Donna Leon

Internationally bestselling mystery writer Donna Leon masterfully blends the intrigue and passion of the ancient city of Venice (also her beloved adopted home) with cutting-edge detective work in her popular series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti.

Donna Leon's love affair with Italy began in the mid-1960s when she visited for the first time. She returned frequently over the course of the next decade, while working as a teacher in such far-flung paces as Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, England, Iran, and China. In the 1980s, the New Jersey native made the decision to move to Venice, where she still lives.

Beastly Things (Guido Brunetti Series #21) is her latest novel.

From Leon's Q & A at the Independent:

Choose a favourite author, and say why you admire her/him

I admire Dickens beyond words. He is one of the greatest plotters of all times. Didn't have a clue about women, but he sure could plot.
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Which fictional character most resembles you?

I've had a long day dealing with people in the music business, so I'd guess I most resemble the eponymous hero of a Russian epic: Misery, Luckless, Plight.
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Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most liberal and illumined of the nine Justices of the US Supreme Court. She and the three other liberal Justices (two of whom are women, I might add) are all that stands between us and Utter Darkness.

Read the complete Q & A.

--Marshal Zeringue