The Coroner's Lunch: A Dr Siri Murder Mystery: A Dr Siri Mystery (Dr Siri Paiboun Mystery 1) - Softcover

Colin Cotterill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849165181 ISBN 13: 9781849165181

Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc, 2010

Synopsis

Laos, 1976. The monarchy has been deposed, the Communist Pathet Lao have taken over. Most of the educated class has fled, but Dr Siri Paiboun, a Paris-trained doctor remains. And so this 72-year-old physician is appointed state coroner, despite having no training, equipment, experience or even inclination for the job. But the job's not that bad and Siri quickly settles into a routine of studying outdated medical texts, scrounging scarce supplies, and circumnavigating bureaucratic red tape to arrive at justice. The fact that the recently departed are prone to pay Siri the odd, unwanted nocturnal visit turns out to be an added bonus in his new line of work.

But when the wife of a party leader turns up dead and the bodies of tortured Vietnamese soldiers start bobbing to the surface of a Laotian lake, all eyes turn to Siri. Faced with official cover-ups and an emerging international crisis, the doctor enlists old friends, village shamans, forest spirits, dream visits from the dead - and even the occasional bit of medical deduction - to solve the crimes.

About this title

About the Author

COLIN COTTERILL was born in London. He has taught in Australia, the United States, and Japan and lived for many years in Laos where he worked for nongovernmental social-service organizations. He now writes full time and lives in Thailand. His books have been Book Sense Picks, and he won the Dilys Award and a Crime Writers' Association Library Dagger for Thirty-Three Teeth.

Review

''A wonderfully fresh and exotic mystery . . . If Cotterill . . . had done nothing more than treat us to Siri's views on the dramatic, even comic crises that mark periods of government upheaval, his debut mystery would still be fascinating. But the multiple cases spread out on Siri's examining table . . . are not cozy entertainments but substantial crimes that take us into the thick of political intrigue.'' --New York Times Book Review

''The sights, smells, and colors of Laos practically jump of the pages of this inspired, often wryly witty first novel.'' --Denver Post

''In Siri, Cotterill has created a detective as distinctive as Maigret or Poirot.'' --Orlando Sentinel

''The Soho Press crime series . . . has done mystery connoisseurs everywhere a favor by adding Colin Cotterill to its publishing list. The author gives us exotic locations; a world that few of us know well; crisp, intelligent, and often witty writing; and, most of all, a hero unlike any other.'' --Philadelphia Inquirer

''Engaging . . .This debut mystery, with its convincing and highly interesting portrayal of an exotic locale, marks the author as someone to watch.'' --Publishers Weekly

''If Siri lives long enough, he'll make a wry, eccentric addition to the genre.'' --Booklist (starred review)

''This series kickoff is an embarrassment of riches: Holmesian sleuthing, political satire, and [a] droll comic study of a prickly late bloomer.'' -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

''This is a winner.'' --Mystery Scene

About this edition

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1849165181
• ISBN 13: 9781849165181
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288