<![CDATA[The Coroner's Lunch]]>

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243353

"This series kickoff is an embarrassment of riches: Holmesian sleuthing, political satire, and [a] droll comic study of a prickly late bloomer."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "The sights, smells, and colors of Laos practically jump of the pages of this inspired, often wryly witty first novel."-Denver Post "A wonderfully fresh and exotic mystery. . . . 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 entertainments, but substantial crimes that take us into the thick of political intrigue."-The New York Times Book Review "In Siri, Cotterill has created a detective as distinctive as Maigret or Poirot."-Orlando Sentinel "The Soho Press crime series . . . has done mystery connoisseurs everywhere a favor by adding Colin Cotterill to its publishing list. The author gives us exotic locations; a world that few of us know well; crisp, intelligent, and often-witty writing; and, most of all, a hero unlike any other." -The Philadelphia Inquirer Laos, 1975. The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job, there is no one else; the rest of the educated class has fled. He is expected to come up with the answers the party wants. But crafty and charming Dr.Siri is immune to bureaucratic pressure. At his age, he reasons, what can they do to him? And he knows he cannot fail the dead who come into his care without risk of incurring their boundless displeasure. Eternity could be a long time to have the spirits mad at you.

235766

2004

The Coroner's Lunch

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384

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4 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 06:54:59 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 15:13:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 19:23:21 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 22:34:40 -0700 2008
The setting is Laos just after the Pathet Lao seized power (c. 1975). Dr. Siri Paiboun is an old member of the Party dragooned into being the country's chief coronor because all the qualified candidates have fled. Untrained, nevertheless Siri sets out to l...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 21 12:55:43 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 12:55:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 08:12:37 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 08:24:20 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 21:04:35 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 14:41:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 12:51:19 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 12:58:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 07 14:26:33 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 14:29:30 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 14:26:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 03 06:41:38 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 06:45:59 -0700 2009
Dr. Siri, aged 72 is appointed Coroner for the country (all the other doctor's have escaped to Thailand)

Lots of murders.

The insane ugliness of communist rule laid out.

Total immersion in ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 19:27:56 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 04:03:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Sep 13 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Jan 15 06:33:45 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 06:34:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Sun Nov 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 10:15:43 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 11 14:32:26 -0800 2009
Set in the newly Communist Laos in 1976, the book spends little time on polemics and theory, and more on the everyday hardships of a poor country now magnified because of the requi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 30 22:48:36 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 13 11:30:12 -0800 2008
In fact, much of Colin Cotterill's debut novel is t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 17:26:03 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 12:07:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 17:30:17 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 17:33:02 -0700 2009
The mysteries incorporate spiritual elements: the SE Asian peop...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 26 07:43:06 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 07:48:57 -0700 2009 Set in Laos, once a part of Indochina, but taken over by the Communists. Dr. Siri, trained in Franceis made the coroner, a mundane job, but he is no ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 29 17:20:35 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 17:37:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 03:17:41 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 03:23:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat May 09 07:42:37 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 07:45:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu May 14 18:58:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 19:14:45 -0700 2009 Coroner and his old friend. I have
now read all in his series: Thirty-Three
Teeth, Disco for the Departed and
Anarchy and Old Dogs. In August
a new release for The Curse of the
Pogo Stick and a hardcover release
of The Merry Misog...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 07:02:55 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 15:42:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=243353