Thursday, December 2, 2010

Leighton Gage

Leighton Gage has been a copywriter, an advertising creative director, a magazine editor, and a writer/producer/director of documentary films and industrial videos.

His latest novel in the Chief Inspector Mario Silva series, Every Bitter Thing, is now out from Soho Crime.

Last month I asked him what he was reading. His reply:
Last year, I was one of the judges for the “first best” jury for the Mystery Writers of America.

As anyone who’s ever had the experience will tell you, it’s a reading marathon that doesn’t give a writer a heck of a lot of time to read anything else, particularly if he/she expects to get any work done during the process.

Two books I loved didn’t garner the necessary votes from my colleagues to make the final cut, but both have stuck with me through time, and I continue to think that both of them should have been so honored.

I can’t really recommend one over the other. You’re gonna have to read them both.

One is Lenny Kleinfeld’s Shooters and Chasers, a story that begins in Chicago and ends in the California wine country.

Lenny’s romp through the lives of a couple of star-crossed contract killers is an absolute delight. He has a rare talent for being able to tie-up murder, mayhem and humor in a neat, satisfying package.

The other book is Jeffrey Siger’s Murder in Mykonos. Jeff writes the kind of stuff I write, police procedurals set outside the United States. His particular area of expertise is Greece, which he knows inside out. As well he should. He’s American by birth, but has maintained a home on the aforementioned island for more than twenty-five years.

The only defect these two books have is that they’re too short. Once you start reading, you want them to go on and on.

I can only hope that you’ll enjoy them as much as I did. Which was a lot.
Read more about Every Bitter Thing.

Visit Leighton Gage's website and the Murder is Everywhere blog.

The Page 69 Test: Blood of the Wicked.

My Book, The Movie: Buried Strangers.

The Page 69 Test: Dying Gasp.

--Marshal Zeringue