Sunday Times, London
»Brilliant.«
The Sunday Telegraph
»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«
The Mail on Sunday
»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«
The New York Times
»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«
Washington Post
»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.«
Le Figaro
»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.«
Sonntags Zeitung
»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.«
The Times
»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«
The New York Times, Book Review
»Brunetti's humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight.«
Publishers Weekly
»Brunetti remains unique – an everyman who's also extraordinary.«
The Sunday Telegraph, London
»A splendid series . . . with a backdrop of the city so vivid you can almost smell it.«
The Mail on Sunday, London
»Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with joyful suspense.«
Ursula K. LeGuin
The New York Times
»[Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«
Patrick Anderson
The Washington Post
»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.«
Le Figaro, Paris
»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.«
Sonntags Zeitung, Zurich
»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.«
The Times, London
»Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.«
Sarah Weinman
Baltimore Sun
»Donna Leon is the undisputed crime fiction queen.«
Le Monde, Paris
»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.«
The Guardian, London
»Donna Leon's books are a joy.«
The New York Times
»When writing about her beloved Venice, Donna Leon can do no wrong.«
Ursula K. Le Guin
New York Times, New York
»[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 Yorker, New York
»Hers is an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event.«
Chicago Tribune, Chicago
»[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.«
The Guardian, London
»Leon started out with offhand, elegant excellence, and has simply kept it up.«
Sunday Times, London
»Leon whips up a brilliant narrative storm.«
Amanda Craig
»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.«
Marilyn Stasio
The New York Times Book Rreview
»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.«
Kristina Maidt-Zinke
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
»She has reinvented Venice.«
Maria Wiesner
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt
»Her love for this city shines through from every line of her crime novels.«
Simone Dattenberger
Münchner Merkur, Munich
»Leon’s pedagogical eros is akin to that of Mary Poppins. Who could resist it?«
Mark Sanderson
The Times, London
»To read her is to restore the soul.«
