Bangkok Haunts

John Burdett

"I had read the previous two installments of the Bangkok Trilogy by John Burdett and loved them and essentially was waiting 'til this one came out.

This book is a murder mystery, but like the previous books, it's got some twists to it. So the woman who has been murdered is a young prostitute who works in a brothel, and she also happens to be the former lover of the cop who is investigating the crime. She also happens to be a ghost, who turns around after her death and continues to haunt the different men that she had relationships with.

The series follows the character Sonchai Jitpleecheep - I believe is how you say it - who is a copy in Bangkok's Eighth Precinct, which is so happens to be the place where most of the red light district brothels are. Sonchai is also the son of a woman who owns a brothel, and so he has the interesting relationship with the underworld of Bangkok.

What I liked best about this book is the way John Burdett is able to just completely immerse me in Thai culture and this seedy underworld of Bangkok itself. I don't think there was anything I didn't like about this book. I read Burdett's books for pure enjoyment. It's my break from literary studies so to speak, and not that there aren't literary aspects to the that are done very well - I mean the stories are engaging and the characters are well painted - but for me, it's just fun reading. I would give this book a four stars out of five."

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