Dr Siri has a problem.  In fact, he has several, but lucky for him, he has a good team on his side.  This mystery takes place in Laos during Communist rule and concerns a doctor who wants to retire but can’t and finds himself as a coroner.  He struggles to solve the murder of a high ranking official’s wife, and luckily has the help of a funny nurse Dtuti, and a morgue attendant.

                And then there is the mysterious police officer.

                Overall, I enjoy this book.  The spiritual side, one that takes up a good section in the middle of the book is somewhat out of place, and feels like, in some sense, little more than a plot device.  But it doesn’t overwhelm the story, which remains entertaining.

                And I double dog dare you not to like Dtuti.

Book 2, in the Jimm Juree Mysteries

If humour is the essence we find here no shortage of it, actually we have plenty to make us laugh, a bit too much for my taste but again this is Colin Cotterill, a prolific and eccentric crime writer and cartoonist who is more than able to produce stories that will certainly throw us off guard, bring a sort of escape, provide an exotic ambiance and strike the right nuance between funny and subtle.

Told in the first person by Jimm the story opens with the discovery of a severed head on the beach where the Thai ex-crime reporter lives and works. Outraged when no one of authority is interested or wants to get involve and with the help of family and friends Jimm springs into action and sets out to track down what circumstances brought the poor fellow on her beach. On the journey this bunch of mishmash wannabes uncovers gruesome tales of piracy, slavery, violence and murder. Once more we have a tale where the amazing and the ridiculous clashes.

The story takes its merry time before getting to the meat of the mystery. Half the book’s dialogues is a play on words and seem funny but there is more to this laugh out loud silliness it does have an underlying seriousness. The plot centers on the situation Myanmar refugees in Thailand find themselves in, where some are kidnapped, forced into slavery aboard fishing ships and in a situation where some will never return to dry land. Although the story may sound rather grim, the hilarious spots make this book a really light read, one to enjoy to a degree

When a blind man gets hit by a truck in Vientiene, Dr. Siri, Laos’ only coroner gets involved. The body of the dentist reveals nothing except for a blank page, which turns out to be a note written in invisible ink. Intrigued Dr. Siri along with Inspector Phosy visits the house of the deceased dentist and finds a clue that sends Dr. Siri and Civilai to Pakse in the south, and Phosy and Nurse Dtui east into Thailand.

One of the prime reasons I read Dr. Siri mysteries is for the humor element. The plot as it is never reaches the dizzying heights of a whodunit, but Cotteril’s humor, along with his elegant writing style, his descriptions and mainly his take,via Dr. Siri, on Communism and its effect provides me with enough fodder to enjoy the book thoroughly. And it was no different this time. Be it the diplomat who got fried in his bathtub, or the musings of “Inspector Migraine” wanting to solve the murder by eliminating suspects “one by one” were notably laughable. And without giving away the plot, or shouting spoiler alert, the conversation between the two old friends, Siri and Civilai, are deep and insightful. Especially where Siri defends the revolution and the ensuing talk that follows.

If not a must read, but still a book which should be picked up just to feel Dr. Siri and frankly it’s a shame to miss even one Dr. Siri mystery.

I few years ago a realization struck me. Why were the protagonists of the books I was reading invariably between the ages of 20 to 40 (give or take a few years at each end of the interval)? Publishing-wise it seemed like nothing interesting was happening to people outside this age bracket. Is this realistic? Does it matter?  No wonder our society is obsessed with youth when fiction is aimed at certain age groups. After 40, am I simply seen as irrelevant? I’m sick and tired of reading about some 25-year-old that has the perfect career all tied up and is mature beyond his/her years (“Twilight” comes to mind). A novel with characters always in the right age group is for me a difficult sell. Is our society afraid to age and is that the reason why it clings to the same old stereotypes?

Here we have a 72-year old protagonist that made laugh out loud. That’s not a mean feat in my view of things.

Cotterill’s grasp on Lao’s time and place and culture is quite impressive. On top of that he was really creative with his characters, and his threads (there are several) are twisted and thrilling and deftly managed. The writing is hilariously funny, graphic while managing a wonderful pointedness. This pot-pourri mixed with the colour of the Laotian language and culture really makes it worth reading. Unfortunately that’s where the good stuff ends. The detours into supernaturalism didn’t ring true at all. Dead people appear to Siri in dreams and provide clues (Deus ex machina in my book). There's a long part of the novel in which Siri goes to a remote Hmong village and participates in a sort of exorcism, in which he personally battles forest demons… I think it’d have worked better if the plot device was reduced to a naturalistic explanation.

What (almost) saves the novel is Dr. Siri’s crusty, thumb-nosing personality. What a treat.