HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Death at
La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...
'' (1992), the first novel by American academic and crime-writer
Donna Leon Donna Leon (; born September 28, 1942) is the American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice, Italy, featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti. The novels are written in English and have been translated into many forei ...
, is the first of the internationally best-selling Commissario Brunetti mystery series, set in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Italy. The novel won the Japanese Suntory prize, and its sequel is ''
Death in a Strange Country ''Death in a Strange Country'' (1993) is the second novel in Donna Leon Donna Leon (; born September 28, 1942) is the American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice, Italy, featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti ...
'' (1993).


Plot

A world-famous German opera conductor has died at
La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...
, and Commissario (Detective) Guido Brunetti pursues what appears to be a murder investigation without leads.


Inspiration

Leon, who completed a doctorate in Indiana, specialising in 18th-century novelists, is an ex-pat American who lives in Venice. A friend of Leon's, a famous conductor, "suggested she try a crime novel. She wrote Death at la Fenice as a joke. When she finished the book she stashed it away and forgot about it until submitting it for the Suntory prize in Japan. Somewhat to her consternation, it won and she was offered a two-book contract by Harper Collins. This meant, among other things, that she was compelled to write a sequel. 'I lucked out,' she says."


See also

*
Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV (TV network), ITV television series, ''Inspec ...
, author of the
Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...
series, set in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
*
Sara Paretsky Sara Paretsky (born June 8, 1947) is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. Life and career Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the ...
, author of the V.I. Warshawski detective series, set in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...


References


External links

*
''Death at La Fenice''
at italian mysteries.com 1992 American novels Novels by Donna Leon Novels set in Venice {{1990s-crime-novel-stub