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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Not as good as his Dr Siri series, but this is only the first, so....
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I probably did not give this book the attention it deserved. After checking it out from the library, the time I had to spend reading diminished and my reading was sporadic. That being said, I did like this book. The characters were interesting, the story was good, and the book was funny. I was particularly amused at the quotes from George Bush that led off each chapter.
The best parts of the book are the quotations from Dubya that begin each chapter! I really miss hearing the latest as we used to in the bad old days.
Multiple bodies turn up in a remote and seldom visited Thai resort area where an eccentric family now live, including the ex-reporter sleuth, a young woman. Intricate plot. I didn't get a very robust picture of the locale and culture. Plot involves a rental car scam, a Buddhist monastery with a nun in attendance and various dogs.
It's compared to Alexander McCall Smith, but it's totally different: no sense of how Thais think or of their culture (except food and some things about Buddhist monks). The narrator's personality and outlook seems completely American. The sense of humor is flippant rather than gentle and generous. Whodunit is harder to figure out but only because information is hidden from the reader, rather than because the reader hasn't fully understood the character's personality and motivations.
Multiple bodies turn up in a remote and seldom visited Thai resort area where an eccentric family now live, including the ex-reporter sleuth, a young woman. Intricate plot. I didn't get a very robust picture of the locale and culture. Plot involves a rental car scam, a Buddhist monastery with a nun in attendance and various dogs.
It's compared to Alexander McCall Smith, but it's totally different: no sense of how Thais think or of their culture (except food and some things about Buddhist monks). The narrator's personality and outlook seems completely American. The sense of humor is flippant rather than gentle and generous. Whodunit is harder to figure out but only because information is hidden from the reader, rather than because the reader hasn't fully understood the character's personality and motivations.
Delightful! In every sense a 'cozy' but well-written (phew - rarely a given) and in a fresh, new setting. In lieu of the quaint english village (or close facsimile thereof) we have a slightly ramshackle backwater province in southernmost Thailand. Our crime reporter/amateur detective, the disgruntled Jimm Juree (torn from the city on the eve of her big career break) is probably the least colourful of the many delightfully caricutured characters. With an astonishingly wide array of colourful players, and two highly improbable mysteries for the price of one, this was nevertheless a skillfully woven and highly entertaining tale. Very tongue-in-cheek and cleverly witty.
A few favourite quotes:
“I wanted to go to an English-speaking country but they were all full so they sent me to Australia,” Jimm says of the year she spent studying abroad. “By the time I’d worked out what they were saying it was time to come home.”
'Gogo was beside me, absent-mindedly munching at the hair on her haunches. I always got the feeling dogs had seen cats do it and thought it was cool without really grasping the concept.'
'I was surprised he could stand up under the weight of his clothes. I assumed it was the pen in his shirt front pocket that gave him his stoop.'
'A puddle of pink was leaking out through the gap at the bottom of the night. The sun was rising somewhere in the Philippines and our sky was rushing through the dark tones in an effort to find something suitable to wear for the new day.'
A few favourite quotes:
“I wanted to go to an English-speaking country but they were all full so they sent me to Australia,” Jimm says of the year she spent studying abroad. “By the time I’d worked out what they were saying it was time to come home.”
'Gogo was beside me, absent-mindedly munching at the hair on her haunches. I always got the feeling dogs had seen cats do it and thought it was cool without really grasping the concept.'
'I was surprised he could stand up under the weight of his clothes. I assumed it was the pen in his shirt front pocket that gave him his stoop.'
'A puddle of pink was leaking out through the gap at the bottom of the night. The sun was rising somewhere in the Philippines and our sky was rushing through the dark tones in an effort to find something suitable to wear for the new day.'
First in a series of books about Jimm Juree - Thai Crime Reporter. Jimm and her family have moved to a small village in the south of Thailand. Jimm gets involved in two investigations - first is a murder that happened in 1978, and the second is the murder of a monk at the local buddhist temple. Jimm and her family work with the local police department to sort out the events. In addition to the two murders, we have other family events that take our attention.
Even with multiple story lines going on - I didn't find the book annoying. The writing style is humorous - with some sections of seriousness. Jimm is describing her mother's mental state - which sounds like early on-set of alzheimer's. I came to realize that this was my mother traveling backward on a mechanical walkway, passing through time, past huge placards advertising moments from her life. And I began to fear that one day she'd be so far along that escalator she'd no longer recall where it was she climbed on or who was there to see her off.
Nice touches like that throughout the book.
Even with multiple story lines going on - I didn't find the book annoying. The writing style is humorous - with some sections of seriousness. Jimm is describing her mother's mental state - which sounds like early on-set of alzheimer's. I came to realize that this was my mother traveling backward on a mechanical walkway, passing through time, past huge placards advertising moments from her life. And I began to fear that one day she'd be so far along that escalator she'd no longer recall where it was she climbed on or who was there to see her off.
Nice touches like that throughout the book.
Loved. Will be reading next in series for Monday Night Mystery Book club.
Liked the beginning few pages. When our narrator whips in to explain that she can't keep up that writing style I was jarred and never got caught up again. The romance and the finding oneself in the slower paced countryside bits were my favorite. Not taken with this series, sticking with Dr. Siri.
adventurous
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
The setting and characters were much better than the mystery.