Critically acclaimed around the world, Colin Cotterill is one of the most respected “cult” crime writers today. Now, with this new series, Cotterill is ready to break into the mainstream. The movie is set in contemporary rural Thailand. Cotterill is as sharp and witty as ever, but more engaging and charming than ever before. Jimm Jury was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family – a mother who may be mentally disturbed; a grandfather – a retired policeman – who rarely speaks; a younger brother obsessed with bodybuilding and a transsexual, former beauty pageant queen, a former older brother. When Jimm is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of southern Thailand, she is convinced that her career – perhaps her life – is over. So when a van containing the skeletons of two hippies, one of them wearing a hat, inexplicably turns up in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Soon after, the abbot of the local Buddhist temple is brutally murdered, with the only suspects being a monk and a nun. Suddenly, Jim’s new life looks a little more promising – and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm wants to make the most of this opportunity and unravel the mysteries behind these inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family.
I had no idea what to expect when I received this book. I’ve never read any of Cotterill’s books before, but I’m glad I got this one. It was a lot of fun.
But first of all, I was torn about the mystery aspect because that part was almost a plot. First of all, it’s a funny story about a crime reporter named Jim Jury and her completely crazy family. Out of a family consisting of her ridiculous mother, her gloomy grandfather, a brother who became a beauty queen, and another brother who is a bodybuilder, Jimm is the “normal” one. Or at least the one with the most balls.
So…the first chapter begins with the discovery of a van with two hippie couple corpses inside.
But then we cut to Jim, who is hanging on to her job as a crime reporter in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Her mother, in a fit of something not entirely wise, decides to buy an outdated hotel in Chumphon (a beach resort area across the Gulf of Thailand from Vietnam), and Jimm is forced to go “freelance”, assuming she can find crimes to write about in Chumphon when she’s not working as a maid and chef at their hotel.
Then another crime occurs. This time, a monk is murdered, and Jimm soon finds herself in the thick of it, figuring out the crime and the strange connections that may exist between him and the dead hippies.
I don’t want to give away too much of the intricate storyline, but it is a riot. I will say, however, that if you’re only reading for the “mystery” aspect, this book might not be your cup of tea. But if you’re up for some really quirky characters with brilliant, dry wit, then you’ll love it.