A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Axe Factor, by Colin Cotterill
3.0
‘It’s how I earn my living.’
Yes, former big-city journalist and ‘English language doctor’ Jimm Juree is still in exile at the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort and Restaurant in Maprao on the south coast of Thailand. Not much seems to happen here, but Jimm has almost managed to retain her sanity courtesy of an occasional online assignment, while writing to Clint Eastwood about her dream screenplay. Jimm’s still with her family: Arny, her musclehead brother, her Grandpa Jah and her idealistic mother Mair.
‘Please leave your values at the front desk.’ (country hotel)
Jimm is asked by the local paper, the Chumphon News, to interview Conrad Coralbank, a well-known crime novel writer who lives in the area and is immediately swept off her feet. Grandad Jah and the flamboyant local policeman, Lieutenant Chompu are suspicious of Coralbank, and start watching him. It seems that Conrad’s wife has gone missing, as has a local doctor and Jimm becomes involved in trying to find out where they both are. In the meantime, Mair, despite being prone to seasickness, goes on a trip in the bay with Captain Kow, just as a storm starts to brew.
‘Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.’ (hotel sign)
Oh, and just to add to the tension, we readers have access to anonymous diary entries that appear to be from a very descriptive, and determined, serial killer whose initials seem to be C.C. Will the reader work out who the serial killer is before anyone else is murdered? Jimm has access to some formidable resources: her (former brother, now) sister Sissi can track down almost anyone and anything online. But Jimm is just a little distracted by Conrad Coralbank, and her search for the missing doctor becomes interesting. It appears that the doctor had been protesting against the aggressive marketing of baby formula and may have trodden on some corporate toes.
‘It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man’ (Buddhist temple)
So, will Jimm find true love (or just fulfilling lust) with Conrad Coralbank? Who’s the hot man Nurse Da is seeing? What is Mair doing with Captain Kow? Who has threatened Jimm with an axe, and why would someone try to poison the family’s dogs?
‘I had visions of mad dinosaurs queuing up at the 7-Eleven.’
This is the third in Colin Cotterrill’s Jimm Juree series, and while I don’t (yet) like them quite as much as his Doctor Siri series, Jimm and her amazing family and friends are growing on me. I enjoyed the humour, and was drawn into the mystery.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Yes, former big-city journalist and ‘English language doctor’ Jimm Juree is still in exile at the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort and Restaurant in Maprao on the south coast of Thailand. Not much seems to happen here, but Jimm has almost managed to retain her sanity courtesy of an occasional online assignment, while writing to Clint Eastwood about her dream screenplay. Jimm’s still with her family: Arny, her musclehead brother, her Grandpa Jah and her idealistic mother Mair.
‘Please leave your values at the front desk.’ (country hotel)
Jimm is asked by the local paper, the Chumphon News, to interview Conrad Coralbank, a well-known crime novel writer who lives in the area and is immediately swept off her feet. Grandad Jah and the flamboyant local policeman, Lieutenant Chompu are suspicious of Coralbank, and start watching him. It seems that Conrad’s wife has gone missing, as has a local doctor and Jimm becomes involved in trying to find out where they both are. In the meantime, Mair, despite being prone to seasickness, goes on a trip in the bay with Captain Kow, just as a storm starts to brew.
‘Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.’ (hotel sign)
Oh, and just to add to the tension, we readers have access to anonymous diary entries that appear to be from a very descriptive, and determined, serial killer whose initials seem to be C.C. Will the reader work out who the serial killer is before anyone else is murdered? Jimm has access to some formidable resources: her (former brother, now) sister Sissi can track down almost anyone and anything online. But Jimm is just a little distracted by Conrad Coralbank, and her search for the missing doctor becomes interesting. It appears that the doctor had been protesting against the aggressive marketing of baby formula and may have trodden on some corporate toes.
‘It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man’ (Buddhist temple)
So, will Jimm find true love (or just fulfilling lust) with Conrad Coralbank? Who’s the hot man Nurse Da is seeing? What is Mair doing with Captain Kow? Who has threatened Jimm with an axe, and why would someone try to poison the family’s dogs?
‘I had visions of mad dinosaurs queuing up at the 7-Eleven.’
This is the third in Colin Cotterrill’s Jimm Juree series, and while I don’t (yet) like them quite as much as his Doctor Siri series, Jimm and her amazing family and friends are growing on me. I enjoyed the humour, and was drawn into the mystery.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith