★ 10/09/2017
Fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series will feel at home with Casarett’s stellar sequel to 2016’s Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness. Ladarat Patalung serves as the nurse ethicist for Chiang Mai University’s Sriphat Hospital in northern Thailand. Her duties include reviewing the circumstances of deceased patients to assess whether they had “good deaths.” She has the ability to see what others do not, as well as a deep reserve of empathy to rival that of Smith’s Mma Ramotswe, qualities that come in handy when Wiriya Mookjai, her detective friend in the Chiang Mai Royal Police, asks her to help look into the disappearance of at least eight tourists, all connected to a hotel known as the Magic Grove. Ladarat visits the Magic Grove, where the reaction of the foreign proprietor to her inquiries about the most recent missing guest only fuels her suspicions that something untoward has been going on. A refreshingly admirable lead, Ladarat feels an ethical imperative to put aside her own needs to comfort those she sees in distress. Readers will hope to see a lot more of her. Agent: Chris Bucci, McDermid Agency. (Dec.)
"Stellar sequel [with] a refreshingly admirable lead."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Casarett's second Chang Mai Detective Agency novel has oodles of old-fashioned charm, with an easy pace, colorful characters, and a lively curiosity for the interesting details of everyday life. Piquantly titled chapters add a soupcon of comic zest."—Kirkus
"Perfect for those who enjoy Colin Cotterill and Alexander McCall Smith."—Booklist (starred review)
"A charming mystery...a delight."—Vaseem Khan, author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series, on Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
"A wonderful debut novel full of the sights, sounds and senses of Thailand mixed in with one hell of a great plot and a heroine — Ladarat Patalung — who stays with you long after the book is closed. Bring on the second in the series."—Ian Hamilton, author of the Ava Lee novels, on Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
"I love this book. It's not only a killer mystery, but it also introduces a uniquely appealing central character and gives us a warm and accurate look into the Thai heart."—Timothy Hallinan, author of the Junior Bender mysteries and the Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers, on Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
"Appealing."—Kirkus, on Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
"The characters are extremely likeable and introspective... Well-written and filled with rich tidbits of Thai culture."—Popular Culture Association Mystery & Detective Fiction Reading List, on Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
Jolene Kim gives a measured narration of this Thai-based mystery, the second in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective series by Casarett, an author who is a doctor when he’s not writing. Kim’s studied pace, with its noticeable pauses between sentences, may encourage some listeners to play the audiobook at a higher speed, yet it matches the unhurried atmosphere of the book. In it, nurse ethicist Ladarat Patalung teams once again with Detective Wiriya Mookjai to discover why rich tourists—all of whom stayed at the Magic Grove Hotel—have gone missing. Full of Chiang Mai life, if not much mystery, the audiobook will please lovers of cozies, who will appreciate Kim’s light voice and deliberate lack of speed. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Jolene Kim gives a measured narration of this Thai-based mystery, the second in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective series by Casarett, an author who is a doctor when he’s not writing. Kim’s studied pace, with its noticeable pauses between sentences, may encourage some listeners to play the audiobook at a higher speed, yet it matches the unhurried atmosphere of the book. In it, nurse ethicist Ladarat Patalung teams once again with Detective Wiriya Mookjai to discover why rich tourists—all of whom stayed at the Magic Grove Hotel—have gone missing. Full of Chiang Mai life, if not much mystery, the audiobook will please lovers of cozies, who will appreciate Kim’s light voice and deliberate lack of speed. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
2017-09-04
An investigative odd couple unravels the mystery surrounding a series of disappearances and more in Thailand.Public acclaim and notoriety have found Ladarat Patalung, nurse ethicist at Sriphat Hospital, after she and Detective Wiriya Mookjai have solved a series of murders unsettling the citizens of Chang Mai (Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness, 2016, etc.). So it's only natural that the Department of Tourism would ask Wiriya to check out a potential series of tourist disappearances, with a name, Sharon McPhiller, and a place, the Magic Grove Hotel, as starting points. When Wiriya brings the case to Ladarat for a second opinion, she's already coping with another matter that may or may not require Wiriya's assistance. A pair of hospital employees have come to her with the suspicion that something's wrong with Dr. Taksin, who's "behaving strangely, and making mistakes." If that's not enough intrigue to pique Ladarat's blossoming detective's instinct, her assistant, Sisithorn, calls unexpectedly with the news that she's discovered a smuggling ring. (Ladarat doesn't even know what a smuggling ring is.) Ladarat's lively therapy dog, Chi, provides amusing distractions from her myriad efforts. Not surprisingly, the ensuing investigation follows a course full of detours that eventually lands the duo at the eponymous hotel, where the owner behaves very suspiciously indeed. The disappearance of a guest there prompts them to accelerate their probe. Casarett's second Chang Mai Detective Agency novel has oodles of old-fashioned charm, with an easy pace, colorful characters, and a lively curiosity for the interesting details of everyday life. Piquantly titled chapters add a soupcon of comic zest.
