A review by vkemp
Street Music by Timothy Hallinan

5.0

Poke Rafferty's wife, Rose, former Patpong bar girl, has finally had her baby. It's a boy and Rose has named him Frank after Poke's father; Poke prefers Arithit, in honor of his friend in the Thai police. But, Poke is not going to rock the boat at this delicate stage of the game. Every day, Rose's friends fill the house, especially Fon, who is keeping the house running. Miaow, their adopted daughter is rehearsing for her role as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, at school. Her boyfriend, Edward, has been cast as Freddy. One morning, Miaow opens the door and screams and runs into back into her room, slamming and locking the door behind her. Poke sees a small woman standing at the door, who appears to be a street person. He takes her to a local sundae shop and extracts the story of Miaow and how she came to Bangkok. It is a tragedy, but a story that needs telling. I am so sad to see the end of the Poke Rafferty books. I have learned so much about Thailand and appreciate the author's ability to place the readers directly into the story and the locale. This is one of the best crime series in fiction. don't miss it.