Ghost Money

Ghost Money is an elegant noir mystery which I enjoyed reading partly to learn the fate of missing entrepreneur Charles Avery, but mainly because of Nette's descriptions and understanding of Cambodia and its people. I read Theary Seng's memoir, Daughter Of The Killing Fields earlier this year so had some understanding of the complicated political situation in the Khmer Rouge regime's aftermath. This novel reinforced and added to my knowledge, but without my feeling as though I was being taught. Ghost Money is first and foremost a crime novel, but with Cambodian history and customs cleverly entwined around the narrative in a very natural way.

Nette's Cambodia of twenty years ago is far removed from the tourist photos I see online today. His characters are washed-up ex-pats, most with as many psychological problems as the traumatised Cambodians they live among and use. We see seedy bars and brothels, run-down hotels and, in one particularly memorable scene, a flimsy shanty town that is home to many. I liked the breadth of environments we took in and appreciated interesting cameo characters like Bloom, Fenton and Hazard. Quinlan's dual heritage adds great depth to his character and I found him to be much more than the standard crime fiction Private Investigator. Cambodian Sarin is more difficult to get to know, but their partnership has a believable dynamic. Ghost Money is a fascinating portrait of a country on the cusp of change and one, like my recent Sierra Leone and Syria reads, where the population have experienced such extremes of violence that the question of how they will cope with peace cannot easily be answered.