Thirty-Three Teeth (Wheeler Softcover) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Colin Cotterill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2008 | Series: Wheeler Softcover

Winner of the Dilys Award and a Crime Writers' Association Library Dagger

Feisty Dr. Siri Paiboun is no respecter of persons or party; at his age he feels he can afford to be independent. In this, the second novel in the series, he travels to Luang Prabang, where he communes with the deposed king who is resigned to his fate: it was predicted long ago. And he attends a conference of shamans called by the Communist Party to deliver an ultimatum to the spirits: obey party orders or get out. But as a series of mutilated corpses arrives in Dr. Siri's morgue, and Nurse Dtui is menaced, he must use all his powers--forensic and shamanic--to discover the creature--animal or spirit--that has been slaying the innocent.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dr. Siri Paiboun of Laos—"reluctant national coroner, confused psychic, [and] disheartened communist"—employs forensic skills and spiritual acumen to solve a series of bizarre killings in Cotterill's quirky, exotic and winning second novel, set in 1977. Could an old escaped bear be mauling Vientiane citizens? Or is it something more mystical—say, a weretiger? When Paiboun is summoned to the capital to identify the nationality of a pair of charred bodies, he quickly flags them as Asians killed in a helicopter crash, and his ability to connect them to the royal family annoys Communist Party leaders. As Paiboun learns of an effort to get the remaining royal family members out of town, he's arrested, accused of damaging government property. But the witness's testimony is questionable, and Paiboun, representing himself in court, escapes this scrape as handily as he's escaped others before. Paiboun's droll wit and Cotterill's engaging plot twists keep things energetic; the rather grisly murders are offset by comedy, including a scene in which a Party member attempts to impose regulations on the spirit world. The elegant, elderly Paiboun seems an unlikely vehicle to carry a series (he debuted in 2004's The Coroner's Lunch), but he does so with charm and aplomb. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Less than two years after the Communist rise to power in Laos, the nervous government is sending the royal family into secret exile, banning festivals where large groups might revolt, and even ordering benevolent spirits to lend their spectral hands to the cause. But rest assured that Dr. Siri Paiboun, the nation's aged chief coroner and host body for an ancient spirit, will find a way to keep life interesting. In his second outing, the impish Siri faces three mysteries. First, the government asks him to identify a pair of badly burned corpses. Soon, a fearsome creature begins slaughtering the citizens of Vientiane. And then people start inexplicably hurtling to their deaths from a ministry building. In one of many farcical twists, the nation's police officers carry empty guns. So Siri; his friend, Inspector Phosy; able nurse Dtui; and an old comrade with a high party post must use their considerable wits--and an occasional supernatural assist--to crack the cases. As they do so, readers will crack more than a few smiles. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 365 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (June 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597227706
• ISBN-13: 978-1597227704
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,077,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colin Cotterill was born in London in 1952. He taught and trained teachers around the world before settling in Thailand where he wrote and produced a forty-program language teaching series, English by Accident, for Thai national television. He spent sever

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second book in a delightful series, August 1, 2006

By 

Timothy Hallinan (Bangkok/Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thirty-Three Teeth (Paperback)

"Thirty-Three Teeth" continues the saga of Dr. Siri Paiboun who, well into his seventies, is more or less drafted to serve as the coroner of Laos. The first in the series, "The Coroner's Lunch," was, for me, the nicest surprise I had all last year (from a book, that is), and the new one is, if anything, even better.

What makes these books so wonderful? Well, practically everything. The characters are fresh, the writing is sharp and, in this age of bloat, kept refreshingly short. The setting is completely unexplored up until now, and in Cotterill's vision it's a comic-opera banana dictatorship run by incompetents whose only real motivation is to dig a protective moat around their own rear ends, a place where truth comes in a distant second to doctrine and expedience.

But what I like best is the way Cotterill interweaves into his mysteries the internal world of the Laotians, rich in both spirit and spirits. Dr. Siri -- not entirely to his pleasure -- has gained entry into the world of the dead, and his dreams are full of the people whose deaths he somewhat reluctantly investigates. This additional layer is never intrusive and never overdone. It gives us insight into a worldview that is very different that that of the West, one that is in some ways richer and more beautiful.

It wouldn't be fair to write even a few paragraphs about this book without saying that Cotterill is also very funny. From my perspective, this is the most delightful new series in several years. I ordered the new one, "Disco for the Departed," months before it came out, and it's currently sitting on my To Be Read shelf -- I keep putting it off because once I start it I'll read it in one sitting, and then it'll be over.

Give Colin Cotterill a try. I've bought several copies of the first two books to give away, but since I probably don't know you, you'll have to pay for your own.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a sequel, March 9, 2006

By 

D. A Shogren (Vientiane, Laos PDR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thirty-Three Teeth (Hardcover)

Dr Siri will live on in my mind as a great gumshoe (or sandal) detective and also as being quite representative of the wonderful humor and intellect of the Lao people. My Lao wife (only 6 months in the US from Vientiane) also read the book, laughed throughout and confirmed the geography and characters. Even if you have little interest in the country or people, this is a great detective novel. If you are interested in Lao, you will find a wealth of rich detail. Colin...write some more!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars We Have Spirit, Yes We Do, We Have Spirit, How About You?, November 27, 2005

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thirty-Three Teeth (Hardcover)

This second book in the Dr. Siri series continues the adventures of 72-year-old state coroner of the newly liberated People's Democratic Republic of Laos, circa 1976. Readers who haven't read the first book ("The Coroner's Lunch") should definitely stop and go back, as it provides a great deal of background and depth for the characters, including explaining just how Dr. Siri has become the carrier of the spirit of a millennia-old Hmong shaman. The setting finds the Pathet Lao government shakily trying to consolidate its power by banning longtime cultural holidays such as Songkran (New Year) and the Rocket Festival, inviting in plenty of Soviet and other Communist advisors (there's a kind of silly cameo by Kim Jong Il), and arranging for the exile of the deposed royal family.

Against this backdrop, three major plotlines emerge. First, someone or something caused a government worker to toss himself off the seventh story of a building. Second, an unknown creature or person is killing women in Vientiane, leaving behind ravaged corpses that look like the victims of grizzly bear attacks. Finally, a pair of charred corpses await Dr. Siri's inspection in the former royal city of Luang Prabang. The first book in the series subverted genre convention by weaving in the supernatural. In it, the spirit world was shown to be a healthy and thriving force with direct influence in the physical realm. Here, that aspect takes over the plotlines to a much greater degree. Both the mystery of the suicide and the mystery of the mauled corpses are directly linked to the spirit world, and Dr. Siri's trip to Luang Prabang is also heavily tinged with supernatural elements. Readers who like their crime books realistic will find this one much too far-fetched to enjoy, as Siri spends more time collecting clues from enigmatic spirits than anything else.

Besides the overemphasis on the supernatural, the book just doesn't measure up to the first in a number of other ways. The local color is almost completely lacking, and the dialogue and interactions between characters are far less engaging. In fact, without the background on them from the previous book, they would be far too sparsely drawn. The sole exception to this is Nurse Dtui, who is given a substantial role to play, and has hidden depths revealed. Owing to events of the first book, Dr. Siri himself is somewhat different as well, a little more happy-go-lucky and unburdened, much more of an impish figure. This is all well and good, but it robs him of some of the weight that made him so compelling a figure the first time around. This was a letdown after the series' strong start, hopefully the next book will ease off on the supernatural aspect and give Dr. Siri some a really juicy plot to explore.