Breathing Water, by Timothy Hallinan, $24.99.
Poke Rafferty, an expatriate American journalist living in Bangkok, wins the opportunity of a lifetime in a poker game: to write the biography of Khun Pan, a colorful self-made billionaire and a man of great power whose criminal past hasn’t kept him from being a hero to Thailand’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
Soon this dream job turns into a nightmare as Poke is told that he’ll be killed by one faction if he writes the book and killed by another if he doesn’t. Even worse, he realizes that he has put his beloved family in danger.
His family, which means the world to him, consists of Rose, a beautiful Thai former bar girl with a heart as big as Poke’s, and Miaow, a former street child whom the two of them have adopted. With their help, Poke sets out to thwart the bad guys, but it’s a losing battle until they’re unexpectedly joined by a children’s army of resourceful street urchins who have an agenda of their own.
Hallinan is a born storyteller, layering plot upon plot and twist upon turn, and, as a bonus, he’s a superb stylist whose assured prose continually delights and surprises the reader.
While Poke may still be struggling to understand Thai culture, Hallinan, who has lived in the country at least part time for many years, knows it well and brilliantly brings it to life. He also creates a large cast of amazingly well-differentiated characters, both good and bad. But most of all, he’s written a thriller with a heart that’s easily one of the best books of the year.
Murder at Longbourn, by Tracy Kiely, $24.99
Elizabeth Parker is a Jane Austen junkie who finds herself at loose ends of a New Year’s Eve after she’s dumped her two- timing boyfriend. She accepts an invitation from her Aunt Winnie to join her at a murder-mystery weekend at Longbourn, Winnie’s Cape Cod bed and breakfast. (Longbourn, of course, was the home of the Bennet family in “Pride and Prejudice,” Elizabeth’s bible.)
There she joins an assortment of intriguing guests, including Daniel Simms, a handsome young Englishman who is clearly interested in her, and Peter McGowan, whom she’s known and detested since they were children.
Murder strikes right on cue as the lights go out during the murder-mystery game, but the victim isn’t one of the actors. Rather, it’s one of the guests, a local bigwig who was furious when Winnie outbid him for the property that became Longbourn.
During the investigation that follows, we get to know the characters better, especially Elizabeth, who not only has a habit of throwing away hilarious one-liners but also has a refreshing dislike for cats.
The author avoids the many temptations this type of book offers: There are no recipes; no household tips; no rhapsodies about clothes or chocolate; not one mention of stiletto heels; and the lone cat in the story is downright nasty.
What she offers instead is a group of refreshingly civilized characters who work sensibly together and whom we come to care about as the story develops along the exact lines we hope it will. It’s a great introduction to what is promised to be a new series.
Devil at the Crossroads, by Olive Etchells, $25.
Once again, Cornwall is the setting and Detective Chief Inspector Channon is the investigator in Etchells’ much-anticipated third book. A young man who is found stabbed to death and arranged against an ancient standing stone overlooking the sea is also discovered to have had ties to the Pascoe family, newcomers from London who live in a lovely old home in Falmouth.
Helen Pascoe moved there with her three children when she and her husband, Steve, separated, but she still has doubts as to whether she made the right decision. When first her son and then her older daughter are questioned by the police about their involvement with Paul Stradling, the murder victim, she welcomes Steve’s return to the household to help see them through the ordeal.
Meanwhile Channon, with the help of his shallow, annoying but supremely capable assistant, Sgt. Bowles, is questioning others in the case, including Paul’s father, Richard Stradling, a wealthy businessman. Channon, a courteous, compassionate and introspective sort of copper, has quickly become one of our favorite detectives — and he doesn’t disappoint here. It’s a beautifully crafted book, proof that the traditional British detective novel still flourishes today.
Tom and Enid Schantz are freelancers who write regularly about new mystery releases.
