Books by Randall Peffer

Luang kho ngu hao. Now I put my hand in the cobra's throat.Tuki Aparecio did not kill her lover. She did not burn down the Painted Lady--at least, not with fire. Tuki lit up the stage nightly, with her hair in braids and her glorious costumes; glittering, smoldering, singing her heart out for an audience who loved her. She brought the house down with her performances. But she's innocent of murder, innocent of arson.How can Michael DeCastro possibly hope to defend this beautiful drag queen, who brings with her a whole pack of nasty little secrets, straight from Bangkok's notorious tenderloin district? She speaks in aphorisms, the wisdom of the Buddha combined with the lyrics of Whitney Houston. She is fascinating. And Michael can't let her go to jail.

Winter in a New England prep school brings term papers, wet snow, and the suicide of a young black student. Except Liberty Baker's friends are convinced she couldn't have taken her own life, and Liberty's faculty advisor, Awasha Patterson, believes them. She is desperate to believe any theory that Liberty's death was suspicious--Awasha turned the girl away the night of her death. If Liberty had been suicidal, Awasha had missed the signs.But how to prove it? No one in the school wants to think that it could have been a racially-motivated crime; vague whispers of school-sanctioned secret societies are quickly stopped by the headmaster. Awasha can't let it rest, her guilt is consuming. So she seeks out help from a man she knows understands guilt--a man so sensitive, so compassionate to others, that it ruined his career as a defense attorney with one fateful case. Awasha finds Michael DeCastro on his father's fishing boat, and Michael knows from the moment he sees her that he's about to be haunted by another injustice. And he knows he'll give everything of himself until the spirits of the dead lie in peace.

When Michael Decastro gets an email from Tuki, the lady of ten thousand mysteries, he doesn't hesitate a moment. He heads to Bangkok to find. . . what? He doesn't know. To face what dangers? He hasn't imagined. All he knows is that she's beckoned, and he can't resist her call.And now, face-to-face with Tuki and a ruby so beautiful it has its own name, Michael must make a choice: move forward, protect Tuki and see that she's safe, or run back to his father's fishing boat, hiding from the ills of the world beneath a watchcap and a raincoat.Foolhardy, compassionate Michael hardly has to think. . .This is the follow-up to the LAMBDA-award nominated Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues.

This tale of exploration and adventure is a warm account of the people and places around the waters of Southern Massachusetts.