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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very smoky mystery, December 24, 2011
This review is from: Slash and Burn: A Dr. Siri Mystery Set in Laos (Hardcover)
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Colin Cotterill is an expert at blowing smoke in the eyes of the reader. Smoke pervades almost every page of this book. The time is 1978. The place: deep in the wilds of northern Laos. Dr. Siri has been chosen to join a Lao-American delegation in search of a pilot downed ten years previously. Soon after the delegation arrives at a primitive jungle hotel, the air fills with smoke, purportedly from slash and burn farming. But it's the wrong time of year. What exactly is going on? More than you could possibly imagine. The reader is in for multiple, overlapping, interlocking surprises as the complex plot unfolds. The zero-star hotel hosting the delegates is surrounded by a war-tortured landscape full of unexploded ordnance. Definitely a no-walk zone. Add to that the ever-thickening smoke, and you have a terrific locale for a mystery liberally spiced with political tension, spying, profiteering, CIA shenanigans, and spiritual interventions. You'll encounter a number of quirky characters from previous books, as well as additional eccentrics. I particularly liked the drunken American major who can't stop hugging, the cross-dressing soothsayer, and Siri's lab assistant with Down's syndrome who cannot tell a lie. I loved the early Dr. Siri mysteries, but stopped reading them after his possession by a thousand-year-old shaman spirit. Things got too crazy for me. But Siri's spirits are fairly well behaved in this this book. The cross-dressing fortuneteller is the main one in touch with the spirit world, and she's quite pragmatic about it. I admired this book for its devious plot, its unusual setting and its large cast of strange characters.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous Characters, Intricate Plot!, January 5, 2012
This review is from: Slash and Burn: A Dr. Siri Mystery Set in Laos (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I recently read my first Dr. Siri mystery, "The Coroner's Lunch", which is also the first in the series. I enjoyed it so much, that I was excited to start on "Slash and Burn", the seventh in the series. This series is inhabited by a rollicking good fun cast of characters. The writing is intelligent and the glimpse into another culture and time is well presented, though quirky. For "Slash and Burn", it is July, 1978, in Vientiane, Laos. Our protagonist has been the National Coroner (the only coroner in the country) for three busy years, and he really wants to retire in a couple months. Dr. Siri Paiboun describes himself at 74 years of age: "... forty-eight years an unconvincing member of the Communist party, host to a thousand-year-old Hmong shaman spirit, culturally tainted beyond redemption by ten years in Paris. ... Dr. Siri felt he had earned himself the right to be an ornery old geezer. And, no. Staying out of trouble for two months was no easy task for such a complicated man." Siri is selected to go on one last junket, courtesy of a U.S. delegation trying to find an American pilot downed 10 years ago in Southern Laos. That is, the pilot is the public reason given for the co-operative venture. Events are shown from the point of view of the Lao, and they can be funny. For example, the Americans are led by a U.S. Senator (comfortably, from behind) who is eager for a photo-op with the locals. What he doesn't know, and it's an inside joke for the Lao, is that all the photos show the Lao sitting with both of their feet pointed at the pushy Senator, which is very disrespectful in their eyes. There is a lot of humor in this series. Humor from the types of characters, themselves, humor from the situations, humor from seeing history from another's point of view, and humor straight out of the mouths of the irrespressible Dr. Siri and his cohorts. And the writing is good: "Time appeared to be changing pace, a gallop here, a legless drag there." I now have to purchase the six mysteries in between "The Coroner's Lunch" and "Slash and Burn". I'm dismayed to read, on my book jacket, that "Slash and Burn" is the last Dr. Siri mystery. Fortunately for me, Cotterill has started a new series, set in Thailand (his home for many years). I read the first in that series, "Killed at the Whim of a Hat" and really liked it. It is a little crazier than the Dr. Siri books, but still intelligently written. I did miss the historical mileau of the Dr. Siri books, though.
Killed at the Whim of a HatI'll also add that I am puzzled by the title and book cover for "Slash and Burn". I understand where slash-and-burn came from, it is part of the story. But the title and the green slashy cover is more appropriate for a thriller. This book, on the other hand, is an intelligent mystery. Though I didn't consider it a slow-paced novel, I don't think it has the pacing or plot structure of a standard thriller. I am reviewing from the Advance Uncopyedited Edition. ////////////////////////// I'm adding to my review. I read a lot of mysteries, but my husband almost never does. However, he read the first in the Dr. Siri series, "Coroner's Lunch" and was fascinated. Now he's starting on "Slash and Burn", and he doesn't even mind that I'm buying the Dr. Siri books published in between the two. This is intelligent writing with a historical context that is fascinating.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
`It was true, just five weeks before, things had been normal.', February 2, 2012
This review is from: Slash and Burn: A Dr. Siri Mystery Set in Laos (Hardcover)
It's 1978 and Dr Siri Paiboun, the national coroner of Laos, is now 74 years old, and his retirement is less than two months away. But then a note from his boss, Judge Haeng summons him to the Ministry of Justice, and one last job. `Trust me - nothing can go wrong this time.' Dr Siri is to accompany a joint Lao- American team into a remote area of Laos to examine what might the remains of a downed US airman and his helicopter missing since August 1968. It's a five day mission and Dr Siri's presence has been requested by the Americans. Dr Siri negotiates, and agrees to accompany the mission provided that he is accompanied by his wife Madame Daeng, his mortuary staff Nurse Dtui and Mr Gueng, and his friends Phosy and Civilai. Readers familiar with the series (this is the eighth book) will recognise each of these characters. `But the nice thing about facts is that you can toss them in here and there merely to win arguments. It doesn't matter if they're accurate.' Dr Siri quickly realises that nothing is really as it seems. The reader has some clues about the possible complexity of the mission based on the prologue (from the point of view of Boyd Bowry, the missing pilot) and some mysterious events in the Philippines. American politicians have their own reasons for searching, and while the Lao politicians are cooperating for political reasons, they are most definitely not speaking the same language. And when a member of the expedition is found dead at the Friendship Hotel, Dr Siri is determined to uncover the truth. Auntie Bpoo, the clairvoyant transvestite, is also part of the expedition and has foretold Dr Siri's death. Will it be on this expedition? Will it be before Dr Siri finishes this case? `This is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Dr Siri.' Madame Haeng's cooking skills come in very handy, and Mr Gueng becomes a bona fide hero. And throughout the story Judge Haeng reminds us of the multiple attributes of a good communist: `A good communist does not shake his comrade by the hand and stab him in the back at the same time.' `A good communist is like a tree. He stands firm but knows how to bend in a strong wind. He is fertile but gladly gives up his nuts to less fortunate creatures.' I enjoyed this novel: will be the last in this series? I'm looking forward to the second book in Mr Cotterill's new series (featuring Jimm Juree) (`Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach') is due to be published shortly. Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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