i read bangkok 8 two years ago before i started this book blog and really fell in love (again) with the thai. in 2000, my husband (then boyfriend) and i travelled in thailand with friends for two weeks and, though i really wanted to go home at the end, it was one of the most fulfilling trips i have ever made next to my trip to japan. the thai are very peaceful, polite, and easy to get along with, and thailand is just beautiful, stunning even. it's also extremely cheap to travel over there so i highly suggest you make the trip! john burdett's books, bangkok 8 and bangkok tattoo, capture a lot of the mystery of thailand, the thais, and their overflowing love of buddha, sex, and having a great time.

if you haven't read bangkok 8 then i suggest you pick it up before reading bangkok tattoo. it's not that you HAVE to read it first, just that you might find bangkok tattoo more rewarding if you do. in bangkok tattoo, detective sonchai jitpleecheep is embroiled in another murder case just as close to home as the one he dealt with in bangkok 8. one of the prostitutes that works in his mother's brothel has just done in an american client and it's sonchai's job to cover up the mess. but the murder is not as clear cut as it seems. evidence is uncovered that the american is a CIA agent and now the cover-up started by sonchai and his superior in the bangkok police force, captain vikorn, is falling apart at the seams. throw in a mysterious rivalry between vikorn and his arch-enemy, a military colonel, and sonchai is up to his eyebrows in problems. but sonchai is a cool-headed buddhist and takes each step in stride, never waivering from his goals. he's just reliable like that.

as you can tell, this book is filled with sex and death and if you have something against those topics, then maybe you should steer clear of this book and its predecessor... and possibly thailand. but if you have an open mind and love a good mystery then these books are for you. i only wish they were a little longer! i love spending time in sonchai's world. the buddhists are so very real about their life and surroundings. it's a nice place to visit.