by Colin Cotterill
I really enjoy the humor and irony of this mystery series. The characters are engaging and it is fascinating to read about Laos in the 70's and the challenges that the national (ie only) coroner faces on a daily basis. Everything from oppressive bureaucracy, lack of chemicals, limited resources (for...
Not the best plot but the characters in this series are well worth reading about and the Laos setting during the 1970s is really interesting.
I remember the first book 'The Coroner's Lunch' as amusing and quirky but this one transcends that somehow - the characters all leap from the page and he had me looking up maps of Laos and learning a bit about why the country is such an odd shape. I think magical realism is a good description, even ...
Another good entry in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. As with a lot of my favorite mystery series, there is a lot more going on here than just the crime solving. I really like learning more about the main characters, and the portrait of life in 1970s Laos, a place I know little about, fascinates me. ...
The second installment in the mystery series featuring Dr. Siri, my favorite coroner and host of an ancient Hmong shaman's spirit. While it contains the ingredients that make the series great, there are several stumbles that make this book more of a leftover noodle soup--a nice accompaniment to a me...
Rating: 4.25* of fiveThe Book Report: Returning to Vientiane, Laos, a good three months after we left it in The Coroner's Lunch, Colin Cotterill drops us in the midst of Laotian Hell: It's the hot season, before the rains, and so the entire nation greets each other with, "Hot, isn't it?" Responding,...
Thirty-Three Teeth is the second installment in the Siri Paiboun series. Dr. Paiboun and his coterie remain as engaging as ever, and while there's a savage, serial murderer loose in Vientiane, the bulk of the novel is more concerned with Siri's efforts to cope with the fact that he's the reincarnate...
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