There was no doubt that the woman on the bed in the Marriott Hotel in Singapore was dead.  It would take awhile to make any identification, however, since her face had been beaten so badly she was unrecognizable. She was a Caucasian, however, so maybe there would be ways to trace her comings and goings into the country. As Inspector Samuel Tay of the Singapore CID examined the scene and outlined the next steps to be taken in the investigation he tried to conquer that familiar squeamishness he always felt when at the scene of a violent crime. Luckily Singapore had very few violent crimes so it was not often that he had to do this, but this crime scene was especially messy and Tay was glad when he could finally turn his attention away from the crime scene to the witnesses who had discovered her body.

But the murder turns out to be even more messy than Tay or his assistant Sergeant Kang  could have ever imagined, especially after they find out that the dead woman was the US Ambassador’s wife!  Strangely, however, no one seems motivated to solve the murder until another dead woman turns up in Thailand in almost an identical pose as the ambassador’s wife. Worried that they might now have a serial killer on their hands, Tay is now able to persuade his boss to let him investigate both murders. As Tay and Kang delve deeper into the interrelationship of the two dead women, they realize that there are deeper secrets that are being covered up and bringing those who need to be brought to justice may be much more difficult than they had imagined.

Needham uses his deep knowledge of Singapore and Thailand to great advantage and you feel immersed in each country and culture. Tay’s gentle curmudgeonly character deftly handles the obstacles that get in the way of resolving the case, whether it is the endlessly annoying, self confident Americans or his own boss who fears political and public embarrassment. Although this book seemed a bit formulaic, I was still glad to find a new series set in Asia that I really enjoyed!

Brenda’ Rating:  ***1/2 (3  1/2 Out f 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Ken and Marian

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