Leighton Gage: Author of Crime Novels set in Brazil

Readers have written to me a number of times asking about capoeira, the Brazilian marital art.
I have just embedded a trailer from a new Brazilian feature film showing the art being practiced.
Go to my videos to have a look.
Here's the story behind the art: Slaves in Brazil (and slavery was only abolished in 1888) were forbidden to carry weapons of any kind, including clubs. Accordingly, they developed a way of fighting that uses the strongest muscles in the human body, the thigh m… Continue

Cara Black and I did a couple of joint events.
She's a fine writer and a terrific partner.
On the sixth of May we were at The American Library, founded back in the 1920's and the largest English-language institution of its kind in Europe. It's an extensive collection, managed by pleasant and enthusiastic people and is just off the Champs de Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
On the eleventh, we were at Shakespeare and Co., for my money the most famous bookstore in the world - and deservedl… Continue

If you're in Paris, in May, you can catch me at two venues:
I'll be speaking at The American Library on the Rue de General Camous at 19:30 on the 6th.
And at Shakespeare and Company on the Rue de la Bucherie at 19:00 on the 11th.
Shortly thereafter I'll be at Crimefest, in Bristol, in the UK.

Readers of international crime fiction might enjoy the interview I recently gave to the folks at Mostly Fiction. You can find it here: http://www.mostlyfiction.com/authorqa/gage.html

I'll be resident in Paris from late March until the end of June and will be visiting Crimefest in the UK from the 14th to the 17th of May. While in Europe I'll be speaking in a number of venues, at least one of them together with my friend and fellow Soho author, Cara Black. Please keep up with my venues (also for my current tour throughout the United States) by looking me up on booktour.com or by clicking the tour button on my website, www.leightongage.com… Continue

Beth Kanell said some lovely things about Blood of the Wicked in her blog:

http://kingdombks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mystery-review-leighton-gage-buried.html

(An) "intelligent and subtle second mystery. Lovers of suspenseful and sophisticated crime novels will be rewarded."
Publisher's Weekly

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

"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 Amer… Continue

When I was touring Blood of the Wicked people sometimes asked me if the book didn’t exaggerate the gravity of Brazil’s land wars and/or the impunity of the rich in Brazil. Anticipating that, and because there are aspects of it almost impossible to believe for someone who hasn’t lived here, I ended the book (author’s notes) with a reference to Dorothy Stang.
I’m in São Paulo at the moment and the media has been full, day after day, of coverage about the murder of a five year old, allege… Continue

Peter Rozovsky has a great blog in Detectives Beyond Borders.
And he did a great two-part interview with me on the subjects of crime and crime writing in Brazil.
Click here and learn about both:
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2008/04/leighton-gage-on-crime-and-crime.html