Behind the Night Bazaar

‘Taught, edgy and vividly realised…delivers the ironies and moral complexities of the best crime thrillers.’ Garry Disher

Thirty-something Australian Jayne Keeney works as a PI in Bangkok. Shaken by a serious incident, she heads north to visit her close friend Didier in Chiang Mai, though there’s no relief for her there. Murder is in the air and the police, led by Lieutenant Colonel Ratratarn, have no interest in justice. But Jayne does. With some help from Arthur Conan Doyle she digs deep—past the tacky glamour of the city’s clubs and bars, arrogant expats, corrupt officials, and a steamy affair—to find out just what happened behind the Night Bazaar.

Winner, 2004 Victorian Premiers’ Literary Award Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer

Shortlisted, 2007 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Book

Praise for Behind the Night Bazaar

‘Thought-provoking it is but she does so in the context of a thoroughly readable and, yes, entertaining story…Keeney emerges as an appealing character, emotional and yet capable of cold-eyed action. She smokes too much, speaks Thai fluently and likes a drink and a shag. She has a well-developed moral compass…Better still, Keeney is built to last and this debut has all the makings of a long-running serial….I’m looking forward to the next instalment.’ – Jeff Glorfeld, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald

‘Coolly elegant with a lovely sense of place, Savage directs her authorial tuk-tuk into the literary precinct without sacrificing the requisite violence, corrupt police, edgy social commentary and the need for her heroine to become a lonely social crusader in the best hard-boiled tradition.’ — Graeme Blundell, The Weekend Australian

‘A resounding debut…Behind the Night Bazaar is an exotic detective novel tinged with darkness that fearlessly plunges into the dangerous Thai backstreets, with a plot that unfolds with defiant assurance’ – Australian Crime Fiction Database

‘Both an engrossing crime thriller and an exploration of skewed notions of love, social responsibility and cultural superiority’ – Judges report, Victorian Premiers’ Literary Awards

★★★★★ Good Reading Magazine – recommended for book clubs.

Recommended Reading – Criminally Good Reads, Reading Room, Yarra-Melbourne Regional Library.

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Translated into German as Nachtmarkt.

Available as an audio book.

Reviews

The Age, 1 July 2006
Australian Crime Fiction Database