The Risk of Infidelity Index by Christopher G Moore
Atlantic Books, £12.99
THE central character of Christopher Moore’s debut crime novel is Vincent Calvino, a disgraced Italian-American lawyer who has decamped to Thailand and reinvented himself as a private investigator. But the word debut here does not mean that either the author or his character is a wet-behind-the-ears neophyte because Moore has written 18 books, all published in Thailand, of which this is the ninth to feature Calvino. Moore offers an explanation of sorts for this state of affairs which casts a not-entirely favourable light on the vagaries of international publishing. That aside, the important questions are can Moore write and is he worth reading? On the evidence of this novel, the answers are unequivocally yes.
Calvino is a sympathetic, doubt-ridden character and Moore can pilot a twisting plot with skill and panache. Said plot concerns the murder of a Bangkok prostitute, a crooked law firm, drug-smuggling, dirty politics and a trawl through the seamier side of celebrity life in Thailand. Calvino is aided and abetted by his long-suffering sidekick Ratana and his friend, the Shakespeare-quoting police inspector, Colonel Pratt. The Bangkok setting is one of the novel’s strong points. The city is vividly drawn in all its seedy, edgy, jittery glory and Moore’s descriptions of everyday life in the city pack a really authentic punch.
I can only judge this as a stand alone novel, not having access to the preceding books, but judged on its own merits it is well worth any reader’s time and attention. And I am guessing that, as with any serial fiction, an added pleasure will be following the developments of the central characters from book to book. With this in mind, admirers of the hard-bitten noir genre will hope Atlantic Books dig into the extensive back catalogue of Calvino novels and begin issuing them in chronological sequence.
Peter Whittaker
About The Author
