Is it crime fiction or is it magical realism? Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun forensic tales, set in the collapsed corruption and congenial community of working Laos, have already shown this author must blend the two.
In THE MOTION PICTURE TELLER, Cotterill leaps to 1996 Bangkok and the run-down but almost cute -- in a very dorky way -- lives of two unambitious men running a video rental store. Pay attention to Supot, who delivers mail for the Royal Thai Postal Service. (Cut to a view of his uniform, shabby perhaps but worn with some muddled pride as he dodges unpleasant dogs with his pack of letters and parcels.) Supot's "real life" begins after work each day, assisting in a video shop and watching films with Ali, the official owner. (Ali can be quite mischievous to his customers, but he makes ends meet.)
When these two nerdy, film-obsessed guys discover a film called "Bangkok 2010" that could be the greatest ever -- the kind that makes Supot's almost girlfriend consider, for a moment, actually fooling around with him, before opting to watch the film again -- they tumble into a bottomless mystery: The actors are unknown. The production company has vanished. How could they be holding a copy of the greatest film ever, and be unable to find out anything about who made it and when it's going to be released? Wait -- is this the only copy ever made?
When Supot finally reaches someone connected with the mysterious film, mystery readers will know the tale has just taken on danger (beyond that posed by dogs to mail carriers), as the letter offers a strong of urgent questions:
Where did you find 2010? Is it a copy, or is it the original film? Has anyone else seen it apart from you? If your answer is yes, how many people have seen it? ... I want you to promise me that nobody else will watch it, and that no copies are made of it.
From here, the story threads get wilder and Supot is soon way out of his comfort zone. The charm of Cotterill's writing is that this video fanatic, in love with a vision of an actress, is so believable, so close to the dork in each of us, that the pages must keep turning.
THE MOTION PICTURE TELLER could be the strangest mystery you read this year, or even this decade. And you absolutely won't forget it.
Releasing January 17 from Soho Crime, an imprint of Soho Press.
PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.
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