The Complete Jimm Juree Case Files: 12 Short Stories

by Colin Cotterill

The best way to buy all 12 of the Jimm Juree short stories

From the Author of the Dr. Siri Mysteries

New in eBook, the complete Jimm Juree short stories feature Colin Cotterill’s intrepid Thai amateur lady detective. They were first published individually as eBooks between 2017 and 2019. Colin is well known for his Dr. Siri mystery series set in Laos.

Fans of Jimm know her from the four novels where, with the help of the members of her strange family, she usually solves the crime.

Move over Miss Marple

Jimm Juree does it for the 21st Century

Short stories
Number The Funeral Photographer
Number When You Wish Upon a Star
Number Highway Robbery
Number The Zero Finger Option
Number Trash
Number Spay With Me
Number Sex on the Beach
Number Smelly Man
Number Maprao Syndrome
Number Tom Tom
Number Whale Vomit
Number Lost Property

365 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2024

About the author

Colin Cotterill was born in London and trained as a teacher and set off on a world tour that didn't ever come to an end. He worked as a Physical Education instructor in Israel, a primary school teacher in Australia, a counselor for educationally handicapped adults in the US, and a university lecturer in Japan. But the greater part of his latter years has been spent in Southeast Asia. Colin has taught and trained teachers in Thailand and on the Burmese border. He spent several years in Laos, initially with UNESCO and wrote and produced a forty-programme language teaching series; English By Accident, for Thai national television.

Ten years ago, Colin became involved in child protection in the region and set up an NGO in Phuket which he ran for the first two years. After two more years of study in child abuse issues, and one more stint in Phuket, he moved on to ECPAT, an international organization combating child prostitution and pornography. He established their training program for caregivers.

All the while, Colin continued with his two other passions; cartooning and writing. He contributed regular columns for the Bangkok Post but had little time to write. It wasn't until his work with trafficked children that he found himself sufficiently stimulated to put together his first novel, The Night Bastard (Suk's Editions. 2000).

The reaction to that first attempt was so positive that Colin decided to take time off and write full-time. Since October 2001 he has written nine more novels. Two of these are child-protection based: Evil in the Land Without (Asia Books December 03), and Pool and Its Role in Asian Communism (Asia Books, Dec 05). These were followed by The Coroner’s Lunch (Soho Press. Dec 04), Thirty Three Teeth (Aug 05), Disco for the Departed (Aug 06), Anarchy and Old Dogs (Aug 07), and Curse of the Pogo Stick (Aug 08), The Merry Misogynist (Aug 09), Love Songs from a Shallow Grave (Aug 10) these last seven are set in Laos in the 1970’s.

On June 15, 2009 Colin Cotterill received the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award for being "the author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to library users".

When the Lao books gained in popularity, Cotterill set up a project to send books to Lao children and sponsor trainee teachers. The Books for Laos programme elicits support from fans of the books and is administered purely on a voluntary basis.

Since 1990, Colin has been a regular cartoonist for national publications. A Thai language translation of his cartoon scrapbook, Ethel and Joan Go to Phuket (Matichon May 04) and weekly social cartoons in the Nation newspaper, set him back onto the cartoon trail in 2004. On 4 April 2004, an illustrated bilingual column ‘cycle logical’ was launched in Matichon’s popular weekly news magazine. These have been published in book form.

Colin is married and lives in a fishing community on the Gulf of Siam with his wife, Kyoko, and ever-expanding pack of very annoying dogs.

Reviews

[Sylvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was bored for most of it. didn't love the references to the trans sister as "ex-brother", which was just one example of the author trying way too hard to be funny and curate a tone which did not work for me at all

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a number of the Siri Paiboun series and enjoyed them so I was pretty sure I'd enjoy Colin Cotterill's other books.
This has the same sense of whimsy and wry, laugh-out-loud, hyperbolic humour, but is set in southern Thailand in more modern times. This is a book of short stories and it's amazing how the author manages to plot and wrap up each stand-alone mystery in a small package.
Jimm Juree is a distinctive, lively, staunch yet self-deprecating character.
Fun, fresh, original, well plotted but not predictable.

[Jc · Rating 4 out of 5]

We last left Jim Juree and her family after a major disaster messed with their lives. It seems since then Jim had been involved in a number of smaller detective cases. Typical Cotterill, these short tales—previously available only on Kindle—are entertaining while being instructive in the politics and cultures of S.E. Asia. For those of you hungering for more Jim Juree, these can help tide one over. If you are new to JJ, or to Cotterill, these stories are also a good jumping in place – but then read the books (and don’t miss out on Cotterill’s Dr. Siri mysteries and other works).

[Karl Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alas, the author confirms (in private correspondence; ain't I lucky!) that Jimm, like Dr. Siri Paiboun, is being retired. Perhaps he will someday he will answer our prayers and be inspired to change his mind, although it would take time away from his charity work fighting child prostitution, and away from his dogs. One can hardly begrudge the needs of nonfictional children and dogs. But wouldn't you know, dogs end up being the one weakness in this collection of thoroughly delightful mini-mysteries. For the stories are presented in chronological order (one can tell by Jimm's family's progress with their insurance claim against the Siam Commercial Bank), but the author apparently forgot what had happened to Beer in "Spay With Me" by the time "Whale Vomit" rolls around; similarly, Psycho is part of the household in the earlier story but is adopted by the family in the later "Smelly Man," when the dog is left behind by the title character. But heck, if that's the worst of it, go order a copy now!

4 1/2 stars, rounded in the proper direction.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as polished as the complete novels, but enjoyable nonetheless.