Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.
The “Mario Silva” written by advertising man turned author Leighton Gage is a series of novels (the books are from the genres police procedure, mystery, suspense, and thriller) that is set in Brazil.
Order of Chief Inspector Mario Silva Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood of the Wicked | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Buried Strangers | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Dying Gasp | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Every Bitter Thing | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | A Vine in the Blood | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Perfect Hatred | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Ways of Evil Men | 2014 | Description / Buy |
Mario Silva, who is the star of the series and the titular character, is a police officer with the rank of Chief Inspector with the Brazilian Federal Police looking into criminal matters. His team helps him with his cases; it is made up of his nephew Hector Costa and Arnaldo Nunes. His family history is a sad one, with his parents being brutally killed and the killer has yet to be prosecuted for the crimes.
The series began in the year 2008 when “Blood of the Wicked” was released, and ended in the year 2014 (the year after Gage died of pancreatic cancer) with the release of “The Ways of Evil Men”, which is the seventh book of the series. Leighton Gage got the inspiration to write the books after being immersed and was extremely interested in Brazilian culture during his more than twenty years in a tiny town that is close to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Gage was married to a Brazilian, and the two would visit their family in the different countries they live in. Gage was an expatriate of America during his time in Brazil. The series has been translated into different languages. The stories deal with the many issues that are present in Brazil, even today; things like: stealing organs, snuff films, and underage prostitution, as well as many other things. These things were foreign to Americans at the time he was writing about them.
BEST MARIO SILVA BOOKS:
For those readers looking to get into the “Mario Silva” series by Leighton Gage, this section will help with that. It will go over the novels “Blood of the Wicked”, “Buried Strangers”, and “Dying Gasp”.
Blood of the Wicked: This is the first novel in the “Mario Silva” series and was released in the year 2008. A bishop has come to Cascatas do Pontal, arriving by helicopter, so that he can consecrate a church that has just been finished and is killed.
Mario is sent to the interior so that he can locate the killer. The pope even called the president of president, and that puts the pressure onto Silva to perform. Hector Costa, Mario’s nephew and a police officer assists him, and Silva has to fight all kinds of different forces, just to solve the initial murder.
More vicious murders follow and justice is hard to find, for Mario. This is a Brazil that tourists do not ever get to see.
Buried Strangers: This is the second novel in the “Mario Silva” series and was released in the year 2009. A dog that loves to play locates a bone to set things off at the start of this book. Mario along with Hector and Arnaldo Nunes (Mario’s team) get called into things after the cops get called into the matter.
It was a human bone that the dog found, and they soon find a clandestine cemetery. There are bodies, often interred in family sized groups. Sao Paulo there are many who went through one of the travel agencies but never got to their destination in North America. The motive in the case is very modern and extremely appalling.
Mario is able to establish that the tourists were killed. Mario and his team will not rest until they are able to catch the mass murderers in this case.
Dying Gasp: This is the third novel in the “Mario Silva” series and was released in the year 2010. A big politician’s granddaughter has disappeared. Silva, along with the team he works with find her in a hellhole in Manaus in the Amazonian jungle.
The team finds a maleficent woman doctor makes snuff films with a lot of gore. Silva has to get past the indifference of his department, as well as the corrupt local cops. All before he can get any kind of justice in the case at all.
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE:
A great series to check out is the “Inspector Espinosa Mysteries” series by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. Inspector Espinosa works in Rio de Janeiro as a detective. He is not a typical detective, rather he has a philosopher’s mind, a romantic’s heart, and the experience to realize that nothing is rarely what it seems to be.
Fans also seem to enjoy the “Commander Jana Matinova Investigation” series by Michael Genelin. Jana joined the Czechoslovak police force when she was a young woman, and became a mother after she married an actor. She rises to the rank of commander, always trying to find justice.
What Is The Next Book in The Chief Inspector Mario Silva Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Chief Inspector Mario Silva Series. The newest book is The Ways of Evil Men and was released on January, 1st 2014.
“The stories deal with the many issues that are present in Brazil, even today; things like: stealing organs, snuff films, and underage prostitution, as well as many other things. These things were foreign to Americans at the time he was writing about them.”
I have to disagree with this statement. The first book was published in 2008 and I think many Americans were very well aware of many of the issues above. No offense to the author, but I also doubt these books helped spread the word of these issues. It’s great he gave them a spotlight in his series, but I think a lot of people already know about this stuff.