Donna Leon (1942) is an American crime author known for her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. Leon has lived in Venice since the 1980s and has set all her Brunetti books in Venice. She began writing the series in 1992 with Death at La Fenice and since then has written over two dozen Guido Brunetti books. Her book Friends in High Places won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger award in 2000. Commissario Guido Brunetti has been adapted for German television.