Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness

In Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness David Casarett introduces us to Ladarat Patalung a Nurse Ethicist at a hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Ladarat is busy preparing for an upcoming government inspection as well as dealing with the sad case of a pair of newly-wed Americans involved in an elephant accident when she is approached by a local police officer for help.  Apparently a woman had dropped her husband off at the emergency room, already dead, took the death certificate and departed.  What was strange was the guard on duty could have sworn he saw the same woman, several months earlier, dropping off a different dead husband.  Ladarat is intrigued by the idea of being a detective and is soon on the case.

I found the book quite fascinating because of the thorough (and I hope accurate) portrayal of Thai life and culture that was folded into the story.  The story itself was quite interesting and Ladarat and her fellow characters were engaging.  I am already looking forward to the second title in this series.  Recommended.