Sorry to break your hearts but NO this is not a guide to haunted brothels on Patpong Road in Bangkok... it's a recommendation for the fiction of John Burdett. He writes murder mystery thrillers set in Bangkok, Thailand & does an amazing job of wrapping various elements of Thai culture into them. The murders are always gruesome(cobra's, Bobett's, snuff) & everything from Buddhism, prostitution, the drug trade, Jade trade, Katoeys, farang, corrupt cops, corrupt military, FBI, CIA, terrorism & the supernatural via an Eastern perspective are weaved into these tales.
What make these stories so enjoyable is that they are told from an eastern perspective....so their views on prostitution, ghosts, etc... are quite different the our Western concepts...
The protagonist Sonchai Jitpleecheep is possibly the only non-corrupt cop in Bangkok. He is half Thai-half farang(Farang (Thai: ฝรั่ง) is the generic Thai word for a foreigner of European ancestry). His father is a GI he never met while his Mother was a high-end prostitute who now runs a brothel on Soi Cowboy where he works part-time. He's connected to his corrupt police chief Vikrom & his partner Lek is a katoey. His pregnant wife, an ex-prostitute is carrying he believes the reincarnated soul of his best friend...
All 3 books in the series have been great & his latest is the best....read them all....
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