Dog Man Stranger:

The two expatriates, Harry and Marvin, scrape by with odd jobs as freelance journalists and foreign guides. To get their finances back on track, they set up their own travel agency to take clients on exotic special tours up Burma's mountains near China. The friends become embroiled in dog lover Birger Hansen's deadly conflict with his neighbour and the Thai judiciary, and technocrat Palle Iversen's ruthless hunt for people with a different lifestyle. The two friends feel alienated both in their homeland, which has changed beyond recognition during their long stay in the East, but also in their new surroundings, where they will never have the chance to fit in.

A terrific novel in which arson, infectious diseases, human trafficking, cold bureaucracy, heroic old men, self-righteous indignation, but also love and friendship make for an intense reading experience.