Love Songs from a Shallow Grave: A Dr. Siri Investigation Set in Laos [Hardcover]

Colin Cotterill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2010

Praise for the Dr. Siri series:

“The consistently fine characterizations of the entire cast are matched by a tightly constructed plot.”—Booklist

“Glimpses of everyday life in Laos will appeal to those readers curious about a culture unfamiliar to most Americans.”—Publishers Weekly

Three young Laotian women have died of fencing sword wounds. Each of them had studied abroad in an Eastern bloc country. Before he can complete his investigation, Dr. Siri is lured to Cambodia by an all-expenses-paid trip. Accused of spying for the Vietnamese, he is imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death. The Khmer Rouge is relentless, and it is touch and go for the dauntless, seventy-four-year-old national—and only—coroner of Laos.

Colin Cotterill was born in London in 1952 and taught and trained teachers around the world before settling in Thailand. He spent several years in Laos, initially with UNESCO, before he moved on to become involved in child protection in the region and set up a non-governmental organization in Phuket. He later moved on to ECPAT, an international organization combating child prostitution and pornography. Colin writes and illustrates full time, and lives in Chumphon on the Gulf of Thailand with his wife, Jessi, and a bunch of dogs. He is a Dilys Award winner.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in 1978, Cotterill's superb seventh mystery to feature Dr. Siri Paiboun (after 2009's The Merry Misogynist) finds "the national and only coroner of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos" nearing his 74th birthday chained to a lead pipe in a Cambodian prison. Siri's captivity is wrapped around investigating the puzzling deaths of three Laotian women, each skewered by dueling swords that are a decided rarity in Laos. A strong supporting cast, including Siri's recently acquired wife, Madame Daeng, and morgue colleague Nurse Dtui, who's married to Inspector Phosy, enriches the narrative. The unfathomable violence of the Khmer Rouge reign emerges during Siri's unexpected ordeal and forms a vivid contrast to his humanity in seeking to protect the murder suspect in the three sword deaths. This immensely satisfying mystery has it all--a heroic protagonist, a challenging puzzle, and an exotic setting.
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From Booklist

Cotterill’s mordant mystery series set in 1970s Southeast Asia features septuagenarian Siri Paiboun, national coroner of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos. In this dark seventh entry, Dr. Paiboun investigates the deaths of three Laotian women who have died of fencing wounds. The killer, the doctor presumes, must be someone proficient with an épée, a rarity in his country, to be sure. Connections are found between the women—all pursued advanced studies in Eastern bloc countries—but that link doesn’t bring Paiboun much closer to solving the crimes. The offer of an all-expenses paid junket to Cambodia puts a fire under Paiboun, and he hastily cracks the case (or so he thinks). Despite a reputation for consorting with the spirit world, Paiboun ignores otherworldly warnings not to go to Cambodia. Now it’s too late; he’s a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge. Cotterill interweaves details of Paiboun’s investigation with an account of the doctor’s ghastly incarceration. Though his trademark levity lifts the tale, it’s still pretty grim stuff, but Cotterills many fans know that, in this series, wit comes at a price. --Allison Block

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569476276
• ISBN-13: 978-1569476277
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect mystery, July 10, 2010

By 

Margaret Dybala "too many books, too little time" (Pearland, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Love Songs from a Shallow Grave: A Dr. Siri Investigation Set in Laos (Hardcover)

I love the Dr. Siri books. Who would have imagined that a hero would be a 75 year old coroner in 1978 communist Laos. But he is just wonderful. I also love all the side characters in these books. How wonderfully they are drawn and develop as the books evolve.

Having said that, I hope I interest someone in reading these fine books. You really should read the others first, but in many ways, this could stand by itself. There appears to be a serial killer in Laos, killing women using epees, or fencing swords. He clearly knows fencing and is strong (a straight thrust through the heart). Dr. Siri, as coroner gets involved, along with the usual crew of police and friends.

This book is darker than the others, as a side story (and how can this ever be a side story) involves flashes to what is clearly an imprisonment of Dr. Siri by the Khmer Rouge. As Dr. Siri learns the dark side of that awful time, the reader is appalled, along with him).

So, the two questions are, will he survive? And will he solve the fencing murders?

But more importantly, rumor has it that this might be the last book about Laos by the author. NOOOOO!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Siri takes on a murderous swordsman and the Khmer Rouge, July 12, 2010

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Love Songs from a Shallow Grave: A Dr. Siri Investigation Set in Laos (Hardcover)

Another terrific book in the Siri Paiboun series from Colin Cotterill. I don't know which to praise first, but let's start with this book. The story interweaves two plots--one has the septegunarian, former revolutionary, Dr. Siri and his expanding team of fellow sleuths on the track of a serial killer whose chosen weapon is a fencing sword; the second has Dr. Siri in grave jeopardy at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime in newly communist Cambodia (Kampuchea). Both story lines are intelligent, intricate and totally engaging, and generally add up to a darker and more poignant novel than most of the previous Dr. Siri books. While there is little doubt that Siri and company will resolve the mystery of the murders, there is considerable doubt that Siri will survive execution as a spy by the vicious and politically cannibalistic Khmer Rouge. This is one of the best books in a very good series with a world-class story-line and characters that have melded into a literary family in this episode.

Moving on to the author, Colin Cotterill, his writing cannot be overpraised, in my opinion. He has developed some wonderful characters in a remote part of the globe and in a rather obscure period of time (for most Western readers, at least) circa 1977-78. But he has made the whole pastiche work beautifully and has certainly given a voice to a small and neglected segment of the world's population. He obviously has great admiration and respect--mixed with a healthy dose of realism--for the Laotian people as well as an impressive knowledge of the recent history of Indochina. But Cotterill could write wonderfully insightful fiction from just about anywhere, I suspect. His style is mature, his language clear and his sense of humanity for his characters is unfailing. This is a writer with a long and successful future ahead--part of which I sincerely hope will continue to include Dr. Siri Painboun.

Great read. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Somebody must have had a motive.', July 29, 2010

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Love Songs from a Shallow Grave: A Dr. Siri Investigation Set in Laos (Hardcover)

Dr Siri Paiboun is being tormented by a recurring nightmare which ends in his death. But when he is awake, life goes on in its usual abnormal way in Laos. It's 1978 and Dr Siri is still the only coroner in Laos. Three women, each of whom has studied abroad in an Eastern bloc country, have been skewered on épées. Dr Siri and his trusty band are on the case.

But before he can solve the case, Dr Siri takes a trip to Cambodia and the world of the Khmer Rouge. Will Dr Siri survive? And will the case of the three épées be solved? Granted, it's hard to think about the case when Dr Siri is celebrating his 74th birthday in hell, but the flashbacks to Vientiane bring us up to date with Madame Daeng (Dr Siri's wife of three months), Nurse Dtui's motherhood and Mr Geung's new hairstyle.

It's difficult to say more about the novel without venturing into spoiler territory. So I'll confine myself to observing that while the wry humour that I've enjoyed in the preceding six Dr Siri novels is still present in parts, it is largely overshadowed by Dr Siri's incursion into the nightmare world of the Khmer Rouge. As Dr Siri realises, while wandering around the wasteland that was Phnom Penh, `If Big Brother could destroy literature and history, he could destroy lives.' Will Dr Siri survive his own insatiable curiosity?

This is the seventh Dr Siri mystery. It's worth reading them in order but not absolutely essential.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith