Colin Cotterill

Best of 2023

by

I was unable to limit my list to ten and present twelve titles this year, and the “also notables” at the end are excellent too.  My criteria is always a book that stayed with me and moved me throughout the year.  When I cast my mind back to reading these books the feeling of being captured by prose returns to my mind.  It’s such a magical experience – I think one hoped for by every reader – and sharing the books that provide that kind of reading experience is a real joy.  As will be obvious I have a real love for traditional detective work (Crombie, Cleeves, Griffiths, Stewart Taylor).  I also love the odd and memorable (Cotterill, Bennett) and I have a fondness for kick ass women (Allen, Lillie, Khan). I love a good gothic mystery (Goodman) and there are a couple of outstanding debuts: Danielle Arceneaux’s Glory Be and Michael Bennett’s Better the Blood.  Mysteries are finding a glorious diversity lately as illustrated here, with Muslim, Cherokee,  African American and Maori sleuths finding a voice. Full reviews can be found by searching the site, though with a few exceptions they are only to be found at Deadly Pleasures. read more

Colin Cotterill: The Motion Picture Teller

by

This charming mystery from Colin Cotterill’s innovative pen is not a murder mystery, but it is a mystery.  Set slightly in the past – 1996 – the action takes place mostly in a corner of Bangkok where postman Supot hangs out whenever he can at his buddy Ali’s video store.  This book will bring back a wave of memories of old video rental places and the pleasures of browsing the shelves and discovering a treasure.

While neither Ali or Supot make much money, they are united in their love of cinema, and their happiest hours are spent in the back of the store watching an old film like Casablanca. At one point, Supot thinks to himself: “He wondered if anyone had ever starved to death from enthrallment, dazzled to malnutrition by cinematic magic, not realizing they hadn’t eaten for a week.”  One night Ali and Supot’s viewing is interrupted by an old wino named Woot, who brings in a box of video tapes to sell.  Ali gives him a little bit of money, and as he and Supot go through the tapes, they discover an unknown (to them) movie called Bangkok 2010. read more