The Motion Picture Teller by Colin Cotterill

The Motion Picture Teller

by Colin Cotterill

An enchanting new standalone novel from CWA Dagger winner Colin Cotterill, set in Bangkok: a mystery without a crime, where the line between fact and fiction blurs, and nothing is as simple as it appears

Thailand, 1996: Supot, a postman with the Royal Thai Mail service, hates his job. The only bright spot in his life is watching classic movies with his best friend, Ali, the owner of a video store. These cinephiles adore the charisma of the old Western stars, particularly the actresses, and bemoan the state of modern Thai cinema—until a mysterious cassette, entitled Bangkok 2010, arrives at Ali’s store.

Bangkok 2010 is a dystopian film set in a near-future Thailand—and Supot and Ali, immediately obsessed, agree it’s the most brilliant Thai movie they’ve ever seen. But nobody else has ever heard of the movie, the director, the actors, or any of the crew. Who would make a movie like this and not release it, and why?

Feeling a powerful calling to solve the mystery of Bangkok 2010, Supot journeys deep into the Thai countryside and discovers that powerful people are dead set on keeping the film buried.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Motion Picture Teller is a standalone semi-mystery and retro slice of life adventure by Colin Cotterill. Released 17th Jan 2022 by Soho Press on their Soho Crime imprint, it's 241 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a whimsical, distinctly odd book featuring a pair of well meaning but generally hapless idiots who are a slice of ham short of a sandwich. Supot is a postman who gets mauled by local canines on a regular basis on his daily rounds. Ali is a video store owner in "Little Bangkok" across the river from the city proper, who tries very hard to be left alone by customers so he and Sunpot can watch the movies from the golden age of Hollywood in peace without any interruptions. 

Colin Cotterill is a wonderful author, and fans of his Siri Paiboun books ( HIGHLY recommended) will see glimmers of the same whimsy and warm regard for SE Asia, its culture, and its inhabitants in this book. There's a lot of clever-ish repartee, and subtle nods and in-jokes which fans of classic film will recognise. After that, though, this is quite an odd ride. The writing is way more than competent. The characterisations are well rendered and appealing (if not particularly believable), and the plot is slowly meandering and seemingly equipped with its own agenda. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 6 hours, 40 minutes and is chiefly narrated by Steven Crossley, with scene/background interludes narrated by Amy Scanlon. There is some noticeably odd/uncomfortable phrasing and dramatic timing in the recording which is clearly intentional on the part of the author but which added an extra frisson of tension to an overall odd read. Sound and production quality were high throughout the recording. 

Definitely an odd but worthwhile read; hopefully the start of another series. Current fans of the author will enjoy this offering. Readers who are not yet fans of the author's style will be bewildered, but hopefully entranced enough to give it a fair go. 

Four stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 22 January, 2023: Started reading
  • 22 January, 2023: Finished reading
  • 22 January, 2023: Reviewed