If he considers a cover-up, he endangers his karma. If he solves the murder, he may send Chanya to prison. Chanya is not only beautiful but is also the brothel’s top earner and above that, Sonchai has loved her for some time. The foreigner was a CIA agent, and the prime suspect is Chanya. In the second book, Bangkok Tattoo, Sonchai has to investigate the death of a foreigner whose mutilated body was found in a Bangkok brothel jointly owned by Sonchai’s boss and his mother. Sonchai finds himself embroiled in a world more evil than he had thought, and his quest for vengeance puts him at the center of sinister intrigue. As the two try to capture the killer, Sonchai ends up winning the heart of Agent Jones. Among the witnesses are Sonchai Jitpleecheep and his partner, but his partner is also murdered and Sonchai is on a mission for revenge.Īs Sonchai investigates the murder of his colleague, he is grudgingly forced to accept the help of a female FBI agent to help him. The sergeant is murdered in front of goggling spectators under a Bangkok bridge, unable to escape a Mercedes-Benz. It opens with the murder of a Marine sergeant. It presents the conflicting norms and morals of Thailand and Western states, with characters brought to life through humor and sometimes bizarre crimes.īangkok 8, the first book in the series, is set in what John calls a city like no other, one of the world’s most exotic. Having spent part of his early life in the United States and Europe, Sonchai has acquired some cultural insights, yet he is considered a “born outsider.” Due to the circumstances surrounding his life, Sonchai finds himself constantly alienated from his colleagues.īased in Thailand, the series involves the red-light districts of Bangkok and Thailand’s sex industry. Sonchai’s father is a U.S military officer whom he has never known. Sonchai is the son of a former “rented-wife,” a prostitute. In the series, John Burdett introduces us to Sonchai, who is a “leuk krung” or half-caste. Of his work as an author, he is most well known for The Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series. Reportedly splitting his time between Bangkok and France currently, he continues to research his novels in different locations in Thailand. Eventually, after accumulating sufficient funds, he left law to pursue a career in writing novels. However, as a result of his despair at the time of British political and economic crises of the 1970s, Burdett became a lawyer.īurdett lived and practiced law for twelve years in Hong Kong. John Burdett went to Warwick University, where he studied English and American Literature, specializing in metaphysical poetry and Shakespeare. He is the best-selling author of many books including Bangkok Tattoo, The Godfather of Kathmandu, and Bangkok 8. He can be best described as a British crime novelist in the literature world. Little is known regarding his early life or his family. John Patrick Burdett was born on 24th July 1951 in England, United Kingdom.

Bangkok eight book