Burdett’s first two Sonchai Jitpleecheep novels heralded the arrival of a distinctive new voice in crime fiction. His third effort goes further, building on the exquisite moral ambiguity implicit in both setting and hero with tighter plotting and, if possible, an even more potent mix of underworld seaminess, startling tenderness, and Buddhist wisdom . . . Burdett’s Bangkok may be the most vibrant landscape of any in current crime fiction, and Sonchai, an improbable mix of West and East, the fact-seeking investigator meets the tranquil Buddhist, at ease with contrary realities?is certainly the genre’s most intriguing sleuth.

John Burdett’s “The Enlightenment of Magnus McKay,” in which a lawyer representing a crooked Thai-Chinese businessman falls in love with a beautiful prostitute in Bangkok … Continue Reading…