Number Three: Highway Robbery

Jimm Juree Case Files #3

by Colin Cotterill

"First, my only appointment of the week phoned to postpone. Second, on the TV news in the evening I was astounded to see scenes from our own Highway 41 where an armoured security van had been deserted minus its cash. And, third, I was awoken just before midnight by the sound of groaning coming from the empty shop house beside mine. It was a while before I learned how these three events were connected."

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Asia

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2017

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

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Only in Thailand"
How to get newspaper ratings...
"‘Damn,’ I said. ‘You know I have a sixty-percent better chance of selling this article if there’s blood.’"

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The police officers
"The local police station has three types of officers. There are those that live locally, have families and have refused to be transferred anywhere else. Then there are those who were naughty elsewhere and were sent to the Pak Nam station for punishment. And then there was Lieutenant Chomphu. My darling Chom is matchless in the Thai police force. He’s not the only gay policeman, not by a long poke. But he’s the only one confident enough to mince unashamedly and to squeal unselfconsciously with joy. A minute in the company of Chom leaves not a shadow of doubt about his sexual leanings."

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Traffic
"Road 41: The Asia Highway is a long, straight stretch with cow dung and debris and potholes and unobserved speed limits."
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Politics
"After a druggy, privileged, unemployable youth, Amorn tried his hand at politics and failed. This said a lot about Amorn because a sack of chicken manure could become a minister in my country if it knew where to invest its money."

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Plot
After introducing the main characters and starting the inquiry into the disappearing money we have the "you are wondering why I have gathered you all together" scene that Agatha Christie made into a famous cliche. Here all is revealed and the bad guys go to jail. A most satisfying end.

Enjoy!

[Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimm Juree, Thai Crime Reporter on the Case
Review of the DCO Books Kindle edition (2017)

Highway Robbery is the third of Colin Cotterill's short stories continuation series of the Jimm Juree Case Files (2017 - present day) following on from his original Jimm Juree novels and prequels (2011-2013).

I enjoyed this story the most of the Jimm Juree cases to date as it lets Jimm utilize her extended family in solving the mystery of a highway heist. Her cantankerous grandfather Jah was my favourite. It also concluded with a great extended reveal scene with Jimm's allies confronting the baddies and exposing the plan behind the crime.

Trivia and Link
I tracked down DCO Books in Thailand but it appears they have sold off the rights to the Jimm Juree books as they are no longer available at their website.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this short story an armored car is robbed. There is no police escort and only one driver, so he is obviously the culprit. However, Jimm Juree is not so sure. It is her sister (brother) Sissy who does most of the investigating, but Jimm who figures out how to get the bad guy. I can’t understand why Clint Eastwood has not picked up options for these stories; maybe some casting hints would help (e.g., George Takei as Grandad).

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Highway Robbery" shows how Jimm figures out a complicated armored car robbery. All the stories in this series are enjoyable, and all show Cotterill's talent with ingenious puzzles, humor, and a wide range of characters who prove that all people, no matter their circumstances, have value. I'm definitely looking forward to Jimm's next case.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun times

I love Jimm and I'm so glad Cotterill is bringing her and her crazy family back in these short stories. I want to see Jimm and her grandad work together ( sort of) again.

[Genevieve Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I am completely delighted with these short stories. This one had a particularly satisfying conclusion. I love it when people who think that they are above the law... aren't. I think that's part of what makes these so enjoyable. Justice is always served.