribetti, who has been arrested while protesting against chemical pollution of the Venetian lagoon, only to be faced by the fury of Marco's father-in-law, owner of a glass factory on the island of Murano. But clearly there is another victim who has uncovered the guilty secret of the polluting glass foundries of the island of Murano, and whose body is found dead in front of the furnaces which burn at 1400 degrees, night and day. The victim has left clues in a copy of Dante and Brunetti must descend into an inferno to discover who is burning the land and fouling the waters of the lagoon. A man is dead - but will politics and expedience prevent the killer from striking again?

Publisher's description via Google Books

An assault on a pediatrician reveals a web of corruption and deception in the New York Times–bestselling, Silver Dagger Award–winning series. When Commissario Brunetti is summoned in the middle of the night to the hospital bed of a senior pediatrician, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men—a young Carabiniere captain and two privates from out of town—have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him, and taken away his eighteen-month-old baby boy. What could have motivated an assault by the forces of the state so violent it has left the doctor mute? Who would have authorized such an alarming operation? At the same time, Brunetti's colleague Inspector Vianello discovers a moneymaking scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But it appears as if one of the pharmacists is after more than money . . . This is a smart, suspenseful novel in the series set in a beautifully realized Venice, a glorious city seething with small-town vice. "Leon deserves her place not only with the finest international crime writers (Michael Dibdin and Henning Mankell, for example) but also with literary novelists who explore the agonies of the everyday (Margaret Drabble and Anne Tyler, among others)." — Booklist

Publisher's description via Google Books

Two detectives go undercover in Venice, Italy, in the New York Times–bestselling series by "the undisputed crime fiction queen" ( The Baltimore Sun). A priest recently returned from years of missionary work has made a personal request of Commissario Guido Brunetti—but the police detective suspects the man's motives. A new, American-style Protestant sect has begun to meet in Venice, and it's possible the priest is merely apprehensive of the competition. But the preacher could also be fleecing his growing flock, so Brunetti and Inspector Vianello, along with their wives, decide to go undercover. In the midst of the investigation, though, the body of a Gypsy child washes up in a canal—and Brunetti finds himself haunted by both the crime and the girl . . . "No one knows the labyrinthine world of Venice or the way favoritism and corruption shape Italian life like Leon's Brunetti . . . the thoughtful Venetian cop with a love of food, an outspoken wife, and a computer-hacker secretary." — Time "Gorgeously written." — The New York Times Book Review

Publisher's description via Google Books

A socialite asks Guido Brunetti to investigate a murder that happened in the underworld surrounding southern Italy's garbage dumping grounds

Publisher's description via Google Books

"Masterful . . . Brunetti allows readers to share his belief that decency and honesty can, for a little while, stave off the angst of the modern world." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

"A brilliant writer . . . an immensely likable police detective who takes every murder to heart." —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

A New York Times bestseller: The police investigate the death of a veterinarian in Venice, Italy in this "swiftly paced" mystery (The Seattle Times).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

A New York Times bestseller: "Brunetti amply displays the keen intelligence and wry humor that has endeared this series to so many." —Publishers Weekly

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

The peace of a Venice library is shattered by the murder of a patron in the New York Times–bestselling series starring "a superb police detective" (Library Journal).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

An opera singer is terrified by an obsessive fan in this "stunning" mystery in the New York Times–bestselling series set in Venice, Italy (Library Journal, starred review).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

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).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

A moody mystery set in Italy from the New York Times–bestselling author: "One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever." —The Washington Post

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

The New York Times–bestselling series transports us to "Donna Leon's enticing, troubled and beautiful Venice . . . Her latest mystery is one of her best" (Providence Journal).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

The New York Times bestseller: "Venice shines through the pages of this novel. . . . Coupled with unexpected twists and turns [it] doesn't disappoint" (Tulsa Book Review).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

The New York Times–bestselling author of Unto Us a Son Is Given continues "one of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever" (The Washington Post).

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

New York Times Bestseller: Two injured, unconscious American women are found in Venice, Italy, leading a police detective down a dark path: "A splendid read." —BookPage In his many years as a commissario, Guido Brunetti has seen all manner of crime and known intuitively how to navigate the various pathways in his native city, Venice, to discover the person responsible. In this novel in Silver Dagger Award-winning series, he faces a heinous crime committed outside his jurisdiction. He is drawn in innocently enough: two young American women have been badly injured in a boating accident, joyriding in the Laguna with two young Italians. But Brunetti's curiosity is aroused by the men's behavior. Why did they run off after bringing the victims to the hospital if the injuries were accidental? As Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, investigate, they discover that one of the young men works for someone rumored to be involved in more sinister nighttime activities in the Laguna. To get to the bottom of what proves to be a gut-wrenching case, Brunetti needs to enlist the help of both the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Costiera. Determining how much trust he and Griffoni can put in these unfamiliar colleagues adds to the difficulty of solving a peculiarly horrible crime—whose perpetrators are technologically brilliant and ruthlessly organized . . . "Highly atmospheric . . . Brunetti continues to delight." —Library Journal "[An] endlessly enjoyable series." —The New York Times Book Review

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

**An Instant New York Times Bestseller**

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

In the thirty-second installment of Donna Leon’s bestselling series, a connection to Guido Brunetti’s own youthful past helps solve a mysterious murder

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)

In the thirty-third installment of Donna Leon’s magnificent series, Commissario Guido Brunetti confronts a present-day Venetian menace and the ghosts of a heroism that never was

Publisher's description via Apple Books (US)