David J. Casarett

Through the talents of writers such as Timothy Hallinan, Colin Cotterill, and now David Casarett, I am learning a great deal about the wonderful people of Thailand. How many other cultures do you know of that have names for all of the many different types of human smiles?

I quickly fell under Ladarat Patalung's spell. She is a truly solitary woman whose life revolves around the hospital. She takes her job as an ethicist very seriously, but outside of her job, the only interactions she has show more are with the person running the food cart in her neighborhood and her cat. (By the way, those stops at that food cart made me ravenous for Thai food!) Ladarat travels to and from the hospital in a forty-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, and the year she spent studying in Chicago means it's easier for her to bridge the cultural gap between East and West when patients and their families need her.

It doesn't take long for us to know what's happening with the woman and her serial husbands; the pleasure is in watching the way Ladarat tracks down this black widow. Ladarat does do something very ill-advised that in other books would make me accuse the main character of being too stupid to live, but in Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness, Ladarat's actions prove her to be as naive as only the truly good-hearted can be. I don't quite know how Casarett managed my volte-face, but kudos to him!

There's more to this book than a nurse ethicist's investigation. Besides the mouth-watering food, there's an extremely important inspection that she needs to get ready for, and a severely injured newlywed couple and their parents who need her skills. I also learned a bit more about the role of Chinese immigrants in Thai history.

This is a book that's perfect for the armchair traveling amateur sleuth. Exotic location. Food. Culture. Intriguing mystery. And a main character who will have you eagerly awaiting the next book in the series-- just as I am. show less

This is a walk through the history of resuscitation science, from the very idea that death may not be so permanent a thing, to the futurists view of a potential cryogenic solution. The solutions people developed have been at times ingenious, hilarious, and remarkably ill-advised. [a: David Casarett|7353447|David Casarett|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1492959838p2/7353447.jpg] did a good job of having an active curiosity about even the most questionable claims.

Spoiler Alert: It turns show more out blowing tobacco smoke up a corpse's rectum may indeed help revive them in certain situations.

Unfortunately, tickling the back of their throat with a feather is not so viable a solution and may indeed do harm.

The true strength of this book was found not in the science, but rather the ethical concerns that the author described. While the science is steadily advancing, in its own fascinating way, the ethical concerns remain doggedly silent. Is it always a good idea to resurrect someone? The costs are rarely considered - both medical, and emotional. Resurrection remains an elusive goal, and even when it does succeed it can often render the person resurrected into a shadow of who they once were. Brain damage, coma, and worse can easily be the outcome which only heightens the cost and makes the 'final' death all the more heartbreaking for the family.

This is a tricky problem, and one unlikely to be solved any time soon. In the interim, at least we have this book to begin conversations, and people like [a: Caitlin Doughty|7802044|Caitlin Doughty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1489075566p2/7802044.jpg] helping us to realize that often death isn't as terrifying and terrible a thing as many make it out to be. show less

The central question at the heart of MURDER AT THE HOUSE OF ROOSTER HAPPINESS is whether or not there is a dedicated, husband-killer stalking a certain kind of man in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand. The unlikely team of people who become interested in this case includes the local hospital’s nurse ethicist, Ladarat Patalung, her cousin who runs a local brothel and Wiriyai Mookja, a decorated local police detective who is unwilling to use more traditional techniques at the outset of show more this unorthodox investigation.

At the same time as she is drawn into her first ever case as a detective, Ladarat must continue to perform her regular duties which include preparing for an impending Royal Inspection of the hospital and seeing to the many issues requiring the application of her skills as an ethicist that arise on a daily basis. Most notably there is the troubling situation of dealing with the family of a young American patient who is thought to be brain dead.

Although David Casarett is not Thai he is a medical doctor who has clearly spent time in the country and not only as a tourist. There is an authentic feel to the book, in particular its insights into modern Thai medicine, but the reverence Casarett clearly feels for the culture is not of a sycophantic level. In fact I was quite surprised to see several reviews complaining about the ‘America bashing’ in the book because I thought one of the things it did well in its highlighting of the differences in the two cultures was to show strengths and weaknesses of both.

I am perhaps more interested than the average person in the field of applied ethics but I really loved the way Casarett has woven this into the story in a realistic but comprehensible way. This added a layer of distinctiveness to the novel which it probably needs given the undeniable similarities between this and Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. The Thai setting is another particular feature, and it goes well beyond the mouth-watering food that Ladarat picks up each night from the vendor at the end of her street. The book is definitely one for virtual travellers.

MURDER AT THE HOUSE OF ROOSTER HAPPINESS is definitely at the cosier end of the crime fiction spectrum but should not be easily dismissed because of that. It offers a genuine glimpse into the culture it depicts and while its characters do not wield guns or encounter blood-dripping corpses they do deal with many of life’s struggles. These include the amusing – such as the seemingly world-wide plague that is bureaucracy – to the difficult ethical issues that modern living throws at us all from time to time including a unique take on prostitution. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Ladarat, her cousin and the detective and will definitely be looking to visit with them again soon. show less

Casarett's first installment in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency Series drew me in from the beginning, and I'm already looking forward to reading the next book in the series. With believable characters, a real immersion in Thai culture/atmosphere, masterful writing, and a plot that pulled me in from the beginning, this book has a lot to offer. It does have the feel of a cozy despite the fact that it takes place in a large city -- so it was a bit lighter and easy-going than what I'd show more normally search out in mysteries, but it ended up being a nice change of pace. I will say that the subplot was a bit predictable, but considering all of the high notes this book struck and the intrigue of the primary plot, that seems like a small note.

On the whole, I'd absolutely recommend it, and I'll probably be buying a few copies as gifts for light mystery readers I know! show less