Donna Leon Books in Order
Donna Leon has written 42 books, published between 1992 and 2025. The first book is Death at La Fenice (1992) and the newest is Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life (2025). Publication order is the reading order below. 33 of the 42 books listed here are in the Guido Brunetti series, which has its own page: Guido Brunetti books in order.
- Books
- 42
- Published
- 1992–2025
- Confirmed
- 42 of 42 titles
- Pages on record
- 8,123 in 28 of 42 books
- Reading time
- 135–203 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,123 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 28 of 42 titles with a page count on record.
Venice is where Donna Leon sets her police procedurals, and Guido Brunetti is the character the books return to, in cases of murder and criminal investigation. Leon's 42 catalogued titles open with Death at La Fenice (1992) and reach Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life in 2025, with a Brunetti companion volume and non-fiction beside the novels. Leon remains actively publishing.
How many Donna Leon books are there?
Donna Leon has 42 books, released between 1992 and 2025. They include 2 separate series.
Donna Leon Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 42 Donna Leon books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119922704/4
- 219933733/4
- 31994–3/4
- 419953263/4
- 51996–3/4
- 619972583/4
- 719982564/4
- 81999–3/4
- 920002553/4
- 1020013363/4
- 1120023203/4
- 1220032593/4
- 1320042723/4
- 1420053203/4
- 1520062724/4
- 1620073163/4
- 1720082723/4
- 1820092763/4
- 1920092783/4
- 20Handel's Bestiary: In Search of Animals in Handel's OperasDonna Leon Non-Fiction #12010 · confirmed 3/42010–3/4
- 2120102623/4
- 2220112603/4
- 232012–3/4
- 242012–3/4
- 2520122963/4
- 2620132223/4
- 272013–3/4
- 2820133953/4
- 2920142373/4
- 3020152643/4
- 3120162923/4
- 3220173083/4
- 332018–3/4
- 342019–3/4
- 3520193203/4
- 362020–3/4
- 3720212883/4
- 3820223204/4
- 392023–3/4
- 402023–3/4
- 412024–3/4
- 422025–3/4
Donna Leon series and characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Guido Brunetti books in order 35 books
Donna Leon books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
Guido Brunetti books in order
33 books by Donna Leon- 1. Death at La Fenice
- 2. Death in a Strange Country
- 3. The Anonymous Venetian / Dressed for Death
- 4. Venetian Reckoning / Death and Judgment
- 5. Acqua Alta / Death in High Water
- 6. The Death of Faith / Quietly in Their Sleep
- 7. A Noble Radiance
- 8. Fatal Remedies
- 9. Friends in High Places
- 10. A Sea of Troubles
- 11. Wilful Behaviour
- 12. Uniform Justice
- and 21 more in the table above
Donna Leon Non-Fiction
6 books6 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Guido Brunetti Companion in order
2 booksDonna Leon Standalone Novels
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Donna Leon Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Donna Leon books run from Death at La Fenice (1992) to Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Donna Leon in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Donna Leon books in order?
You only need to read Donna Leon books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
What order should you read Donna Leon books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with Death at La Fenice (1992), the first Guido Brunetti book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Donna Leon book?
Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life (2025) is the newest Donna Leon book released so far.
Is there a new Donna Leon book coming?
No next Donna Leon book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Donna Leon has won
Wikidata records 1 award for Donna Leon. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Palle Rosenkrantz Prize2000Won
Printable Donna Leon Books in Order Checklist
A printable checklist of all 42 books in publication order is on the Donna Leon reading checklist, with a tick box beside each title.
Donna Leon at a glance
- Still publishing
- Donna Leon published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Donna Leon books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 8,123 pages across the 28 of 42 books with a recorded length, a median of 277 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Donna Leon books, 16 of 42, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 4 of the 42 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the Donna Leon books are about
36 of the 42 Donna Leon books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 26 of 36. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 26 of 36 books
- Guido Brunetti (Fictitious character) 18 of 36 books
- Brunetti, guido (fictitious character) 12 of 36 books
- Investigation 8 of 36 books
- Murder 8 of 36 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 8 of 36 books
- Venice (italy) 8 of 36 books
- Mystery & detective 7 of 36 books
- Crimes against 6 of 36 books
- Crime 3 of 36 books
Other Mystery authors
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Mystery authors and series in order
- Freida McFadden books in order 35 books
- J.D. Robb books in order 41 books
- Agatha Christie books in order 290 books
- Janet Evanovich books in order 79 books
- Ann Cleeves books in order 52 books
- Richard Osman books in order 14 books
- Elly Griffiths books in order 49 books
- Elizabeth George books in order 36 books