Joe Thomas

Joe Thomas, BA (Oxon), MA (RHUL), PhD (RHUL), has published three São Paulo-based crime novels, Paradise City (Arcadia, 2017), Gringa (Arcadia, 2018) and Playboy (Arcadia, 2019) in the UK/Commonwealth. In October 2018, Carbonio Editore published Paradise City in Italy, with Gringa and Playboy to follow. From Spring 2019, Arcadia will publish all three novels in the United States.

In April 2020, Arcadia publish Bent, a historical, literary crime novel based on war hero and notorious detective, Harold Challoner, set in Soho in the 1960’s, and behind enemy lines on SAS operations during the Second World War. Bent is the first novel in a loose London trilogy.

In Autumn 2020, Arcadia will publish the final part of the São Paulo Quartet, Brazilian Psycho. An occult history of São Paulo from 2003-2018, told through the lens of real life crimes, Brazilian Psycho reveals the dark heart at the centre of the Brazilian social-democrat resurgence and the fragility and corruption of the B.R.I.C economic miracle; it documents the rise and fall of the left-wing – and the rise of the populist right, prefiguring and explaining the violent political divisions in Brazil, and on the international stage, in 2019. Brazilian Psycho weaves crime fiction, high literary style, historical fact, and personal experience to record the radical tale of one of the world’s most fascinating, glamorous, corrupt, violent, and thrilling cities.

Joe is currently working on the second part of his London trilogy, White Riot.

Joe's research interests largely lie in examining transnational concepts that underpin the literature of the city in contemporary crime fiction. He has published essays, jornalism, and opinion pieces on subjects ranging from the nature of crime fiction to Brazilian music in The Guardian, The Irish Times, GQ, and The Quietus, among other publications.