Many Nights in Bangkok

The latest book in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, The Bangkok Asset, is one to remember. John Burdett writes the series about a Thai policeman who is also a good Buddhist. Sonchai worries about his karma a great deal, but still manages to do his job for his corrupt superiors. While the mysteries in this series often skew toward the bizarre, Burdett has outdone himself this time. Sonchai starts out investigating the murder of a schoolgirl, the manner of which seems impossible. He quickly goes down the rabbit hole of super soldiers, secret experiments and a psychiatrist who may have sold his soul to the devil. Also, Sonchai seems to have found his father and a half brother.

You see, Sonchai is Amerasian, the product of a bar girl and an American soldier on leave during the Vietnam War. His mother, Nong, now owns the bar, but is miserly with details about Sonchai's biological father. Much of Sonchai's angst in previous books concerns this situation. Still, he soldiers on, whether helping to manage his mother's bar or investigating the theft of tattoos (Bangkok Tattoo) or brokering a drug deal between his boss and an exiled Tibetan lama (The Godfather of Kathmandu).

Of course, one should probably start at the beginning: Bangkok 8 has been optioned by Sony Pictures, but seems stalled in preproduction.  Sonchai and his partner, Pichai, are tailing an American serviceman when the target is assassinated using snakes. Pichai is soon sent to the next life by a snakebite during the investigation, which does not stop Sonchai from having conversations with him as the case becomes intricate, involving the FBI, CIA, a jade merchant, and a crocodile farm.

What in a nutshell, is the appeal of these books? Black humor, atmosphere, outsize characters and a feel for the seedy intersection of capitalism and the eightfold path would probably cover it. I will warn you: These books are not for the squeamish: they describe the often-bizarre crime scenes and pull no punches about how Nong  and her bar girls make their money. If you're looking for mysteries that escape the mold, this is the series for you.