Killed at the Whim of a Hat (Jimm Juree, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Mar 10, 2017 Andrea rated it really liked it

Shelves: asia

Set in rural Thailand, this is a clever, funny mystery. Jim Jirree is a big city crime reporter whose mentally wandering widowed mother sells the family's shop and house and buys a rundown "tourist" hotel in a remote southern village. With her ex cop grandfather and body building obsessed younger brother, Jim makes the move south to help her mother in the new location. While Jim is afraid her crime reporting career will wither away in rural peace, she quickly perks up when a local farmer discove ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2013 Tony rated it it was ok

Shelves: novels

I absolutely adore Cotterill's Laos-set "Dr. Siri" series, and have pressed it upon many friends with excellent results. When I saw he had a new series set in Thailand, I looked forward to it, having spent a very enjoyable several weeks there once. Unfortunately, I am sad to report that this first book in the new series is rather limp and I can't recommend it to anyone.

It revolves around a 30ish single woman and her wacky family and their misadventures as they sell the family business in Chang M I absolutely adore Cotterill's Laos-set "Dr. Siri" series, and have pressed it upon many friends with excellent results. When I saw he had a new series set in Thailand, I looked forward to it, having spent a very enjoyable several weeks there once. Unfortunately, I am sad to report that this first book in the new series is rather limp and I can't recommend it to anyone.

It revolves around a 30ish single woman and her wacky family and their misadventures as they sell the family business in Chang Mai and move to Chumpon province. This backwater province lies about halfway down the neck of the country, bordering the tip of Burma to the West, and the Gulf of Thailand to the East -- a far cry from the metropolitan hustle and bustle of the northern city of Chang Mai. As Jimm (the heroine) and her family try and make a go of the ramshackle resort they've bought, murder comes to town.

The problem is that neither the characters nor the plot are particularly interesting. Jimm is a nonstop whiner/grumbler and surrounding her with a cast of outsized characters doesn't make her any more fun to be around. There's her bodybuilder brother who serves as muscle when necessary, her dotty mother -- who may or may not be going senile, her reclusive gender-bending sister who stayed in Chang Mai and is a world-class hacker (very convenient, he?), a grumpy old grandfather who possesses hidden depths, and various others. But it all feels more like shtick than real-life people.

There are actually two murder storylines -- one of an abbot who was investigating the potential for adultery at the local temple, the other a decades-old murder of two people found in a buried VW camper van. The latter is kind of intriguing in a quirky way, but not enough to really make things fun. The former is the kind of murder plot I can't stand -- relying on a totally ridiculous motive and cartoonish villain who can only be uncovered with the skills of a convenient expert ally (the hacker "sister"). There is some good local Thai color here and there, but on the whole it's a very disappointing book.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2012 Janet Whalen rated it liked it

start of new series by Cotterill, author of the Dr. Siri books. Our protagonist, Jimm Juree, a Thai crime reporter and her zany family run a rundown resort in Southern Thailand. Colourful characters and a convoluted plot whet the appetite for more. An entirely different tone than the Dr. Siri books, but with the intimate knowledge of time in place that characterize Cotterill's work. Good stuff. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2022 Jocelyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There is murder and there is mystery but there isn't the sort of solution that you might expect if you read a lot of crime or mystery novels. That's part of the fun of it. The second-best part of this novel is every chapter headed by some outrageous comment made by George W Bush such as "These people (terrorists) kill at the drop... at the whim of a hat" which do all tie in with the story. The best part is Jimm Juree and her wonderful, whimsical, family. ...more

Like · see review