Roberta Pianaro, born in 1948, has a jewellery workshop and a much used kitchen. Donna Leon calls Roberta the 'Risotto Queen' and often gets to enjoy her cooking. Just as well, for numerous dishes from Roberta's kitchen are served to the Brunettis as well.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. Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Through A Glass, Darkly, Suffer the Little Children, and most recently, The Girl of His Dreams.Tatjana Hauptmann was born in Wiesbaden in 1950. After attending the Werkkunstschule in Offenbach, she worked as an apprentice graphics artist at the Werkkunstschule in Wiesbaden for three years, and for ZDF television afterwards.