Angkor Cloth Angkor Gold

Cambodia, An ancient Kingdom of Wonder. After the devastation of the Khmer Rouge regime, hundreds of thousands of refugees – victims and Khmer Rouge soldiers – flee into Thailand as the Vietnamese invade Cambodian in 1979. In the disorder of one refugee camp, a killer targets young women. But with so much chaos in the camps, nothing is done and no one seems to care. With many refugees expatriated to France, the killer is among them, and continues to strike, in Paris and across Europe. Three decades later, and two murders in Phnom Penh have the same modus operandi as those previous deaths. Could it be the same killer? Can Brigadier General Chamreun and Lieutenant Sophie Chang discover the murderer's identity before they claim another victim?

Angkor Cloth Angkor Gold (Murder Mystery)

By Steven W. Palmer

Saraswati Publishing Cambodia

ASIN # B07K6MF5YT

Price $5.99 (Kindle)

196 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Cambodia, 2017: The Minister calls in Brigadier General Hoen Chamreun, a young military man, and introduces him to young police officer, Sopheak Chang. They are being assigned to a recent murder case that may involve the killer of the Minister’s sister four decades earlier. The killer is targeting young Khmer prostitutes, and the modus operandi matches murders committed in Cambodia, Thailand refugee camps, France, and Italy. The minister’s sister was not a prostitute, but also killed by the same person. And he wants closure, and the murderer brought to justice.

This was an interesting case, both a current homicide and a cold case investigation, and the investigators dig into the background of the old murders, hoping to find some clue that will tie the person to the current murders. Chamreun is an experienced soldier who has made a name for himself and his unit, and now working with Sophie, a Cambodian that was raised in America and trained as a homicide detective before returning to Cambodia. Both are experienced and want to bring the case to a close.

Readers are cautioned to pay attention to the dates. I didn’t and was confused through half the story until I decided to go back and look at the dates. The investigators bring in Sue Chapman from Interpol, plus use a computer hacker to help uncover records not easily obtainable, and correlate lists of names into a possible list of suspects. The narrative has two main POVs, that of the murderer, and that of Chamreun, but head hop a few times to Sophie and Sue Chapman. I’ve read numerous murder stories set in Cambodia and Thailand, all set in the sex industry, but this novel is more in-depth than mere sex. It goes deeper into the criminal mind and why the killer is targeting prostitutes. The title gives us a clue, but I won’t go into that. Too much detail could give the story away. There is a nice twist at the end of the story. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

The Tattoo Murder Case

“The Tattoo Murder Case” by Akimitsu Takagi. This was originally published in Japan in 1948, but translated to English by Deborah Boliver Boehm in 1998 and reprinted. It’s the summer of 1947 and Japan is recovering from WWII. American Occupation is evident, as the people struggle to rebuild their lives after the horrible war. Black market and crime is rampant, and among the backstreets prostitution and illegal tattoo studios are rampant. Although outlawed, tattoos are a big business in Japan, and considered an art. Some people believe having their whole bodies tattooed actually heightens sexual desire. The Edo Tattoo Society even holds competitions for the best body tattoo.

            The story introduces the reader to Kenzo Metsushita, the younger brother of Detective Chief Inspector Deiyu Metsushita (also called Matsu the Demon and the Locomotive for his bull-dog persistence into criminal investigations). Kenzo, now back from the war, has returned to university where he picks up his medical studies in hopes of becoming a police forensic investigator. He wants to study the art of tattoos, thinking it will help him in future investigations, as the criminal element use tattoos as a mark of identity. Attending the Edo Tattoo Society contest he meets a beautiful woman named Kinue Nomura, the mistress of black market and businessman, Takezo Mogami, the older brother of an old friend Kenzo knew in college before the war. The younger brother, Hisashi Mogami, introduces Kenzo to Kinue and a brief affair begins. Very brief, because Kinua Nomura is found murdered in her home a few days later in a locked room. Actually, just her head and lower extremities of arms and legs are found. Her torso containing the full tattoo is missing.

            Kenzo wants to help his brother, Matsu the Demon work the murder case, but he becomes a mere foil in the investigation, as if someone is using him to further confuse the police investigation. There are four main suspects: Takezo Mogami, Hisashi Mogami, Sensei Heighiro Hayakawa (a professor of Tattoos for the university), plus a minor gangster who was once the lover of Kinue. In truth, the police have not even solved the locked room mystery after several months. Kamizu Kamizu, a late-comer to the case, was known as the Boy Genius before the war, and even now is a medical and mathematics genius, among other subjects. Plus, he speaks about seven languages. Now back from the war also, Kenzo explains the case to him and the boy genius says he can solve the murder within a week.

            Kyosuka Kamizu was the hero of the story, even though he doesn’t appear until half way into the book. He takes over the case and quickly brings it to a close, explaining everything to the stumped investigators, and was really a Japanese version of Sherlock Holmes. The story was well written, although the phraseology was more modern than 1947, which I’m sure was the work of the translator. We do get a feel for the period, but it’s light. Overall, this was a fun story, and we learn a lot about Japanese body art.

The Godfather of Kathmandu

Sonchai Jipecheap #4: “The Godfather of Kathmandu” by John Burdett. The murder of a rich American filmmaker appears ritualistic, but a film discovered shows it was a suicide. Still, Sonchai isn’t satisfied, and won’t be until he solves the case. Working with him is Detective Sukum, who doesn’t like Sonchai, but wants a promotion. When the investigation leads to a rich Chinese woman of high education and power in Bangkok, Sukum isn’t too anxious to pursue the case further. In the meantime, a mysterious Tibetan religious man is offering forty million dollars worth of heroin to Vikorn and Zinna, as neither can come up with the case on their own. This means they will have to form a partnership in the transaction. To make matters worse, Vikorn, who is a fan of the American Godfather movies, makes Sonchair a consigliere. How can a true Buddhist stoop to such low deeds? This was another fascinating murder mystery in the worldly Bangkok.

Bangkok Haunts

Sanchai Jipecheap #3: “Bangkok Haunts” by John Burdett. The title fooled me, thinking haunts referred to places, as in favorite haunts to visit. Instead, we’re talking supernatural haunts and ghosts. Yes, we’re still in Bangkok, Thailand, and surrounded by crooked police, strip bars, and prostitutes. This time the prostitute murdered was Damrong, an old lover of Sanchai’s who was murdered in a snuff film. Snuff films are x-rated porn movies in which someone is killed. The investigation leads Sanchai to a powerful British lawyer and an oriental banker with powerful friends. Plus, Sanchai’s boss, Colonel Vikorn warns the detective off the case because he’s blackmailing the banker himself. But the murdered prostitute comes to his dreams every night, and he must find her killers. An odd Cambodian Monk is also haunted by the girl, and puts himself in Sanchai’s path for some reason. The story comes to a violent end in an elephant compound in the jungle, Sanchai is held captive with two of the killers by the spirit of Damrong. A wild read, and lots of fun.

Bangkok 8

Sanchai Jipecheap #1: “Bangkok 8” by John Burdett. Bangkok detectives, Sanchai Jipecheap and Pichai Aparidee are following a black American Marine, William Bradley under orders from Colonel Vikorn, but they don’t know why. They lose track of the embassy marine several times in the heavy Bangkok traffic, once when he picks up a girl somewhere, and finally when they have to radio in asking for traffic to report the position of the marine’s car when seen. They are soon notified that the car has been reported stopped under a bridge, and proceed to that location. Arriving, they watch a group of Khmer gangsters leave on motorcycles while locals are gathered around the car. Inside, they see a huge python wrapped around the marine’s neck, and there are blocks in the door, locking them shut. Pichai shoots through the window killing the snake, and then works the door open and pulls Bradley out. Unnoticed by the police detectives there are over a dozen cobras also in the car, many within the sergeant’s clothing; one bites Pichai in the eye. Sanchai shoots the rest of the snakes, but it’s already too late for his partner. The girl is not in the car.

Wow. If we could give more than a 5-Star rating, this book would easily get a 6-Star review. Not only is the narrative and dialogue enjoyable, the writing is excellent: smooth, tight, fast, and a page-turner. Bangkok is a city of prostitutes and corrupt police; the main source of economy is the sex trade. The author shows us the streets and bars, and seedy atmosphere of the city, yet we never see a sex scene, and the profanity is few in this 431-page novel. The mystery is topnotch, and the characters three-dimensional. There is some violence, but again, it’s about the story, not the violence. For iexample, Sanchai and FBI agent, Kimberly Jones attend a Muay Thai boxing tournament, but arrive at the end of the bout. We do learn the real story behind Muay Thai martial arts (not the regulated sport), which was very interesting.

Sanchai and Pichai were the only incorruptible police in District 8, maybe all of Bangkok, for that matter. With Pichai now dead, that leaves only Sanchai unblemished. Sanchai is a half-breed, half Thai, half white-American: His mother is a prostitute, and during the Vietnam War, American soldiers often came to Bangkok for R&R. He never knew his father. They had married, and he took her to the states, but his family did not approve of her, so she returned to Thailand to raise her son, often living with other men, while Sanchai learned the hard facts of life. But he feels a need to find the murderer of his dear friend, and vows vengeance, sensing it favorable in Buddha’s teaching. But he soon learns there is more to the case than even he can imagine, and it will engulf Southeast Asia and America. This is a novel hard to put down, and definitely a fun read.