The Coroner's Lunch (A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery)

Writers are voracious but time-challenged and persnickety readers. Our "to be read" piles display serious seismic problems. So when we find a book that surprises, delights, and captivates, it's well worth celebrating. Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri and his first cases in THE CORONER'S LUNCH was my latest treat. Set in Laos in the 1970s, it features 70-something Dr. Siri who is dying to retire but instead is taped to be the newly Communist nation's state coroner, and perform his job without even the most basic resources, including microscopes and chemicals. To make matters worse, he's only guide to his new profession is an old French textbook -- and his French is rusty. And then they're the party officials, who want him adapt his findings, clothes, and attitudes to their needs. And then there are the ghosts of the departed, with their own demands. This wonderful mystery drifts at its own pace, unique among modern crime fiction. But it never lags or sags or tires and kept me captive until the delicious wrap up. For armchair travelers, the atmosphere of a distant world, time, and culture are beautifully drawn.

Brilliant series. I came across Colin Cotterill because of a love of great titles. Cotterill supplies, and backs the titles up with amazing writing. The characters are so incredibly believable, even though they are so totally different than anything I've ever experienced. Word of warning: the books do deal with some pretty hard topics. The author does so with grace, but that doesn't mean much if you're looking for a cozy mystery with nothing more challenging than murder going on. I love my cozy mysteries, but this series (and the Jimm Juree series) wander outside the cozy while delivering amazing stories. I will read and re-read these happily for as long as I can get my hands on them, and hope you have as wonderful an experience.

I enjoyed this book very much. I knew I would probably like this series but I liked it even better than I thought I would.Dr. Siri Palbourn is 72 years old and was ready for retirement. He is living in Laos and it is 1976. He studied medicine in France when he was a young man. He fell in love with a young revolutionary and followed her back to fight for the cause. Now he is 72 and and Laos has a new communist government. The doctor who had experience in doing autopsies swam across the river to Thailand so now Siri is made the National Coroner of Laos. The problem is that he has not trained in this area.The department is underfunded and has few supplies. He has a boss who doesn't understand his own job. Suri does his first autopsy by following a 30 year old French book. The characters are special in the book. Dr. Siri is humorous and speaks his mind in an atmosphere that does not encourage this at all. He has two not typical assistants who he likes very much. One is a nurse Drui who wants to train for his job. She likes to read entertainment magazines. Mr. Geung has Downs Syndrome and has become skilled in autopsy skills. He and Dr. Siri greet each other every day "Do we have any customers today. No customers today, Dr. Comrade."The first page of the book is quite dramatic. It starts the mystery of three men who are dropped from a helicopter into a lake with weights attached to their legs. Two countries, Vietnam and Laos become involved with investigation of the murders. Dr. Suri investigates.Also, a prominent wife of a leader dies at a banquet and her husband is very eager to take the body away from Dr. Suri. Dr. Suri finds he has investigative skills and doesn't take the word of those above him for what has caused the deaths. Dr. Suri also has communications with his "customers". At first they come to him in dreams but later it occurs in his waking life.I laughed out loud several times. It is a gentle book yet it is not. Dr. Suri makes it seem that way. I have the next book to read. It is a special series. I think if you like mysteries in foreign countries with great characters, very good plotting and humor, you should like this book.

Colin Cotterill is a very, very witty man who also has a great talent for writing mysteries, and an impressive understanding of the parts of the world where his novels take place. As icing on the cake, in the 7 of the Dr. Siri series I have read to date, I cannot recall having found a single misspelling, typo or grammatical error. His characters seem to develop themselves, naturally and candidly, with warts and all unhidden from the reader. Running in the background is a skilfully painted picture of the realities of life in Laos, which the reader absorbs almost without knowing it (no yawn-inducing history tome here). The reader is left with having read an entertaining mystery, an addicting dose of delightfully understated humour, and a considerably elevated understanding of a perhaps heretofore unfamiliar part of the world. I have more to go, and Mr. Cotterill's' Jimm Juree series to start, and am looking forward to every word. To all newcomers, enjoy!

An entertaining book, but one that i would not recommend outright. Okay, i am going against everyone else who rates the book as 4 or 5 stars. I probably rate books somewhat differently than most. My rating criteria is four fold.Characters: believable? realistic? Can you almost "see" them in your minds eye? The answer is'Yes.' 5 stars for characters!Plot: complex? Flows well from situation to situation? Interesting? We have three stories meshed together to form a novel of history, corruption, mystique, and murder. Dialogue is good, although I found some of Siri's comments to his superiors dangerously disrespectful (but comical). Portions of the story, however, bogged down in meaningless chatter. It was easy to put the book aside and go back to it days later. Two-three starsConclusion: satisfying? Believable? Leave an impression? Colin Cotterill does a decent job of bringing the bad guys to justice and tying up all loose ends. And, there is an interesting twist at the end. Four starsOverall: somewhat dull, but there are meaningful parts from a historical aspect. Three stars.

I struggled initially to get into the style of this author but after about ten pages I was with him.The book is set in Laos just after the communists took over. The author has worked in both Laos and Thailand and uses his knowledge of the people and geography in the story.The coroner is an elderly man who was one of those in favour of the regime. He is now about 65 and had thought that his years working for the party and as a doctor would be rewarded with a nice retirement but instead he is made coroner.He is coroner for the entire country in an office with no equipment, a young girl who wanted to be a nurse and a young man with Down's Syndrome as his work partners.The story is a murder mystery set in Laos struggling with its new communism. It is told in a tongue in cheek manner and several times I laughed out loud.My husband had to put up with several quotes being read to him and that is a sign of something making me laugh in that I cannot wait to share it.The story is quite complex and involves the hero visiting a loyal hill tribe. He discovers he has some psychic powers and these help him solve some of the mysteries he has to deal with.I really liked the author's style of writing. I liked that he poked fun at the Laos communist system in a gentle but not at all superior or patronising way.I loved the main character and all the side characters were also written in a believable and sympathetic way.It reminds me of Shamini Flint or Tarquin Hall's books as they have a bit more of a real mystery than McColl Smith's books do but they fact that they are set in the different countries makes them appeal to me.

Gloriously funny detective series, the detective in this case, Dr Siri Paiboun, the Chief Coroner (only coroner!) of communist Laos in the seventies. He is an unwilling coroner, forced into the post at the age of 70 or so, when most of us would have been retired for some years. He is totally unqualified to do autopsies and he has little in the way of equipment to test out any theories that spring to his unorthodox mind. In his endeavours he is helped by a nurse and a Down's Syndrome morgue assistant who worked worked for his predecessor.He is also helped by what he first thinks are just dreams, but eventually he reluctantly accepts that they are a spiritual force. This aspect develops as the mystery unfolds.He is hounded by bureaucracy and corrupt officialdom but, naturally, overcomes all obstacles in his path with his original way of approaching his cases.The book certainly reinforces my opinion that I would hate to live under a real communist regime, but one certainly gets an interesting slant on political history of that region. The brilliantly conceived setting enables Colin Cotterill free reign to his gentle and very perceptive wit.Twitter @GensPlace

It's quite difficult to pigeonhole The Coroner's Lunch, other than to say it's a crime novel set in Laos in 1976. It's too political to be a cozy, though it does have leanings that way; it has too much humour and comic charm for a noir or hardboiled; and it's more a cultural commentary than a police procedural. It's also very good. Cotterill's skill is manifold: the story being well paced and plotted, with a good balance between show and tell, giving enough but not too much back story, and it being peopled by a wonderfully depicted set of characters. Indeed, Dr Siri, Nurse Dtui and Mr Geung are all interesting folk that one is delighted to spend time with, and the supporting cast feel like `real' people rather than stock characters. There was, however, one thing that jarred a little, and it's taken a couple of days reflection to put my finger on it. The story has a dark side and should have had a lot of tension, and yet somehow it didn't. I think the comic charm and the warmth of Siri's personality seemed to dissipate any sense that he was in any real danger. In this sense, the story for all its twists and turns, lacked an edge. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read and recommended.

The Coroner's lunch is an elegant thriller, packed with eccentric characters and colourful descriptions of the newly formed People's Democratic Republic of Laos. The country's sole surviving doctor is forced, at the age of seventy-two, to become the nation's Chief Coroner. Things start to become interesting for Dr Siri when somebody tampers with one of his bodies. There then ensues a intricate and involving mystery, as Dr Siri and his unlikely bunch of assistants try to determine what's been going on.The strength of the novel lies in its central character's whimsical sense of humour. There are some genuine laugh out loud moments in the book. Vientiane (Laos' Capital) is lovingly recreated, as are the people of this sleepy country.Cotterill's description of Sr Siri's amateurish autopsies were delightful and very cleverly worked out. There is some dabbling in the spirit world, which may deter hardcore fans of crime fiction, as these sections are somewhat less than plausible. For me though, this mystical touch worked, adding an entertaining extra dimension to what can be a derivative genre.There will inevitably be comparisons with the 'Ladies Detective Agency' novels but I think this does Dr Siri and Colin Cotterill a disservice. In my opinion this novel is significantly better. The crime solving aspects of the Coroner's Lunch are far stronger and Cotterill's characters are more vivid and better rounded. People who enjoy reading McCall Smith, will undoubted find much to love about these books, as will anybody who has a passing interest in Sherlock Holmes style sleuthing. Dr Siri Paiboun is a welcome addition to the genre and I look forward to reading more of his exploits.

I bought this on the strength of a review (not on Amazon) and was puzzled why it had received such praise. It is not a bad book just a slight one. The main character, a 70 year old reluctant pathologist in Laos in the 70s, is sort of interesting but there is very little to him. The prose at times feels as if it has been translated. There is a lightness of touch - and humour - which I enjoyed, but there is nothing much at stake for anyone. I didn't really care about the victims which the lead investigates and there was little tension or mystery. It was fun to read but a bit bland - I don't think I will bother with the other books in this series.