»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.«

»Donna Leon's books are a joy.«

»When writing about her beloved Venice, Donna Leon can do no wrong.«

»[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.«

»Hers is an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event.«

»[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.«

»Leon started out with offhand, elegant excellence, and has simply kept it up.«

»Leon whips up a brilliant narrative storm.«

»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.«

»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.«

»She has reinvented Venice.«

»Her love for this city shines through from every line of her crime novels.«

»Leon’s pedagogical eros is akin to that of Mary Poppins. Who could resist it?«

»To read her is to restore the soul.«

»Donna Leon has created Europe's most charismatic police inspector – Guido Brunetti.«

»Leon is to Venice what Maigret is to Paris.«