The provenance of this book is mildly interesting, of course: I don't normally talk about this but I did it with the Inspector Singh book and again here. I love Thailand and have been to Bangkok many times now. So when I saw this title on my way through Dubai's Duty Free book shop, I couldn't resist.

Of course, the main purpose behind reading a detective story is the murder and mayhem woven through it. However, the cover sets the scene for my curious nature by hinting at revelations about Bangkok itself. I suppose I simply wanted to read about the Bangkok that I know. I suppose I wanted to say, Oh! I went there or I know that or even, hmm, no that's not quite right. There are lots of Bangkok cameos for the regular visitor and tourist alike. Sukhumvit gets a big mention and the various Soi Burdett mentions ... yes, I have walked and stayed down some of them. There's even a mention of Soi Cowboy which is one of the great knocking shops of the world and I don't know whether I am proud or sad that I walked along the entirety of Soi Cowboy one night and attracted no interest from any of the girls hawking their bodies. Male ego not just dented but smashed into smithereens!

So, Damrong is a very high quality and very complex lady of the night who not only dies violently but does so in a snuff movie. This girl is, perforce, stunningly attractive as girls from South East Asia often are so who killed her and why. Moreover, who would kill such a girl for entertainment in a manner which seems to show that she didn't resist, even helping her murderer to place and pull on the rope that stopped her breathing.

The main character after Damrong is Detective Sonchai Jitleecheep whose job it is to crack the case or not. Sonchai is half Thai and half farang so he moves easily between the two worlds and there are people aplenty from both worlds in this story.

Once complicating factor in this story is that Sonchai was Damrong's lover for a while and that rents at his heart strings. It does so to the extent that he makes love to the spirit of Damrong in his sleep ... he wakes having ejaculated and yet his wife is in bed next to him: all knowing, all understanding but all puzzled. Moreover the wife knows that when they make love, he is clearly making love to Damrong. She has such a grip on him.

Well, not so fast! It turns out that Damrong has worked her way up from poverty stricken and abused childhood in a village to international sex queen who ends up being the private plaything of some big business cheeses. Along the way she takes in a marriage to an American who, like everyone else, is sucked in by Damrong and then blown out again on her terms.

The American husband features in the story too and he provides some of the twists.

Sonchai deals with the death of Samrong and that of another lady of the night systematically and with some skill. He does so with the backdrop of high finance, big business and corruption on a massive scale within the Thai police. This corruption is an important element in this case as you will see!

One fascination that appears in the middle of the book is the appearance of a Buddhist Monk. Everyone dealing with the case suddenly starts to interact with this Monk whether they like it or not. Nothing sinister, just intriguing. Well, not sinister initially but becoming more so with every encounter.

One of the sub plots of this book concerns a sort of relationship between an FBI agent who is placed in the story at various parts, sometimes usefully and sometimes not; and Lek the katoey. Lek is Sonchai's assistant and as for being a katoey, take a look on the internet. This sort of relationship is a bit of a diversion that probably has more to do with being katoey than with being from the USA or anything else.

Anyway, Sonchai slowly and methodically weaves his way through Bangkok, the corruption and this murder mystery. He faces Damrong's death in a very personal way and without wishing to give anything away, he comes face to face with the Buddhist Monk, who turns out to be the brother of Damrong, as he eventually gets to the truth of it all. There are grizzly details to be read I'm afraid but not where you might expect them!

A good story that does suffer from sloth: an edit the 428 pages down to 350 pages would work wonders I think. Well worth the read and if you're on your way to Bangkok, some hints and tips on Sukhumvit, its Soi together with Bangkok food and nightlife!

Duncan Williamson
5^th March 2010