Kiet and the Golden Peacock Author:Gary Alexander In this third Bamsan Kiet myster, Gary Alexander takes us back to the fanciful Southeast Asian kingdom of Luong. Superintendent of Police Bamsan Kiet is called into action when the Golden Peacock, a national treasure, is stolen from the National Museum just days before the annual festival Savhanakip. The clock is ticking, and Kiet must find the ... more »Peacock in time for its annual showing in public - or risk the Prince's humiliation before his people.
Kiet's adjutant, Captain Binh, was trained in Washington,D.C., and is imbued with some incorrigably American ways. Although dubious about the Americanization of Loung, which is heralded mainly by the arrival of fast food and TV, Kiet slowly comes to accept some of Binh's new-fangled detective methods, He also gains an appreciation for cheeseburgers, as long as they're dipped in nic sau ( the Luongan alternative to catsup), and for American TV, especially "Gunsmoke."
As the search for the Golden Peacock advances, the sleepy Loungan capitol city of Hickorn is transformed into a dangerous and treacherous place, a city in which no one is to be trusted and one's allies often come from the most unexpected quarters. Kiet and Binh must fight the clock as Alexander's fast-paced, always humorous tale draws to a suspenseful climax.« less