Fantastic first part in the Father Ananda mystery series set in Thailand by American writer Nick Wilgus. Father Ananda is a Buddhist monk of course and gets drawn into a murder case in his own temple in Bangkok. A young boy is found dead on the premises and all points to things not being well in either the temple or the Land of Smiles. Father Ananda and his young sidekick Jak set out to solve the crime while illuminating a pretty realistic, somewhat seedy Thailand and offering bitter-sweet insights into life in a Buddhist monastery. This is a classic, well written whodunit murder mystery, set in an exotic locale, in a world that few westerners have any knowledge of. Great read. Republished in 2012 by Crime Wave Press. ( )