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Donna Leon (1942- )

The city of Venice is the setting for Donna Leon's novels and, as her official website points out, is almost as much a character as Commissario Guido Brunetti.

An opera lover, she wrote her first novel about a murder in Venice's La Fenice opera house -- Death at La Fenice appeared in 1992.

Her inspector Brunetti, literate and cynical, tracks crime and corruption beneath the stylish exteriors of Venice, while plotting to get home for meals with his wife Paola, a teacher and accomplished cook, and his two children.

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Leon has lived in Venice for the past 20 years, where she now runs an opera company, Il Complesso Barocco. Her stories have been produced in German for German television; no word on English adaptations.

Gifts for mystery lovers

Otto Penzler, proprietor of New York City's Mysterious Book Shop, commissioned short pieces from crime writers in this most readable treat for mystery lovers: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (2009)

P.D. James writes about writing mysteries in Talking About Detective Fiction

Watch online:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents [Hulu]
Hawaii Five-O [Hulu]

Mysteries on TV
Set your TiVo to collect the best British mysteries on TV from PBS Masterpiece Mystery, including Wallender, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Inspector Lewis. While you're at it, check out the other Masterpiece selections: Classic for literary dramas, and Contemporary for modern dramas.

Best Mystery Movies
American Film Institute's Top 10

Recent winners of the Edgar Allan Poe Award® for Best Motion Picture Screenplay:
   In Bruges by Martin McDonagh (2009)
   Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy (2008)
   The Departed by William Monahan (2007)
   Syriana by Stephen Gaghan (based on the novel by Robert Baer) (2006)
   A Very Long Engagement by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot) (2005)

Coming soon:
The Cause of Death Quiz
A playful test of your mystery novel knowledge.