Mysteries set in Italy 1

Two recent articles by Marilyn Stasio (New York Times, May 18 and June 8) review some English novels set in Italy – Vita Nuova by Magdalen Nabb (Soho Press), A Deadly Paradise by Grace Brophy (Soho Press), and The Girls of His Dreams by Donna Leon (Atlantic Mounthly Press).
Vita Nuova is the fourteenth book in the acclaimed Marshal Guarnaccia series. Magdalen Nabb, who was born and educated in England, lived and wrote in Florence, where she died on August 18, 2007.
Grace Brophy grew up in New Jersey. She now divides her time between New York and Umbria, where she lives with her husbancd, a Uruguayan artist. A Deadly Paradise is the second in the Commissario Cenni series of investigations set in Italy.
According to the publisher of The Girl of His Dreams, "Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries have won legions of fans for their evocative portraits of Venetian life. In her novels, food, family, art, history, and local politics play as central a role as an unsolved crime". Donna Leon has lived in Venice for many years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher.