Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
‘ Men Reading Books found my just published novel The Monsoon Ghost Image a little disturbing… The Monsoon Ghost Image by Tom Vater is a very dark murder mystery which takes place in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Cambodia. The book starts in late 2002, and the course of the story covers about six months. […]
Continue ReadingI was interviewed at My Book Place a while ago about all things bookish…. What is your favorite book of all time? Hard to say, so many – Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, the Chandler novels, Treasure Island by Stevenson, Burmese Days by George Orwell, The Quiet American by Graham Greene, Killing Mr Watson by […]
Continue ReadingGrab a digital copy for US$3.99. The print edition is out in December. The third Detective Maier mystery, published by Crime Wave Press, is a taut and crazy spy thriller for our disturbing times. When award-winning German conflict photographer Martin Ritter disappears in a boating accident in Thailand, the nation mourns the loss of a […]
Continue ReadingKraig Lieb’s illustrated book Cambodia: Journey through the Land of the Khmer, featuring my text, is currently Cambodia’s bestselling illustrated book. A newly revised, freshly edited, fantabulous edition with new images is out now!
Continue ReadingI was interviewed by Laure Siegel for Literary Titan about my forthcoming novel The Monsoon Ghost Image, the last past in my Detective Maier southeast Asian trilogy, to be published by Crime Wave Press next month. With The Monsoon Ghost Image, I wanted to bring the series into the recent past. Rather than have Maier […]
Continue ReadingDetective Maier Is Back Soon To Investigate The Politics Of Murder The third Detective Maier mystery is a taut and crazy spy thriller for our disturbing times. When award-winning German conflict photographer Martin Ritter disappears in a boating accident in Thailand, the nation mourns the loss of a cultural icon. But a few weeks later, […]
Continue ReadingPatrick French reports on Drifters, Conspirators, and Noir in Cambodia’s Capital City for Crime Reads and writes… “Hard-boiled and noir is pretty much the only option on the menu when it comes to Phnom Penh crime writing. Tom Vater, a Bangkok-based writer and publisher, wrote The Cambodian Book of the Dead (2013) which sees German […]
Continue ReadingThe Man with the Golden Mind, the second Detective Maier Mystery, has been selected as a Must Read title for 2019 by CQI Magazine (pages 44-45). Julia Rendel asks Detective Maier to investigate the twenty-five year old murder of her father, an East German cultural attaché who was killed near a fabled CIA airbase in […]
Continue ReadingSharks are not the only killers off the shores of Réunion Island. Eaux Troubles, the first of three parts out with Ecoute Magazine in Germany this month, written by Laure Siegel and myself, is our first crime fiction short story collaboration in French.
Continue ReadingMy Book Place were so kind as to ask me about my current crime fiction adventures. So if you’re interested in what I am writing and reading at the moment, check out the interview here.
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