Buried Strangers

November 10, 2008
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.

October 15, 2008
When a secret cemetery baffles S ão Paulo police, their investigation sends one of their own to the graveyard.

A frisky dog 's discovery of a bone blossoms into a full-fledged case of serial murder when a mass of graves is discovered in a chilly rain forest to the south of the city. Instead of assigning subordinates, local district detective Yoshiro Tanaka seizes the case himself. Medical examiner Gilda Caropreso confirms that 24 of the 37 corpses were children. In S ão Paulo, the broad investigation is headed up by Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters Mario Silva (Blood of the Wicked, 2008). Wishing to pursue the matter without interference, Tanaka withholds much of the information he 's gathered and proceeds on his own. Tracing the furniture of one family of victims to a secondhand shop, he gently grills the owner Ribiero. Ribiero and his partner Claudia immediately call their boss, an unnamed crime kingpin who lives in a mansion. After narrowing down the time frame of the murders to the last four to ten years, Silva 's men seek new leads. Meanwhile, detective Babyface Gon ‡alves uses his charm to romance a Wiccan suspect who may have ordered the killings as religious sacrifices. After Tanaka visits the kingpin 's mansion and boldly solicits a bribe, Claudia urges that Ribiero be removed. But her boss goes her one better by killing Tanaka in a spectacular explosion.

A gritty police procedural that benefits from its offbeat locale and an impressive tapestry of believable characters.

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 15, 2008
When 37 corpses are uncovered in a clandestine cemetery in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, Chief Inspector Mario Silva, introduced in "Blood of the Wicked", must find the motive behind this mass murder. Despite the political underhandedness and police corruption that mark Brazilian life, Silva and his crew work steadily toward a bang-up ending. For readers who like procedurals set in exotic places. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 9/1/08.]

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2009
Adult/High School-In this second book featuring Chief Inspector Mario Silva, Gage takes readers back to the scene of the original crimes, the gritty streets of São Paulo. The story begins with the discovery of a human bone by a dog out walking with his owner, and Inspector Silva and his team are called in to investigate. This innocent opening soon spirals into a bizarre and creepy investigation fraught with corruption, human-organ theft, and a cemetery's worth of victims. The sweaty, inherently shady backdrop of Brazil's largest city is a fabulous setting for the mystery. The book is characterized by deadpan dialogue and prose that has an almost film noir feel. The simple but riveting style makes this a page-turner and stands in stark contrast to the brutal murders and long trail of dead bodies. Fans of Gage's first Silva mystery will enjoy this one just as much, and it can also be read as a stand-alone title. It's a great example of classic good-versus-evil storytelling, with lots of guts, gore, forensic detail, and intrigue along the way."Caitlin Fralick, Ottawa Public Library, Ontario"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2008
Gages second Mario Silva mystery is an impressive follow-up to an excellent debut (Blood of the Wicked, 2008), with an equally compelling plot, fascinating characters, and a story so real and chilling, its hard to image it happening anywhere else but Silvas Brazil. When a dog accidentally locates a secret burial site in an isolated park on the outskirts of So Paulo, Silva takes on the massive, country-spanning investigation. With the assistance of his officers in So Paulo, competent nephew Hector, dangerously charming Babyface, and some no-nonsense street cops, Silva directs the investigation from Brasilia, uncovering links to an agency reputed to smuggle Brazilians into the U.S. Although the new novel is an old-school police procedural in which procedure, not character development, is the focus of the story, the rapid character sketches are so vivid, and the dialogue between team members so snappy and realistic, its hard to imagine that these people are not real cops, working on a real crime. Gages talents include not only captivating characters and realistic plots, but also an intensely realized sense of place and an urelentingly fast pace that yanks the reader from beginning to end, unable to stop or pause, just as the cops are unable to take a day off. Silva just may be South Americas Kurt Wallander.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)