Killed at the Whim of a Hat [Hardcover]

Colin Cotterill (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 19, 2011

The launch of a brand new series by the internationally bestselling, critically acclaimed author of The Coroner’s Lunch

 

With worldwide critical acclaim, Colin Cotterill is one of the most highly regarded “cult favorite” crime writers today. Now, with this new series, Cotterill is poised to break into the mainstream. Set in present day rural Thailand, Cotterill is as sharp and witty, yet more engaging and charming, than ever before.

Jimm Juree was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family—a mother who might be drifting mentally; a grandfather—a retired cop—who rarely talks; a younger brother obsessed with body-building, and a transgendered, former beauty pageant queen, former older brother. When Jimm is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she’s convinced her career—maybe her life—is over. So when a van containing the skeletal remains of two hippies, one of them wearing a hat, is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered, with the temple’s monk and nun the only suspects.

Suddenly Jimm’s new life becomes somewhat more promising—and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm is to make the most of this opportunity, and unravel the mysteries that underlie these inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family.

 

One of Library Journal's Best Mystery Books of 2011

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Jimm Juree series is off to at least as good a start as the Dr. Siri one was. It has the potential to be even better."
--Janet Maslin, The New York Times

 

"Excellent ... Cotterill ... combines a wry narrative voice with an appealing picture of a world unfamiliar to most Americans."
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

 

"An ebullient series kickoff."
--Kirkus Reviews

 

"Cotterill's fiction has been compared to Alexander McCall Smith's, presumably because it also has a colourful location. It is far more complex and perceptive."
--The Independent

 

"A procession of memorable local characters.... By coming up with an original and entertaining new formula, this author reaffirms his creativity and versatility."
--Japan Times

About the Author

Born in London, COLIN COTTERILL has worked as teacher in Israel, Australia, the U.S. and Japan before he started training teachers in Thailand. Cotterill and his wife live in a small fishing village on the Gulf of Siam in Southern Thailand. He’s won the Dilys and a CWA Dagger, and has been a finalist for several other awards.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st Us Edition edition (July 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312564538
• ISBN-13: 978-0312564537
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colin Cotterill was born in London in 1952. He taught and trained teachers around the world before settling in Thailand where he wrote and produced a forty-program language teaching series, English by Accident, for Thai national television. He spent sever

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thai fun - with thanks to George W. Bush June 12, 2011

By Blue in Washington TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The very witty and original mystery writer, Colin Cotterill, has changed literary geography slightly and time period significantly with his new book, "Killed at the Whim of a Hat". His great Dr. Suri series is set in post-civil war Laos (1970s); his new book (to become a series?) is based in contemporary southern Thailand. The new context has an interesting new protagonist--a very hip, sometime crime reporter, Jimm Juree--who comes accompanied by a family and growing group of friends and animals who run the gamut of extremes from a transexual brother/sister with shady Internet businesses, to a second brother with few social skills but a devotion to bodybuilding that has made him a contender for the Thai version of Mr. Universe, to a pre-Alzheimers mother who has more irons in the fire than a blacksmith at a rodeo, and to an ex-traffic cop grandfather with the morals of a nun and a cynicism about human kind that would put him in the same league with Lady Gaga.

"Killed..." opens with a forced move of the family from northern Thailand to the deep south of country--a provincial area that it is well removed from the popular Thai beach resorts of the region and therefore not a great place to own the tourist camp that the family matriarch has invested in. A page or two later, and a double killing of considerable vintage turns up on Jimm Juree's beach doorstep. A 1970s VW Kombi camper with two 1970s hippie skeletons has been uncovered by a well-digger closeby, and the bored-to-death Jimm is off to the races. Soon after, a second killing occurs in the otherwise moribund neighborhood. This time it's a Buddhist Abbott who has been stabbed to death for no apparent reason. Jimm adds the murder to her plate and begins turning over rocks and severely disturbing the local establishment types who aren't really looking for answers to old or new crimes.

Author Cotterill gets high marks for his new collection of very over-the-top characters. As strange as this bunch is, there's a certain plausibility to their relationships and protagonist Jimm Juree comes across as a thoroughly likable and entertaining lead from the first few pages of the book. The story line is interesting enough, but the resolutions to the murders push the envelope a bit far maybe.

George W. Bush? Well, he is thrown in as a kind of conceit by the author who you would have to conclude, was not a great fan of Dubya. Quotes from the former prez provide the title of the book (really), introduce each chapter, and eventually the reader finds out what their relevance is to the story. It will be a distraction for some and heartburn for others, but it does add to the whole black comedy effect that comes through here.

A good read, full of razor sharp, but playful humor throughout.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful surprise - wonderful start to a new series! June 15, 2011

By Angela Wolf

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I wasn't sure if I would like this book, but it was such a delightful surprise! This novel is the first in a new mystery series set in Southern Thailand. Even though it takes place in modern day, you won't find a lot of graphic violence or sex, which I always appreciate.

Jimm Juree is a female crime reporter whose blossoming career is put on hold when her mother sells their place and buys a run down hotel in the south of Thailand - far away from civilization. But when buried skeletons are found nearby and a monk is brutally murdered, Jimm has a purpose again. She attempts to track down the murderer(s) with the help of her lovably crazy family and one eccentric policeman.

The title of the book, and a quote at the beginning of each chapter, are taken from the words of George W. Bush. The reader doesn't understand why at first, but everything is this book is revealed in layers until all is clear. Some GWB supporters were offended by this, but I thought it was handled in a fair way.

Many have compared this to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. I haven't read those books, so I can't give my opinion on that. I think if you took Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, mixed it with Louise Penny's Three Pines series, and put everyone down in southern Thailand, you might end up with something like this. There is a lot of humor here - lots of dry sarcastic wit from Jimm as the narrator. Too much snark would have turned me off, but I soon realized she has a big heart and isn't as tough as she seems. The characters here are very unique and memorable - but they also come across as real, not just caricatures. The plot has depth and the mystery is complex. Clues are revealed gradually to hold interest until the end.

I will definitely be reading the next book in this series. I want to 'see' these people again. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars `People who connect the past and the future may know the present.' October 10, 2011

By J. Cameron-Smith TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

This is the first instalment in Colin Cotterill's new series about the `almost award-winning' female crime reporter Jimm Juree. The novel is set in southern Thailand.
Jimm and her relatives move from northern Thailand to the south to run the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort and Restaurant. There's Jimm, her mother Mair, her bodybuilding brother Arny and her Grandad Jah. Her sister, Sissi, who used to be her older brother Somkiet, stays in the north. Jimm isn't at all keen on living in the south, and when she hears of the discovery of a buried Volkswagen Kombi -complete with two skeletal passengers (one of whom is wearing a hat) - Jimm is off to the scene on a bicycle. Marching up to the police, she announces: `Officers, my name is Jimm Juree, deputy crime editor at the Chiang Mai Mail (I deliberately omitted tense) and I'm here to report on this case.'

One official invites her to lunch, which she accepts, and another, Lieutenant Chompu befriends her. `Lieutenant Chompu really was a policeman. You couldn't let those minute traces of nail polish fool you. He knew his job.'

Soon after, a monk is murdered in the nearby town of Lang Suan. Jimm's out of the way location, which she was convinced would see the end of her career as a crime writer, is suddenly a very busy place.

Each chapter features a George W Bush malapropism, and some way into the story we learn that Jimm undertook a course at University called `Public Oration and Oral Improvisation' (Pooi for short), and studied the speaking style of President George W Bush. One particular malapropism becomes relevant to the story:

`Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat.' (George W Bush 17/9/2004)

Because there is so much information contained in the opening chapters of the novel, it takes a little while for the story to progress. But progress it does, with the kind of wit that will be familiar to those of us who enjoyed the Dr Siri series. There are a number of twists and turns, and hats are important.
Jimm is an interesting character, and her family is full of surprises. So is the local police force. Between them, they manage to solve one mystery and work out the most likely explanation for the other.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. Jimm Juree isn't Dr Siri, and Thailand as depicted by Mr Cotterill is largely free from the political undertones of the stories set in Laos. But that's okay: change can be good. Additionally, there's another Dr Siri novel due shortly.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith