With a growing career as an investigative crime reporter in
Chiang Mai, Thailand, it definitely was not Jimm Juree's
decision to move to a remote and rural area of the country
to run an old and falling apart beach resort, but she did
along with her other family members. For her own reasons,
Jimm's mother made that decision and so the lovely Jimm gave
up her big city job. Now she is valiantly striving to get a
half decent assignment from the local rag, the Chumphon
News, in between correcting English translations (although
the direct translations from Thai are most amusing) and
writing unsolicited movie scripts for Clint Eastwood.
Finally, she is asked to do a piece on a local foreign
English speaking writer living in their area. Yet, as she
sets out to do the article, events conspire to make it a
more dark and sinister assignment than she first thought,
especially as his wife is missing. Is he charming or trying
to hide something?
Meanwhile, another woman is missing. Da, a local and
caring nurse and good friend of Jimm's, is worried about Dr.
Somluk who was four days overdue from returning from a trip.
Would Jimm help her find where and why the female doctor, so
badly needed in the village and who had left her stuff, has
gone? Sissi, Jimm's transsexual sister, also happens to be
an incredible hacker who is fearless in searching the depths
of the internet to find the info they need. Surely, they
should be able to find a trace of Dr. Somluk very
quickly....
But what they find makes them very worried. What is behind
the doctor's disappearance?
THE AXE FACTOR is the third novel in The Jimm Jurree
Mystery Series set in Thailand by Colin Cotterill, the
internationally acclaimed author of "The Dr. Siri Series"
which is set in Laos. As a fan of The Coroner's Lunch and
the other books in that series, I eagerly awaited my copy of
THE AXE FACTOR. While differing in style in many aspects, I
fully found THE AXE FACTOR to be wonderfully witty and
entertaining, full of intriguing and eccentric character
while the storyline is solidly researched and interlaced
with serious issues, especially those affecting rural
women. Like Cotterill's previous books, THE AXE FACTOR is
laugh out loud hilarious in spots, yet, it has its share of
dangerous and violent situations and unusual twists.
As THE AXE FACTOR is my first read in the new series, I can
fully attest to the fact that it reads quite well as a
stand-alone book; yet, to get the fullest benefit from the
story, readers may want to give consideration to reading
some of Cotterill's earlier books first. Jimm is a very
likable and wonderfully independent character. Her behaviour
nicely balances what her curiosity wants her to do while
staying somewhat in keeping with her family's unique values
and slightly mysterious circumstances. Is her mother
really where she said she would be? Can Jimm believe her?
I have to admit that one of the features that I particularly
enjoy in reading in THE AXE FACTOR involve the typos on the
signs (also used as chapter headings) of the English
translations that Jimm needs to fix, such as "Kindly Watch
Your Hands Before or After Using Computer (java coffee
shop). They give delightful comic relief (along with the
names and descriptions of his characters) yet, help to
highlight many of the interesting juxtapositions and
paradoxes that Cotterill portrays so authentically in his
depictions of everyday life in rural Thailand. I am sure
fans who have already read Cotterill's previous books will
find THE AXE FACTOR a very welcome addition and new readers
have a reading treat to relish! I certainly am looking
forward to reading more in this series! Enjoy!
Since Jimm Juree moved, under duress, with her family to a
rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she misses
the bright lights of Chiang Mai. Most of all, she’s missed
her career as a journalist, which was just getting started.
In Chiang Mai, she was covering substantial stories and
major crimes. But here in Maprao, Jimm has to scrape
assignments from the local online journal, the Chumphon
Gazette—and be happy about it when she gets one. This time
they are sending her out to interview a local farang
(European) writer, a man in his late fifties, originally
from England, who writes award-winning crime novels, one
Conrad Coralbank.
At the same time, several local women have left town without
a word to anyone, leaving their possessions behind. These
include the local doctor, Dr. Sumlak, who never returned
from a conference, and the Thai wife of that farang writer,
the aforementioned Conrad Coralbank. All of which looks a
little suspicious, especially to Jimm’s grandfather, an
ex-cop, who notices Coralbank’s interest in Jimm with a very
jaundiced eye. With a major storm headed their way and a
potential serial killer on the loose, it looks like Jimm
Juree, her eccentric family, and the whole town of Maprao is
in for some major changes.
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