The Ming Inheritance

The Ming Inheritance (Murder Mystery)

By T. Hunt Locke

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1482680638

358 Pages

Price $12.99 (paperback)

Price $3.99 (Kindle)

Rating 3-Stars

Sam Collins, a former Boston City police detective, is happily retired in Chiang Mai, Thailand when his world is turned upside down. Innocently helping a friend track down a colleague Sam suddenly finds himself entangled in a mystery over 600 hundred years old. From the picturesque mountains of Mae Hong Song to the seedy go-go bars of Pattaya, Sam is lured into a race against time and history

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.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Killed At The Whim of A Hat

Jimm Juree #1: “Killed At The Whim of A Hat” by Colin Cotterill. Jimm Juree is an out of work reporter who has just moved with her family to the village of Maprao, on the coast of southern Thailand. There is a lot happening in this 374-page murder mystery, including skeletons discovered in a VW van buried on a farmer’s property, plus the murder of an abbot at the temple. Jimm’s mother’s dog has been poisoned, and renters have stolen everything out the room they were staying in. Wanting her name back in press, Jimm investigates the mysteries, while trying to stop her mother, Mair, from killing the person that killed her dog. In the first half of the book we not only learn about the two big mysteries, but we get to meet Jimm’s family and the town folks, as well as the local police. Although we don’t see a lot of action, this is more literary than noir, the writing is entertaining, and the characters are fun. Each chapter begins with a quote from President George W. Bush, taken from one of his speeches. Jimm’s dissertation at university was to select a famous speaker, and she was stuck with America’s ex-president (I loved the quotes). The murder of the abbot will take many turns, before the surprising case comes to a close. However, the mystery of the submerged VW van with two skeletons doesn’t truly end till the final pages and it, too, has a few surprises. A fun story, and highly recommended.

Brannan's Run

Brannan’s Run by Stephen Cord. Joe Brannan, ex-pat now living in Thailand had served with 1^st Battalion British Parachute Regiment, but now operates a dive boat in the sea around Pattaya, Thailand. When he learns about a sunken Khmer Rouge boat loaded with gems in Cambodia water, the promise of wealth is too good to pass up. But others want the treasure too, including Cambodian Navy/pirates and the Russians, and either is willing to kill for them. Then throw in a beautiful rich Russian woman with long legs and flaming red hair, and Joe just might take the chance after all. This was an exciting action adventure in the mold of those paperback originals of the 1950s, when tough men operated around the Java Sea and Asian Ports, looking for that one strike to make it rich, if they don’t get killed in the process. Then throw in some Muay Thai martial arts for fun. Except for the mature language, this would have fit easily into those early ARGOSY and ADVENTURE pulp magazines of a bygone era. We could use more of this genre today, reminiscent of the past when bold adventure created living legends of action heroes and dangerous dames. It’s also fun returning to the streets of Bangkok and the mysterious East, where beautiful women and death wait hand in hand for an unwary stranger. Highly recommended for the action and adventure lovers everywhere. OK