I deliberately “saved up” this latest Inspector Tay novel for my just-concluded high altitude trekking trip, thinking it would help me while away any bad-weather afternoons, if we were confined to camp.
But – thankfully – the weather was fine, so instead I devoured this book tucked into my sleeping bag at night, shivering in the cold, but vicariously enjoying the heat and street food of Bangkok.
I have loved Sam Tay since Day One, and this latest instalment in the life of our grumpy, technophobic Singapore detective did not disappoint. By the way, before starting to write this, I checked a few reviews online and WHAT is all the speculation that this might be Sam’s last investigation?!
Nonsense!
Sam will go on and on – he HAS to – getting older and grumpier and more curmudgeonly by the day…but also, perhaps, a wee bit more adventurous. I mean, who would’ve expected we’d ever see Sam on a motorbike?
This book centres around the investigation into a mass shooting at a diplomatic reception in Bangkok, and Sam is hauled out of his bored retirement to investigate the shooting, as part of Interpol.
Once in Bangkok, Sam faces a dilemma, namely the Thai political establishment has a preferred outcome to the shooting, one that is easily palatable.
David, the very likeable Thai policeman heading up the investigation, has a different point of view, but understands the reality of his situation. If he goes against his bosses’ wishes, his career is doomed.
Enter free-wheeling, smoking in non-smoking rooms Sam.
There is not much, initially, that Sam likes about Bangkok, preferring the disciplined orderliness of his native Singapore, but as his tentative friendship with David grows, so, too, does his grudging appreciation for the Thai capital.
The investigation into the mass shooting – terrorist? lone madman? – is complicated, but Sam takes it slowly and painstakingly, using old fashioned detective methods, and the more Sam and David investigate, the murkier the trail becomes. It also becomes increasingly dangerous.
I am obviously not going to plot spoil, but what I can tell you is that although we bid farewell to 2 people from Sam’s past, we also meet 2 wonderful new people, David and Beer. (Yes, indeed, a cop named Beer.)
David and Beer give me hope that this is far from Sam’s last investigation…
The city of Bangkok is very much part and parcel of this investigation – the food, the traffic, the temples, the easy happiness, oh yes, did we mention the traffic jams – as Mr. Needham, a long time Bangkok resident, brings it all wonderfully to life.
A great read.
Highly recommended.