Skytrain to Murder

by Dean Barrett

Running low on funds, ex-CIA agent Scott Sterling moves into an apartment over a Bangkok bar. He teaches scuba diving and does occasional investigative work usually involving missing bargirls or wayward spouses. But he is soon involved in tracking a murderer through Bangkok’s little known world of upper-class gentlemen’s clubs, houses of domination and kinky expatriate orgies. Meanwhile, with the help of his muay-Thai trained girlfriend, he attempts to rescue a young girl from thugs in a slum. All the while knowing that his girlfriend might in fact be the murderer.

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Dean Barrett first arrived in Asia as a Chinese linguist with the American Army Security Agency. While living in New York, Dean was a member of Dramatists Guild, a board member of Mystery Writers of America and a librettist/lyricist with BMI. He lived in Hong Kong for 17 years where he was managing director of Hong Kong Publishing Company Ltd. Dean has written several books on China and Thailand. His musical, Fragrant Harbour, set in 1857 Hong Kong, was selected by the National Alliance for Musical Theater to be shown to producers and directors on 42nd Street, NYC. His play, Bones of the Chinamen, set in Swatow (Shantou) in 1862, won the South Asian prize of the BBC International Playwriting Competition, coming in among the top 8 selected out of 1200 entries. Dean specializes in writing on the late Qing period of Chinese history and now lives in Asia. He has written two novels set in Hong Kong in 1857: Hangman's Point and Thieves Hamlet. His latest novel on China is A LOVE STORY: THE CHINA MEMOIRS OF THOMAS ROWLEY, a romantic and erotic work set in the 1800's. POP DARRELL'S LAST CASE, a detective novel, was published in 2014.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast action with interesting people

Great for Thailand beginners who want to understand yhe Thai people's customs and idiosyncrasies. Fast paced but not rush
ed. Fun read for ages over 19

[Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun book, noir detective in thailand

[Warren Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find one way to differentiate between Books set in Thailand,
and very GOOD books set in Thailand - is when the author understands the vastly different culture and mindset of Thai people, and configures that into the plot.
Dean is a master at this - OK, so he has lived many years in the Kingdom ;
which adds to the authenticity of the book,and giving the reader a feeling of actually being in dowtown Bangkok.

[Melissa (Always Behind) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent mystery set in Thailand. Intriguing. Author has promise.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping there would be more action and suspense and more about the skytrain. It wasn't poorly written, it just didn't hold my interest.