The “mystery” genre is a wide-open, anything-goes canvas. A few pages into “Slash and Burn” or any of the Cotterill stories and you’ll realize you’re into a whole new realm with all new rules. Our “hero” is Dr. Siri Paiboun, a Loatian coroner who is pushing 80 years old. He’s feisty and irascible about just about everything and that gives him the everyman quality that’s easy to latch onto. Dr. Siri is free to think or say anything—and he does.

“Slash and Burn” is light and breezy. There is a dollop of carefree, free-form fantasy with every page. Aiding and abetting this mood is the thousand-year-old Hmong shaman spirit who shares space with Dr. Siri. “I’m afraid we come as a set,” he says.

In “Slash and Burn,” it's summer in Vientiane. Dr. Siri is chosen to go on a trip with a delegation from the United States in search of a downed American pilot. The “mystery” mounts as it’s clear that something other than an unfortunate landing spot killed the downed pilot but even as events start to mean increased jeopardy for Dr. Siri, there are detours to make tea and deliver observations on marijuana as additive for food.

Don’t be deceived by the “Slash and Burn” title. Yes, bullets fly at the end but the “slash and burn” here refers to villagers who burn off the top growth to prepare fields for planting, to allow the ash to fertilize the soil.

There are secrets, there are “mysteries,” there is truth to be discovered. Just in a unique fashion with a unique, somewhat reluctant sleuth in an unusual setting. Call it a mystery or just call it a light, fun read. It’s no wonder Dr. Siri has lasted so long.