Donna Leon 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 foreign languages, although – at Leon's request – not into Italian, as she formerly lived there, still visits monthly, and prefers not to have recognition in the country.

Born on September 28, 1942Montclair, New Jersey, Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, and later as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the American military base of Vicenza, Italy. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger award.