The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

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Kung-fu Hillbilly
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The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

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Drifters, Conspirators, and Noir in Cambodia's Capital City

By Paul French
October 9, 2018

"Hard-boiled and noir is pretty much the only option on the menu when it comes to Phnom Penh crime writing."

"However, Osborne doesn’t just sink into a comfortable bed of orientalism and exotica but rather dives deep into the conflicts between old and new societies, rising nations versus seemingly decaying ones, and what Europeans and Americans now looking for new places to escape their home countries are actually seeking when they travel to Asia. "

""Both Osborne and Seeley’s Cambodias are pretty lawless, trippy and drug-soaked. Both books are rather like extended bad trips layered on top of brutal hangovers that make everything weird and nightmarish rather vague and numbing."

"Phnom Penh has begun to crop up increasingly in crime novels of late. As a little sister to its South East Asian neighbor Thailand and the Bangkok writing scene (see Crime and the City Bangkok), Phnom Penh’s representation in crime novels is most often offered up by expat foreign writers in the city or those passing through."

Full https://crimereads.com/the-crime-fiction-of-phnom-penh/
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by Anchor Moy »

Thanks. If anyone has any other suggestions for SEA fiction I'd be happy to hear about them. Especially any online or kindle books.
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John Bingham
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by John Bingham »

There was this compilation from a few years back:
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by phuketrichard »

http://www.libgen.io/
search >>>> tons of stuff.
than use Calibre to convert them if needed
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by angkorjohn »

I've enjoyed the Angkor cloth series (tried the authors earlier stuff but too scottish for me to wrap my head around)
https://www.amazon.com/Steven-W-Palmer/e/B00EOWTPVK/

and the collective of Mekong Shadows https://www.amazon.com/Mekong-Shadows-C ... 0749Q5ZGR/


Which is where I discovered the Velon books as well which i've enjoyed. just got the new one to start.
https://www.amazon.com/Temple-Leper-And ... 500227072/
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by epidemiks »

"Seeley’s Phnom Penh is one of back street bars and seedy pay-by-the-night hotels;"

Paying for the whole night? Ballers.
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by willyhilly »

I liked Phnom Penh Noir but I don’t think anyone has ever really captured the atmosphere of modern Phnom Penh or Bangkok for that matter. Kiwi Rob Jamieson did “Killing Time in Phnom Penh” which had its moments. A book based on the boiler rooms in Bangkok and the colourful Australian drug and scamming gangs would be good. But the author would probably not survive to receive the royalties.
Graham Greene was the last novelist to write well about SE Asia I think.
I did read a novel by a Malaysia woman author I think which had a Cambodian Policeman or detective involved in solving a crime in SR. He was a very believable character. Anyone read that one?
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

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https://www.amazon.com/Repent-Bangkok-T ... 01N5EDD9B/

By Paul Dorsey
The Nation Weekend

The latest hero from T Hunt Locke’s erotic-thriller universe has to nab A serial killer in Bangkok without anyone noticing

"Part of the appealing fun of expatriate novels set in Thailand is the namedropping of familiar places, and Locke goes one step beyond that by dropping a lot of names of people that will be familiar to devotees of the Asia-based crime/mystery genre. "

"Thus we have the real-life writers Jim Algie, James Newman and Kevin C Cummings stumbled upon at the real-life Sukhumvit Road watering hole Check Inn 99, catered to by proprietor Chris Catto-Smith and the late, much-missed Mama Noi. Keith Nolan is at the keyboards. Poet noir John Gartland scuds past on his way into exile in Phnom Penh..."

"So, we have plenty of living persons wafting in and out in a parade of pals, but Big Mac has his own roster of well-sketched fictional characters to bed, bemuse or batter. The classic tough guy with a heart of gold, Mac is as smart as he is self-deprecating and carries the yarn all over town with a measured manliness."

Full http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... e/30355905
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by Stramash23 »

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:12 pm Image
https://www.amazon.com/Repent-Bangkok-T ... 01N5EDD9B/

By Paul Dorsey
The Nation Weekend

The latest hero from T Hunt Locke’s erotic-thriller universe has to nab A serial killer in Bangkok without anyone noticing

"Part of the appealing fun of expatriate novels set in Thailand is the namedropping of familiar places, and Locke goes one step beyond that by dropping a lot of names of people that will be familiar to devotees of the Asia-based crime/mystery genre. "

"Thus we have the real-life writers Jim Algie, James Newman and Kevin C Cummings stumbled upon at the real-life Sukhumvit Road watering hole Check Inn 99, catered to by proprietor Chris Catto-Smith and the late, much-missed Mama Noi. Keith Nolan is at the keyboards. Poet noir John Gartland scuds past on his way into exile in Phnom Penh..."

"So, we have plenty of living persons wafting in and out in a parade of pals, but Big Mac has his own roster of well-sketched fictional characters to bed, bemuse or batter. The classic tough guy with a heart of gold, Mac is as smart as he is self-deprecating and carries the yarn all over town with a measured manliness."

Full http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... e/30355905

Thom did the same with his short for Mekong Shadows, having the main character meet up and drink with Palmer and Cummings
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Re: The Crime Fiction of Phnom Penh.

Post by Stramash23 »

angkorjohn wrote: Thu Oct 11, 2018 8:49 am I've enjoyed the Angkor cloth series (tried the authors earlier stuff but too scottish for me to wrap my head around)
https://www.amazon.com/Steven-W-Palmer/e/B00EOWTPVK/

and the collective of Mekong Shadows https://www.amazon.com/Mekong-Shadows-C ... 0749Q5ZGR/


Which is where I discovered the Velon books as well which i've enjoyed. just got the new one to start.
https://www.amazon.com/Temple-Leper-And ... 500227072/
The 3rd and last of the Angkor Trilogy is out in the next month


Image
https://www.amazon.com/Angkor-Cloth-Gol ... 07K6MF5YT/

The follow up/spin off will be the Apsara series, which for a nice change will feature a female protagonist

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