Anyone interested in understanding how the Thais can appear to be so accepting of certain seediness in life while at the same time being so religious, and have a healthy love of police mysteries will love this book.

This has everything that makes up a great story, with the addition of the supernatural. Burdett does a fantastic job of drawing the readers in and then locking them into a web of intrigue while exposing the complexities of the human psyche, that one is held in its grip and powerless to put it down.

A DVD is sent to a Thai police detective containing a snuff video of a woman he once loved. He engages an old friend from the FBI in the US to help him uncover the syndicate behind the investment and the ultimate murder of his previous lover.

Thrown into the web of intrigue are a corrupt Colonel of the police to which our hero reports, his assistant who's in the midst of a gender transformation, an English teacher with a criminal record, an English lawyer, a Chinese banker, a monk, a few prostitutes, a good dose of Thai cultural lessons and Buddhist teachings.

The insights into Thai culture, and Thai words and phrases littered throughout the book rather than detract from the story, adds an interesting dimension to the book.

I'm in search of others in the series now. ( )

This is the third novel featuring Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a devout Buddhist and possibly the only incorruptible policeman in Bangkok, if not Thailand. But he is not a man without his own existential conflicts: his mother runs a brothel and it is his share of the profits that nicely supplements his police salary while his police boss is one of the most corrupt people in the country, into everything from drugs to blackmail to prostitution; Vikron, the boss, tolerates Sonchai’s eccentric honesty as long as it does not interfere with Vikron’s various enterprises and initiatives.

The story is told entirely by Sonchai and every now and then he addresses the reader directly, always as farang, the Thai word for foreigner, plus he expostulates often (though I think less so than in the other novels) on the differences between Western, principally American, and Eastern philosophies and ways of life. A principal difference in this novel is the Thai belief in ghosts and lost souls that can haunt and destroy the living until they exact revenge or find rest; in fact, it is more than a belief, it is as real and as much a part of life as breathing. This plays strongly into this novel and is, in the end, the key to the mystery.

The story has a few weak points, principally the presence of Kimberley Jones, an FBI agent whom we met in an earlier story, but who doesn’t really have much of a roll here except to act as a foil to highlight those differences between east and west. However, the writing is fast-paced, the plot is well constructed, the characters are varied and well drawn, and Burdett conveys well the sights, sounds, colours, and smells of Bangkok and Thailand.

A mystery featuring Sonchai Jitpleecheep -- most of the characters were charming and interesting but I simply could not enjoy the book. ( )

Third (and most recent so far) in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, set in Bangkok, Thailand. I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I had the previous two books, which were superb in their cultural immersion as well as their quirky stories. This one involved a snuff film involving another of Sonchai’s former lovers, and a twisted tale of a mystery as to who was ultimately responsible. Not sure what jangled my nerves with this one; I think part of it was that at the end of the last book, there was a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Sonchai finally getting to meet his American father, but that didn’t happen in this book and the issue was only addressed very briefly in two or three lines. At any rate, while I enjoyed getting together again with the interesting characters, I find myself not singing this book’s praises as much—possibly just because the novelty of it has worn off some, and from previous books I rather know what to expect. ( )

Just finished John Burdett’s Bangkok Haunts, the third installment of his series involving Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Rather than give an extended rundown of the story, I think it would be enlightening, to use a phrase, to expound more on the series itself. Burdett has written a very intriguing set of books dealing with the life and culture of Thailand, set around the events of Sonchai, a member of the Royal Thai Police Force. Undoubtedly, the series is primarily literary crime drama, focusing on the Eastern perspective of bureaucracy, corruption, drug abuse and prostitution. However, it is also a profound plea to Westerners to acknowledge the stark difference between east and west in terms of economics, custom, and philosophy, and in turn its own hypocrisy.

Jitpleecheep is a very nuanced and brilliantly written character. A devout Buddhist, he is often described as the only cop in Thailand who won’t take any bribes. Being Buddhist, however, doesn’t exclude the fact that he assists his mother in running a semi-popular brothel in Bangkok, or shall I say Krung Thep. He is always the understated, humble, rational, and weary cop not necessarily easing through life as he is balancing the poverty and politics his decisions and job entail. A marginalized “half-caste”, Sonchai oozes the aura of someone who just doesn’t belong due to his complex parentage, his features, and philosophy. Perhaps he is just too Buddhist for his own good.

Complementing Jitpleecheep throughout the series are a number of bizarrely sublime characters. One is his his partner, Lek, a somewhat naive and passive sidekick who just so happens to be a ‘katoey’, or one undergoing a M2F gender reassignment. His American counterpart is FBI agent Kimberley Jones who appears attracted to Thailand only to be perpetually confused by Thai mores and even more by Jitpleecheep. There’s Nong, Sonchai’s mother, ever the businesswoman catering to the older ‘farang’ tourists escaping the US to look for love Thai-style. And finally there’s Colonel Vikorn, Sonchai’s superior and chief of Bangkok’s district 8. Vikorn is one of the more interesting characters created by Burdett; an undisclosed police chief by occupation yet drug-trafficking opportunist by choice. The symbiotic relationship between Vikorn and Jitpleecheep is humorously tense throughout the series as Sonchai is merely a source of entertainment, sometimes expendable while Vikorn serves as Sonchai’s gateway to awakening, both as a cop and Buddhist.

In any case, Bangkok Haunts, like Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo, has Jitpleecheep being assigned to a murder investigation that no one wants solved without him sacrificing either his principles or his life. It involves a Count of Monte Cristo type theme of revenge, but with a magical twist, as well as a violently described playtime for elephants. And like the other novels it explores the depths of Bangkok and Southeast Asian culture, both the tragedy and the triumph of the move away from poverty, drugs, to something, well…better. If not for the suspenseful murder mystery, this series is just as good exploring another way of life. ( )