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Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent 72-year-old has an outstanding qualification for it: curiosity. And he doesn't mind incurring the wrath of the Party hierarchy as he unravels mysterious murders, because the spirits of the dead are on his side.
With the help of his newly-appointed secretary, the ambitious and shrewd Dtui, and Mr. Geung, the Down-Syndrome-afflicted morgue assistant, Dr. Paiboun performs autopsies and begins asking questions to solve the mysteries relating to the death of the wife of a government official and of the unidentified body fished out of the river who didn't drown but was tortured with electricity. As it turns out, all is not peaceful and calm in the new Communist paradise of Laos.
"The sights, smells and colors of Laos practically jump off the pages of this inspired, often wryly witty first novel."
â??Denver Post
"If Cotterill...had done nothing more than treat us to Siri's views on the dramatic, even comic crises that mark periods of government upheaval, his debut mystery would still be fascinating. But the multiple cases spread out on Siri's examining table...are not cozy entrtainments, but substantial crimes that take us into the thick of political intrigue,"
This story was set in Laos where Dr. Siri was the new communist installed National Medical Examiner. This mystery involved an official's wife and the bodies of tortured Vietnamese soldiers. Although the mystery was passable, I found a lack of anything cultural or historical--it did not evoke time or place for me. This same mystery could have been any mystery anywhere there is a body of water. This is book one in the series. I'm not inclined to read further. 287 pages ( )
The premise is pretty darn cool: A 70-something doctor in Laos is forcibly made into the national coroner when it is revealed that the communist revolution doesn't believe in retirement. The undertone: he's old and probably infirm and the party will be able to control him. The reality: he's spunky and thoughtful and decides that if he's going to be thrust into a three-quarter-life crisis, he may as well embrace it. He's read a few mystery novels himself, and he decides: what the heck, I'm going to solve mysteries!
And solve mysteries he does, aided by Geung, his assistant with Down syndrome and a near-eidetic memory (one of the best literary depiction of trisomy 21 I've ever seen, by the way) and Dtui, his nurse, who bribes him into letting her be the assistant coroner. And a fairly large cast of eccentric, but not over-the-top wacky characters who really help flesh out the life of post-communist revolution Laos. And certainly, the setting is the main draw here: the politics/politicking of the recently formed communist power, the rich culture of Laos, the tensions among Southeast Asian nations in the late 70's -- both critical to the plot, but more importantly critical to the feel of the book.
What I certainly didn't expect (and the back of the book doesn't tell you) is that Dr. Siri is also heavily aided by the mystical: visions of the dead, messages from the dead, prophetic dreams, being the embodiment of a resurrected Hmong spirit figure such that he is able to speak fluent Hmong when the plot calls for it and many other examples. I've never been a big fan of magical realism, and it's particularly jarring here as the book was billed as "Holmesian sleuthing." Yes, there is deduction, but almost every case is solved by a major clue from the magical realm.
The weakest part of the book to me is the pacing: there are at least three major mysteries (three dead Vietnamese men, the natural? death of a party bigwig's wife and the suicide? of said bigwig's girlfriend, and the deaths of four soldiers out near the Hmong village.) These three do not intertwine in any way except temporally, often interrupting the plotlines of each other.
This is a fun, light read; definitely recommended for anyone looking to learn more about Laos, but light on the mystery. ( )
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With the kindest thanks and lots of love to the following folks: Pornsawan, Bouasawan, Chantavone, Sounieng, Ketkaew, Dr Pongruk, Bounlan, Don, Souk, Soun, Michael and his secretary, Somdee, David L., Nok, Dtee, Siri, Yayoi and Steph.
Incipit
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Tran, Tran, and Hok broke through the heavy end-of-wet-season clouds.
Citazioni
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Most of the results from Siri’s morgue relied on archaic color tests: combinations of chemicals or litmus samples. These were more suitable for telling what wasn’t, rather than what was.
We, my children, are no longer common coroners. We are investigators of death.
He couldn’t imagine why old men would chase new-hatched chicks when there were pretty hens in the yard.
Nguyen Hong changed, Siri put together his carbon copy of the autopsy report. Then the two set off for a real coroner's lunch in the canteen. Given the topic of their conversation, they were guaranteed a table to themselves. (p. 94)
They looked out at the sleek white tern flying a foot from the surface of the river. It swooped down for a fish, thrust its beak in too deep, and crashed, somersaulting with the current.
I bet that hurt.
The battered tern, its feathers flustered, broke triumphantly through the surface of the water with the fish in its beak. The two old friends put down their plastic cups and applauded. (p. 95)
"When we cut down a tree for our huts, or to make space to plant crops, we ask for permission from the tree spirits. We make offerings, sacrifices sometimes, as our own shaman sees fit. Usually, the spirits will move on without blaming us. After all, we have to live together, share what resources we have. That's the way it has always been.
"Some of the trees in these parts are as old as the land itself. The spirits have become powerful here. When the soldiers came, they didn't ask permission. They didn't show any respect. They didn't sacrifice a buffalo or consult a shaman. They just started cutting. And they cut and cut and hauled the timber away in trucks. They cut hundreds, thousands of trees.
"Can you imagine? Even the most benevolent spirits have become evil. They all seek revenge." [Tshaj, Hmong headman] (p. 140)
Socialism is a great cosmos, but trust is the atmosphere that holds the stars together.
"I'm sneaking in to the embassy this afternoon when all the dignitaries are at the reception. You people are never short of receptions, are you?"
"That's why it's called the Communist 'Party', and not the Communist 'sit down and get some work done'."
Ultime parole
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As soon as he opened the lid, his smile faded. Whatever joy that had surrounded them vanished like incense smoke. Lying in the box, like a charred corpse in a coffin, was the black prism on its leather thong. Not some other black prism, the one worn smooth from years of hands. The one that had been destroyed and scattered on the land in Khamuan.
"Given the bad luck you've been having lately, I figured you could use a lucky charm. Like it?"
Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent 72-year-old has an outstanding qualification for it: curiosity. And he doesn't mind incurring the wrath of the Party hierarchy as he unravels mysterious murders, because the spirits of the dead are on his side.
With the help of his newly-appointed secretary, the ambitious and shrewd Dtui, and Mr. Geung, the Down-Syndrome-afflicted morgue assistant, Dr. Paiboun performs autopsies and begins asking questions to solve the mysteries relating to the death of the wife of a government official and of the unidentified body fished out of the river who didn't drown but was tortured with electricity. As it turns out, all is not peaceful and calm in the new Communist paradise of Laos.
"The sights, smells and colors of Laos practically jump off the pages of this inspired, often wryly witty first novel."
â??Denver Post
"If Cotterill...had done nothing more than treat us to Siri's views on the dramatic, even comic crises that mark periods of government upheaval, his debut mystery would still be fascinating. But the multiple cases spread out on Siri's examining table...are not cozy entrtainments, but substantial crimes that take us into the thick of political intrigue,"
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