Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett

by Carol2 Comments
I did not like Bangkok Tattoo as much as the first in the series, Bangkok 8. Sonchai is the same- a loner Buddhist cop who tends toward philosophical ruminations, but now he's also part owner of a brothel, along with his boss and his mom. The atmosphere's the same- the seedy side of an exotic city, but we do have the addition of Muslims and the mob. And Sonchai has a new partner, a transgender young man who wants to be a dancer of some kind. The plot was interesting, if a bit meandering. The killed man was CIA, and of course the case is not as clear-cut as it might first appear. There's also drugs involved. To be honest, I finished listening to this a week or so ago and don't remember how exactly the drugs and the serial killer tied together. I think they were two separate plot lines pulled together by the corrupt superior and the good-hearted prostitute. What I do...
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Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

by Carol2 Comments
Bangkok 8 has been on my to-read list for a while, and I finally got around to picking up the audio from the library. Let's be honest, it was an obvious choice for me. It's a mystery in an exotic locale and the detective has a philosophical streak. The murder itself was unique - the snakes in a locked car- and although it's a shame that Sonchai's partner was killed too, it was the only reason the crime was actually investigated thoroughly. The cops in Bangkok are mostly corrupt and add in that the US government would really rather at least one of the suspects not be looked at too closely, they likely would have let it drop. Sonchai can't though and his search for the truth leads us across the city and has us meet drug dealers, prostitutes, and business owners from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of vices and interests. Sonchai is a complicated man. He's the son of a prostitute and American...
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