The Ming Inheritance

by T. Hunt Locke

A six hundred year old legend brought to life~a heart stopping race against history…Phitsanulok, October 1465 AD. The long lost Ming Emperor Jianwen is secretly and finally laid to rest in the northern reaches of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. An Ayutthaya court official oversees the interment amidst the horrified screams of the Ming diplomats who accompany their emperor into the darkness. Boston, July 1998. A Boston City police detective is banished from his city for helping to create a scandal which could plunge the city into chaos. He is told to never return.Chiang Mai, October 2003. Sam Collins, a former Boston City Police detective, is happily retired in Chiang Mai, Thailand when his world is suddenly turned upside down. Innocently helping a friend track down a colleague, Sam finds himself entangled in a mystery over 600 years old. From the picturesque Mae Hong Song mountain hamlet of Pai to the alluring go-go bars of Pattaya, Sam is lured into a deadly race against time and history. Sex, murder, and mayhem are his constant companions as he journeys throughout Thailand in quest of the long forgotten Ming Inheritance.

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 5, 2012

About the author

Another name for author Thomas Hunt Locke

Reviews

[Tom Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a drug lord murders Detective Collins’ family, Sam Collins kills him vigilante-style, and is forced to retire from the Boston Police Department where he worked undercover to stop drug trafficking. Instead of retiring to Florida, where 99% of these retired police detectives seem to go, Sam goes to Thailand, and that caught my interest in the story, as I was tired of all the retired detectives in Florida and wanted to see if Thailand would work out. New York city attorney, Jon Brochstein also retires and moves to Thailand where he opens a private detective agency. He and Sam Collins are old friends. One of Jon’s local detectives is missing and Jon asks Sam to look into the case. Oddly there seems to be a buried treasure involved and people are being killed to protect the secret.

The novel is well written, but could have used an editor. The author turns this little mystery into a travelogue and history lesson of Thailand, which made me want to go back to the Florida detectives. I’m not sure how old Collins is supposed to be, but remember he’s retired from the Boston Police Department, plus he goes through several colleges for diplomas, so I’m thinking he’s no youngster; yet his description and actions make him sound young and vibrant. Big, tough, and handsome of course: all the girls want to make love to him. So there is lots of descriptive sex added to the story, giving even less space for the mystery. Plus his desire for messages throws the mystery even more into the background. Another point that upset me the author gives special names to the villains. The villains are Wayne Travers and William Attenborn; their special names are Tun Perak and Iskandar. So now we have to remember who’s who when these four names pop up. If that wasn’t bad enough we have Professor Jiriporn Chaisaen who is given the name of Ajarn Lak. Personally, I wasn’t impressed with this first Sam Collins mystery set in Thailand. I’m hoping the sequels are better. However, if you want to learn about Thailand and it’s ancient history, then I highly recommend this as a travelogue and history of the country, with a little murder on the side.

[Warren Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A key factor in this book was the intertwining of Thai/Asian history into a modern story. At times the historical explanations although a little long, were obviously well researched. The book introduces Locke's Hero Sam Collins who is kept busy bedding females and avoiding bullets in all corners of the Kingdom! While in that respect the book is run-of-the-mill, the historical angle is a refreshing one and something I trust the author continues with.