This is the fifth of a series, and while it would have helped to have read the earlier ones, this stands alone quite well. Dr. Siri, the reluctant coroner, is "abducted" by a small band of Hmong. They know of his reputation as a shaman, and seek his aid with a recalcitrant young woman. Meanwhile, back at his home base, his wife and friend aim to track down a nemesis, The Lizard, who continues her evil acts as described in earlier books. ( )

Hardback soho press Inc 2008

In this book in the series, nurse Dtui has married her policeman husband, and is pregnant with their first child. Siri is engaged to be married with madame daeng.
P.26-7:
"The hmong at first migrated to Laos from China almost two centuries before. They were a people forced through their Swidden – slash and burn farming -- lifestyle to move on every five to ten years when the fields became unproductive. Originally, land had been plentiful and this was no problem. but soon, with overcrowding on the plains, they were forced to higher and higher ground. They were a race with no nation, no large cities, and few ambitions beyond family and home. they lived according to tradition with the elders teaching everything technical, moral, and spiritual to the young. But history constantly found them in the wrong place at the wrong time. opium cultivation had been imposed on them by the Chinese and French administrators, then they were taxed for producing it. When they supplied to the wrong side, they were hounded off the land. they found themselves in a system they had no desire to enter, constantly having to fight for their independence. when they fought it was not out of conviction but for their own survival.
in laos, interclan rivalry was exploited at the time of the Japanese occupation. One clan collaborated with the japanese, the other with the french. the split became even more pronounced after the war, with one side forming an alliance with the Communists in the North and the other with the americans. there was very little option of non-alignment. The Lao hmong lived in a land that had forever been somebody's battleground. diverse groups who had no interest in politics were forced by their clan name to favor one side or the other. clans found themselves pulled into The fray by recruiters. Once again, the Hmong had become somebody's enemy – a title their culture abhorred and given their history of abuse, one they hardly deserved."

P.36:
"Some people just die. Siri had come to that conclusion after many years of careful observation. they don't necessarily die of anything, they just get old, everything gives up , and they pass away. It's as simple as that. there are those who describe it as dying of old age but that puts old age in the same category as bubonic plague and the black death. there really is nothing dangerous about old age and there's no reason to be afraid of it. It certainly hadn't done Dr Siri any harm. he'd been passing through its hallowed halls for some years and it hadn't killed him."

When siri is kidnapped by the hmong, judge haeng jumps out of the Jeep, and disappears into the jungle. Siri lets the hMong know that the judge will perish if left in the jungle, and that he needs his assistance, so two young soldiers rescue him and bring him back to the village.
P.137:
"a broken wrist, a lost toenail, several deep lacerations probably caused by running into trees, bruises, a slight fever as a result of malnutrition, and a bad case of poison ivy. but, against all the odds, judge Haeng would live to tell the tale. Bao looked at his well-manicured fingernails and soft hands.
'He isn't your assistant, is he Yeh ming?'
'in fact, he's my chief,' Siri confessed.
'but... But he's much younger than you.'
'That's The marvelous thing about communism, bao. equal opportunity. even a man without experience has the chance to run a department.'
'it's a silly system.' "

Long's daughter, who has supposedly been impregnated by a demon, has lost her soul. So Siri goes to the underworld, looking for her it.
P.153:
" 'Siri pushed over a stack of files with his finger. it collapsed a second and a third stack and exposed a stunned, red-faced man who looked at him through bloodshot eyes.
'Wh...?'
siri said, 'you find some of the most bad-mannered people in jobs dealing with the public. Why do you suppose that is?'
'what?'
'It takes skills to deal with people day in and day out. customers have feelings, you know? It isn't that difficult to show a little courtesy and civility. it takes no more effort to make your clients happy than it does to depress the socks off them. if you can't do that, I don't really know why you're here. There are plenty of non-contact careers available for bookkeepers.'
There was a long silence during which the two stared at each other. the ginger-haired man swallowed and his voice broke a little as he said, 'I'm Nywa Tuatay, the deputy overlord of the otherworld.'
'then, as I say, perhaps you should be looking for a position that better suits your personality.' "

P.163-4:
" 'congratulations,' he said. 'you're a grandfather.'
The women, still carrying their mental images of terror, approached the babies cautiously. did they sport horns? Have fangs? Did they have all their requisite limbs and organs?
'Are they...?' Long began.
'they're perfectly normal, perfectly healthy human beings,' Siri smiled. although they were certainly pretty babies, he didn't add the word 'beautiful' in case the infant-stealing dab spirits were listening.
...
'And Chammee?' Long asked. 'where is my daughter?'
it was the question Siri had dreaded. He pulled away from bao and stood before long with his hands collapsed in front of him. He shook his head. 'I'm afraid it was too much for her,' he said.

The villagers have a huge party to celebrate the release of Chammee's soul, and a farewell party for their own tribe.
P.181:
"...the silver jewelry and ornaments he'd seen little signs of since his arrival had gone with their owners. with the whiskey still buzzing in their heads, the Hmong had packed their valuables and their opium nuggets and their salted pig meat and they left. And Siri had slept through it all. his chest felt empty as if some important organ had been removed from it. he held the pa n'tow to his nose and breathed in the strength and youth of his general bao and the courage of her tribe.
If he hadn't been so dehydrated, he might have even managed a tear or two. something about the countryside released the emotions that remained bottled in the city. perhaps he wasn't just sad for the plight of these friends, perhaps it was a global, all-encompassing sadness that included his whole country, and the hopelessness of life, and the fact that there would never really be peace in the world because man was intrinsically stupid. at that moment, with the mother of all hangovers pounding in his head, he felt he shouldered the misery of every victim in the universe."

( )

I'm sure that starting at the beginning of the series would have given me a much clearer understanding of the characters...but hey...why should I start doing that now? It seems that politics plays a large role in the stories, but the books are NOT about politics...they're about friendship and love of the people living in a small Laotian community. Dr. Siri, the main character, has special abilities that connect him to the spirit world as well as special abilities to work the system. I found the book to be beautifully written and the cast of characters a rare treasure...and at the center of all this is a fantastic mystery, the kind that grabs the reader and makes you want to keep reading well into the night. I'm hooked as long as he continues to produce such marvelous, funny, endearing and amazing characters as those I have already met. I'll be good and start at the beginning. ( )

Tremendously satisfying. ( )

Dr. Siri and the Hmong Exorcism
Review of the Knopf Canada hardcover edition (August 26, 2008) of the Soho Crime hardcover original (July 1, 2008)

Curse of the Pogo Stick is the 5th book of the Dr. Siri Paiboun series and has Lao national coroner Dr. Siri and his nemesis Judge Haeng off in Northeast Laos. Back in the capital city of Vientiane, Siri's friends and allies, fiancée Daeng, Inspector Phosy, Nurse Dtui, Attendant Deung, and old comrade Civilai are dealing with the after effects of the failed coup d'état from the previous book Anarchy and Old Dogs (2007).

Siri and Haeng are kidnapped by a tribe of Hmong who need Siri's shaman powers to exorcise an evil force in their village (the pogo stick of the title is a macguffin, and hardly features in the book). This plot line provides author Cotterill the opportunity to expand on the history of the Hmong and how their culture has been decimated in the long nationalist and political conflicts of the region. The hapless Judge Haeng provides the comic relief with his cowardly antics.

Meanwhile in Vientiane, the forces of the Lizard are attempting to assassinate Siri's friends in retribution for their coup failure. Nurse Dtui is able to defuse their various bombings and poisonings. She and the rest of the gang formulate a plan to expose the conspirators.

This series continues to delight with its overviews of Lao lifestyles and culture, the human persistence in the face of bureaucratic & totalitarian incompetence and Dr. Siri's unique investigative methods that combine spiritual perception with common sense intuition. ( )