Unfunny Money

Armchair detectives who like their adventures set in exotic locales will enjoy this entertaining albeit simplistic novel featuring Supt. Bamsan Kiet, the likable widower who debuted in Pigeon Blood. The police chief of Hickorn, the capital of the fictional Southeast Asian country of Luong, returns to work after a vacation and is confronted by a city in chaos: counterfeit money is flooding the market and playing havoc with the economy. As Kiet traces the origin of the funny money, his list of suspects include mayor Fop Tia, ``Godfather'' Marsad Ref, an unscrupulous restaurant supplies salesman, Freddie Pogue, and Roland Wheeler, the regional manager of an office products company. At Wheeler's home, the superintendent discovers Wheeler's corpse, bundles of fake cash and the copier that is producing the bills. But subsequently the machine disappears and Kiet must find it along with the killer. Alexander provides an alphabetical listing of the lengthy cast of characters and a pronunciation guide to the Luongan names. (However, he confuses Chicago mayor Michael Bilandic with his successor, Jane Byrne.) Mistake aside, there are many funny moments in this lighthearted mystery. (May)