Book Review: EVERY BITTER THING by Leighton Gage

When the son of Venezuela's Foreign Minister is found dead in his apartment in Brasilia, Mario Silva is called to investigate.  He soon discovers that a chain of killings have occurred throughout Brazil, all with the same MO:  victims are shot first in the stomach, then beaten to death, and--even more puzzling--they were all passengers on TAB flight 8101 from Miami to Sao Paulo.

The most recent book in Leighton Gage's Inspector Mario Silva series, EVERY BITTER THING, is a well-crafted, well-written mystery/crime novel.  The plot and sub-plots are woven together with a great deal of subtlety and, as the story progresses, the level of suspense continues to notch up.  You think you see where Gage is taking you and find yourself travelling down a totally unexpected route.  His plot twists are clever and motivated by the characters.

As each short chapter at the beginning of the story successively introduced new characters, I was torn between wondering if this was going to be a book with a cast of thousands--and all difficult to remember--and what the heck Gage was setting up.  It didn't take long for me to realize the cast of interwoven characters would hold me enthralled for the duration of the story.

EVERY BITTER THING roused a lot of emotions:  humor, pathos, empathy, anger at the machinations of politicians, and down-right enjoyment.

I'll be seeking out the previous books in the series (BLOOD OF THE WICKED, BURIED STRANGERS, and DYING GASP) and keeping my eyes peeled for the next one.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate EVERY BITTER THING a 9.5.