Bangkok
Laws
A Bryson Coventry
Mystery
Jim Michael Hansen
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-1-5 (0976924315)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-1-9 (9780976924319)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $13.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): As Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry finds himself entangled in the collateral damage of a killer who uses the entire world as his playground, newly licensed attorney Paige Alexander lands her very first case--a case that cold possibly destroy the most powerful law firm in the world; a case involving a deadly, high-stakes international conspiracy of terrible proportions; a case that started in Bangkok but will not end there.
Review:
Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry investigates a number of
seemingly unconnected crimes in Bangkok
Laws, the fifth mystery in this series by Jim Michael
Hansen.
The first crime, a murder, seems fairly routine, a man
repeatedly stabbed in the back. Obviously a crime of passion, yet there
are no suspects. Then a woman is killed, her neck broken, and left
outside a home she was preparing to clean. Inexplicably, her roommate
has disappeared. Then another woman, the daughter of a prominent
television personality, vanishes. Though nothing connects any of these
crimes together, Bryson begins to suspect that his new lady friend,
Ja'Von Deveraux, is somehow involved. She has hired a recently licensed
and inexperienced lawyer to sue the largest and most prestigious law
firm in Denver, a legal mismatch if ever there was one. And then a
common thread emerges: Bangkok.
Bangkok Laws
alternates between three points of view: Bryson Coventry and his
investigative team, Ja'Von and her lawyer Paige Alexander, and
a contract killer named Dylan Joop. Since there are no obvious
connections between them, it could be confusing to the reader exactly
what's going on and why. Furthermore, the pace of the plot is
relentless with never much time spent on one point of view before
moving on to the next. Yet the author handles it all brilliantly with
an amazingly deft touch. Improbable coincidences in another context
seem perfectly reasonable here ... or at least credible. A suspense
novel to be sure and there is some misdirection, but most readers will
no doubt figure out well before the end how the various plot threads
come together. This in no way, however, lessens this thrilling
adventure.
In a nod to, and with respect for, Alfred Hitchcock, the author inserts
himself in a scene or two, and titles of his books seem to appear on
most of the character's bookshelves or nightstands at one point or
another. This, like much of the rest of Bangkok Laws, is
more clever than contrived and ultimately works as pure entertainment.
Special thanks to Jim Michael Hansen for providing a copy of Bangkok Laws for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Night Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), March 2006
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-0-7 (0976924307)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-0-2 (978097692430)
Shadow Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-4-X (097692434X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-4-0 (9780976924340)
Fatal Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), June 2007
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-6-6 (0976924366)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-6-4 (9780976924364)
Deadly Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), October 2007
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-3-1 (0976924331)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-3-3 (9780976924333)
Bangkok Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), March 2008
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-1-5 (0976924315)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-1-9 (9780976924319)
Omnimystery keywords for Bangkok Laws ...
Location(s) referenced: Denver, Colorado,
Bangkok, Thailand.