MURDER AT THE HOUSE OF ROOSTER HAPPINESS

This debut novel introduces readers to Ladarat Patalung, a nurse-ethicist who must decide whether to cling to her safe, predictable routine as the hospital's nurse-ethicist, or try her skills as a detective when a beautiful young woman deposits her dead husband in the emergency room of Chiang Mai's Sriphat hospital in Thailand.

Ladarat Patalung never wanted to become a detective. She never thought of herself as particularly adventurous, or even interesting, for that matter. Ever since the untimely death of her husband 12 years ago, she was content to devote herself to her work at northern Thailand's best hospital, exhorting her fellow nurses and physicians to behave ethically. But when a mysterious woman known as 'Peaflower' begins killing middle-aged men, her hospital's excellent reputation is threatened and Ladarat decides that she must act.

When she does, her efforts at detection are confounded by the presence of an unkempt barefoot man who materializes in the intensive care unit, startling staff and frightening patients. She also finds herself distracted by fevered preparations for a royal inspection that will determine her hospital's future. Nevertheless, Ladarat is surprised to discover that she has considerable talents as a detective, and with the help of her assistant and a kind detective, she sets out to catch a murderer.

MURDER AT THE HOUSE OF ROOSTER HAPPINESS is the first of two books that we will publish in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective agency series from Dr. David Casarett. If that name sounds a bit familiar, it should! Dr. Cassaret, as well as being an award winning physician he is the author of three acclaimed works of non-fiction, Last Acts: Discovering Possibility and Opportunity at the End of Life (Simon & Schuster 2010), Shocked: Adventures in Bringing Back the Recently Dead (Current/Penguin 2014), and Stoned: A Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana (Current/Penguin, July 2015).

This novel is PERFECT for fans of of armchair travel novels who like Alexander McCall Smith, Vaseem Khan and Jonas Jonasson, Gabrielle Zevin and Kevin Kwan. And, if you find yourself developing an intense craving for pad thai, boat noodles or dancing shrimp, after reading this novel, you’re not alone!