The Risk of Infidelity Index-Christopher G. Moore

The Risk of Infidelity Index
Christopher G. Moore
Atlantic Monthly, Jan 2008,
ISBN: 9789748816876

In Bangkok, attorney Andrew Danielson hires American expatriate private investigator Vincent Calvino to look into an illegal drug operation. With the $10,000 fee and an expected success, Vincent believes he will obtain an investigative position with the World health organization New York as he has the proof.

Two floors below his office is the One Hand Clapping massage parlor Vincent breaks down the door as he expects trouble inside. He is right because he find a dead nineteen years old young "working" girl lying in her bed. The same day Andrew dies from an alleged heart attack; his law firm refuses to pay Vincent his expenses let alone his fee. As demonstrations rock the city, Vincent finds himself unpaid and short cash. Three of the Fab Four expatriate female friends hire him to conduct surveillance of their spouses. Debra, Janet and Ruth have just read The Risk of Infidelity Index, which names Bangkok as the number one city for spousal infidelity. The fourth member Ruth is a recent widow; her spouse Andrew having just died from cardiac arrest. All three of his recent activities soon tie together in a major complex fiasco in which he may return to New York for his funeral instead of for a job.

THE RISK OF INFIDELITY INDEX is a terrific Bangkok investigative tale starring an American expatriate who finds he is getting deeper into trouble when he just wants to collect his fee. The story line is at its best when Vincent causes havoc or explains life in Thailand wit its’ spiders, frogs and shells. When the Fab Four appear, the plot turns humorous but loses a bit of its Asian Urban Noir feel. Still this American Farang's misadventures are fun to follow (see MINOR WIFE and SPIRIT HOUSE) as they rival the BANGKOK HAUNTS of John Burdett.

Harriet Klausner