Praise for Leighton Gage’s Chief Inspector Mario Silva series:

“Realistic characters that the readers can care about. . . . The ultimate story of the haves vs. the have nots.”—Detroit Free Press

“Gage creates a contemporary tapestry of Brazil . . . [and] builds a compelling foundation for future Silva cases.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Emotionally charged. . . . Vividly evokes a country of political corruptions, startling economic disparity and relentless crime.”—Booklist

A playful dog finds a bone at the outset of this mystery set in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Chief Inspector Mario Silva of the federal police based in Brasilia and his team of investigators, Hector Costa and Arnaldo Nunes, are called in. The bone is human and the investigators soon unearth a clandestine cemetery. Someone has secretly disposed of the bodies of unknown human beings, often interred in family groups. And in Sao Paulo, it turns out, many patrons of a local travel agency have never reached their North American destinations. The motive for these mass murders is completely contemporary and completely appalling.

"At the start of Gage's intelligent and subtle second mystery to depict life in modern Brazil (after 2008's Blood of the Wicked), Yoshiro Tanaka, a corrupt local policeman, uncovers a secret cemetery in a park near Brasilia that contains more than three dozen corpses, including those of 24 children. Mario Silva, of the Brazilian Federal Police, has an uphill battle persuading his politically sensitive boss, Nelson Sampaio, that the find warrants federal resources. When forensics indicate that the dead were each missing a body part, Sampaio fears rumors that a satanic cult is responsible will harm the country's tourism industry. Tanaka, under pressure from his wife to bring in more money, dutifully tracks down clues identifying some of the dead people. When Tanaka's attempts to extort money backfire, Silva must pick up the pieces of his investigation. Lovers of suspenseful and sophisticated crime novels will be rewarded." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Leighton Gage is married to a Brazilian woman and spends part of each year in Santana do Parnaiba, Brazil, and the rest of the year in Florida and The Netherlands. He is the author of two novels in the Chief Inspector Mario Silva series.