Customer Reviews

Disco for the Departed

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This third installment of the "Dr. Siri" series continues to document the adventures of the national coroner of newly Communist Laos. Set in 1977, the story opens with the elderly coroner and his sensible nurse sent to the remote town of Vieng Xai. Located in the northern Hua Phan province, the town is being built at the base of a vast cave system that served at the Pathet Lao headquarters during the struggle against the American-backed monarchy. Now, as it is being prepared to stage an important ceremony to mark a new friendship treaty with Vietnam, a very strange corpse has turned up. Since there is no police force to speak of, Dr. Siri is called in to make sense of it with all due haste.

The body turns out to be that of a Cuban attached to a nearby "advisory" unit. After establishing Dr. Siri's credentials as a spirit host/medium in the first two books, it comes as no surprise that this adventure finds him tangled up with the Caribbean spirit world of santeria. While the villain of this storyline, which involves a beautiful Vietnamese girl and doomed love, is rather obvious, there's still plenty to like. The history of the caves is fascinating, the corpses to be investigated very unusual, and the bureaucratic red tape both comic and instructive. Meanwhile, Nurse Dtui is given her own subplots, including a stint heading up a hospital treating mine victims, and an unexpected romantic proposal. Meanwhile, back in Vientiane, morgue assistant Mr. Geung is exiled to a northern work camp by a nefarious judge with an axe to grind with Dr. Siri. The determined Geung resolves to escape and make his way the hundreds of miles back, leading to adventures that are variously droll and deadly.

As in the two previous books. Dr. Siri's ability to commune with the spirit world is key to the resolution of the mysteries, as well as another subplot involving a sick little girl. Enough backstory is given so that newcomers to the series will not be confused about the spirit world element, and can dive right in. As in the other books in the series, there's plenty of sly humor and celebration of traditional "Laotianness" which is slowly dying off. A very solid addition to the series and well worth the time of anyone with an interest in Laos or mysteries with unusual settings.

This is the third of Colin Cotterill's novels of Dr. Siri Paiboun, the spry and wily septuagenarian national coroner for the Democratic People's Republic of Laos. It is also the most ambitious of the series, adding a few layers of depth and gravity to its relatively lighthearted predecessors.

Siri is called to the northern mountains of Huaphan province, home of the legendary cave dwellings where the upstart communists of the Pathet Lao hung out while overthrowing the Lao monarchy. A mummified arm has been found protruding from a broken slab of sidewalk concrete in front of the president's northern retreat just days before the anniversary celebration of the new red regime. Siri, with the steadfast nurse Dtui at his side, must identify the corpse and solve the mystery, all in time to prevent the struggling Pathet Lao further embarrassment. Meanwhile, in the Dr.'s absence, Siri's faithful but retarded morgue assistant, Mr. Geung, has been kidnapped from the beloved morgue, forcibly reassigned to a labor camp of the north.

As in all of Cotterill's novels, eastern mysticism plays a key role, and Siri's ability to see and communicate with the dead again comes in handy as a neat forensic tool. "Disco" harbors a darker theme than either "The Coroner's Lunch" or "Thirty-Three Teeth", mixing Caribbean black magic with Southeast Asian spiritualism, while wading MASH-deep into the horrors of war and the toll on its unintended and unsuspecting victims. Notwithstanding, and despite slightly more political innuendo than was mercifully avoided in his previous works, this is an intelligent and engaging read. Paiboun remains one of the most unusual heroes of modern fiction, a scrappy and resourceful clinician who neither wants nor enjoys his special talents, but maintains his wry humor and increasingly learns how to use his gift to his advantage.

Unlike "Thirty-Three Teeth", which really read like a sequel, "Disco for the Departed" stands on its own. Cotterill builds enough of the back-story to fill in the pieces for the new reader, but with enough subtlety to not be tedious for Paiboun fans. Off beat, educational, and entertaining, both Cotterill and Siri Paiboun are worth the investment.

Colin you dog. How do you do it? Usually by the third book the characters get paper thin and it seems like the writer is just "phoning it in."

"Disco" is even stronger and more fleshed out than the first two books in the series and they are superb. I am even a tougher critic now as I now live in Vientaine and check facts with former (?) Pathet Lao members and those who remember all that happened. No one has anything but the highest regards for your sense of history or accuracy in character. I have been to the hospital where Dr Siri's morgue is supposed to be located. I live in the same neighborhood. No one writes with more depth and feeling for the Lao people than Cotterill.

Even if you have no interest in Lao, Dr Siri is a detective that could stoke a pipe with Holmes. Nurse Dtui is more that a Watson.

This is a rich and brilliant read about an exciting and deep culture.

Have you ever seen a book on Amazon where all the reviewers gave it five stars?

The third in British author Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series, after "the Coroner's Lunch," and "Thirty Three Teeth," is even more unusual, assured and absorbing than the first two. Set in Laos in 1977, as the country adapts to its new communist regime, the story begins when a boulder falls on a cement walkway in a remote village exposing a body entombed therein.

But this isn't just any remote village. It's the pre-revolutionary home of the Pathet Lao. The walkway is in front of the caves where the rebels had their glorious hidden headquarters before overthrowing the decadent monarchy. An anniversary celebration is scheduled with honored Vietnamese allies and the government wants the mess and the mystery cleared up fast.

Siri, the 73-year-old national pathologist and his nurse, Dtui, arrive to find the mummified corpse of a Cuban soldier who had worked at the nearby hospital where a respected colleague of Siri's, Dr. Santiago, presides. Santiago, a Cuban surgeon, hesitantly reveals an exotic story of black magic, bewitching and retribution, featuring the murdered man and another black Cuban soldier.

Ritual marks on the corpse's body bear out Dr. Santiago's strange tale, and Siri, well aware of the power of evil spirits, begins to investigate, cutting through red tape and officiousness with wily and serene assurance. Siri's shamanistic heritage augments his sharp powers of observation and deduction as he and Dtui discover more bodies, secrets and scandals, and Siri dances to nightly disco only he and the departed can hear.

Meanwhile Siri's exemplary morgue assistant, Geung, left behind to guard the place in the coroner's absence, has been seized by soldiers and sent to a job several hundred miles away. A party boss, Siri's nemesis and an object of much humor, has banished Geung because of his Down's Syndrome, not wanting such a person in a visible state job. Geung escapes and begins making his determined way back to Vientiane on foot. His adventures are many, grueling, varied, dangerous and amusing.

And Dtui, smart, opinionated, but not overly self-confident, finds herself the amorous object of a local party functionary, a rule-bound man on his way up.

The plot is clever, growing more baffling as further evidence comes to light; Siri grows more ingenious, wry and wise with every year, and Dtui and Geung are not just foils or adjuncts, but fine people in their own right. Atmospheric, humorous, and engaging, this fine series should attract more readers with every volume.

--Portsmouth Herald

I have loved Colin Cotterill's characters since I opened his first book in this series. The venue is fresh, and one is entertained while learning something about a culture that is so little-known in the west.

Siri Paiboun, the septuagenarian doctor/surgeon-turned-(in duress)-pathologist, is a delight. Dtui, his nurse, grows to new heights with each tale; and Geung, Siri's assistant, is a Down Syndrome sufferer who has his own special kind of genius. None of Cotterill's characters is two-dimensional, and each has his own unique personality - whether friend or foe, mortal or spirit. I especially look forward to the repartee between Siri and his old friend Civilai, which is almost totally absent in this latest novel.

Grusome murders, mystery, shamanism, political intrigue (or ineptness), plus wry humor - what more can you ask for?

Though some of the humor seems to be a bit "western" - is it? I will withhold judgement until I've gotten to know some Laos firsthand.

Another great read. I love the way Cotterill weaves Lao history into each Dr. Siri book. Each one gives new insight into the communist revolution and the aftermath.

First Sentence: Dr. Siri lay beneath the grimy mesh of the mosquito net watching the lizard's third attempt.

Dr. Siri and Dturi have been sent to a "guest house" at revolutionary headquarters in the mountains of Huaphan province to attend a seminar intended to provide them with an `enlightened" understanding of the Marxist-Leninist system. What they did not expect was for an arm to be discovered rising out of a concrete path. The arm was attached to the body of a man who'd been encased in the concrete while still alive. Siri also did not expect, at 73, to find himself dancing to disco music only he could hear, nor for the Russian to whom Siri and Dturi reported back in Vientiane to ship their mortuary assistant, Geung off to Xieng Ngeim without their knowing.

It is always a pleasure to be back with Dr. Siri and friends. They truly are some of my favorite characters and it was particularly nice to learn more of mortuary assistant Geung's background. Cotterill worked in an interesting point through Siri's friend, Dr. Santiago who believes in shamans and the spirit world, that some form of shamanism is common to most cultures of the world outside those of European origin. Points such as that remind us the world is one filled with diverse philosophies and beliefs beyond our own; one of the gifts of reading.

Cotterill's writing is filled with wonderful dialogue and humor, yet he also makes me think. Rather than the supernatural element being for the sake of fantasy, Cotteriall uses it to serious purpose--to make a point such as the impact of war on its innocent victims; those who just happen to live in the wrong place. He also makes us aware that bigotry exists in every country.

The story is one of relationships and loyalty. The mystery is an intriguing blend of the mystical and the plain, old ferreting out information. The book is an absolutely wonderful read.

DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED (Lic Inv/Para-Dr. Siri Paiboun-Loas-Cont/1977) - G+

Cotterill, Colin - 3rd in series

Quercus, UK Hardcover, ©2006 - ISBN: 9781847244147

This series of books set in Cambodia, are a must read, especially for anyone who was over the age of 12 during the Vietnam War. The characters are believable, the mysteries are super, and the setting and history are unique abd well researched. A good summer read.

Dr Siri and Dtui go to investigate a mummy ( a mummified hand) found in the North of the country, while Dr. Siri's nasty boss takes this opportunity to get rid of Mr. Geung. What follows is one of the most fulfilling novels of this series!.

The author hits the right notes with this one. Very enjoyable! Classic for sure!

If you haven't been reading Colin Cotterill's series about Dr. Siri Paiboun you have been missing out. This is the third in the series, after The Coroner's Lunch and Thirty-Three Teeth, about the national coroner of Laos (the only coroner in Laos) set shortly after the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam. This is a delicious reading experience: many-layered, good-humored, intelligent and just plain fun. Paiboun is an extremely likeable protagonist. He's a septugenarian, French-trained physician, multi-lingual curmudgeon who after being a life-long communist insurgent, finds himself appointed as national coroner despite having no training in the field, no texts, and no equipment. Tired, old, unhappy with the new job when he should be retired, and too irreverent and wise to be a good communist, Siri finds his life is actually turning out pretty swell when he discovers new friends in nurse Dtui, his formal assistant and Geung, his mentally-challenged informal assistant and new challenges in solving mysterious deaths. Complicating his life he also discovers that he is pretty good at being a coroner since he can see the spirits of the departed. This is nonplussing initially but as the series unfolds he discovers that he is host to the spirit of an ancient shaman, giving him some shaman powers in the spirit world. Unfortunately not all of the spirits are benign ones, and some are just plain out to get him.

This is quite a lot to make work successfully but Cotterill pulls it off beautifully. Siri, although an unusual fictional character, is one that you'll find sympathetic and deeply likeable as he wrestles with both convoluted mysteries and the party officials who are irked by them. His supporting characters are deeply likeable as well and the mysteries unfold against a backdrop in Southeast Asia that feels much more real than the normal American-experience Vietnam fare. This is the true Southeast Asian, seen from the viewpoint of an actual communist and Lao, and the story is deeply enriched by this immersion in an alternate point-of-view.

In this third novel Paiboun is called north to a re-education camp facility for former royalist officers to discover the identity of a corpse discovered in a shattered block of concrete. Struggling with the oil and water mix of communist bureacrats and native peasant beliefs, Siri discovers the corpse is a black man, something of a rarity in Laos, and from there the story is a fun ride of Caribean Voodoo, Hmong magic, bureacratic discomfiture, and dancing ghosts who won't let Siri sleep at night, twined with a separate story of Geung's adventure while Siri and Dtui are away. Charming, likeable, and fun, if you like good-humored mysteries set in alternate milieus with engaging characters you'll love this series. I can't wait to get my hands on the fourth and fifth installments which are already released.