In July 1992, Guido Brunetti arrived as a new protagonist on the mystery scene in Donna Leon's first novel, Death at La Fenice, which combined her love of opera with her gift for character and her deep appreciation of Venice. Kirkus ReviewsThis offers more than 400 pre-publication reviews of books published in America in 24 print issues a year. It also has an archive of more than 300,000 reviews dating back to 1933 - the most extensive single-source reviews database anywhere. A subscription costs $37.50 a month. www.kirkusreviews.com called it "deftly plotted and smoothly written," and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch proclaimed it was "a challenging mystery, a sophisticated drama." Each year since, a new Brunetti story has appeared, redolent of family and food, exploring the ambiguities of guilt and justice, each at the same high standard Leon established at the start.
Transient Desires, published today, March 9, 2021, is her 30th book in the series in 30 years-a remarkable achievement. On this occasion, she was interviewed by her editor at Grove Atlantic, George Gibson.
