Obtain Disco For The Departed (Dr. Siri Paiboun, #3) Presented By Colin Cotterill Shown In Edition

Siri and the Cubans
the Vintage Canada paperback editionof the Soho Crime hardcover original

I was late to the party and started my reading of Colin Cotterill's quirky Laos chief coroner Dr.
Siri Paiboun mysteries with theth and supposed I never rule out the possibility of continuations final book "The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot".
Luckily, my friend Karan had several of the earliest books to lend me and I was fortunately able to start the series from the beginning.


Disco for the Departed is therd book of the series and is titled after a ghostly discotheque that the spiritually attuned coroner is drawn to during his investigation of the apparent deaths of some Cuban advisors in a northern province of Laos.
Siri and nurse Dtui are both sent on the northern mission, leaving morgue attendant Geung Watajak at the mercy of their boss at the Justice Department, judge Huang.
Geung is dispatched to the countryside with the army but promptly decides to walk back to the Vientiane capital, The book then regularly toggles between Siri's investigation and the perils of Geung's journey,

This series continues to delight with its overviews of Lao lifestyles and culture, the human persistence in the face of bureaucratic incompetence and Dr.
Siri's unique investigative methods that combine spiritual perception with common sense intuition, I've already sourcedin the series, Anarchy and Old Dogs, thanks to the Toronto Public Library, I'm still very much enjoying Dr Siri and his eccentricities, Usually they would begin to grate on me by now, but I find him a lovely, refreshing, no bullshit kinda character, On to the next adventure, First Sentence: Dr. Siri lay beneath the grimy mesh of the mosquito net watching the lizards third attempt,

Dr. Siri and Dturi have been sent to a “guest house” at revolutionary headquarters in the mountains of Huaphan province to attend a seminar intended to provide them with an enlightened” understanding of the MarxistLeninist system.
What they did not expect was for an arm to be discovered rising out of a concrete path, The arm was attached to the body of a man whod been encased in the concrete while still alive, Siri also did not expect, at, to find himself dancing to disco music only he could hear, nor for the Russian to whom Siri and Dturi reported back in Vientiane to ship their mortuary assistant, Geung off to Xieng Ngeim without their knowing.


It is always a pleasure to be back with Dr, Siri and friends. They truly are some of my favorite characters and it was particularly nice to learn more of mortuary assistant Geungs background, Cotterill worked in an interesting point through Siris friend, Dr, Santiago who believes in shamans and the spirit world, that some form of shamanism is common to most cultures of the world outside those of European origin.
Points such as that remind us the world is one filled with diverse philosophies and beliefs beyond our own one of the gifts of reading.


Cotterills writing is filled with wonderful dialogue and humor, yet he also makes me think, Rather than the supernatural element being for the sake of fantasy, Cotteriall uses it to serious purposeto make a point such as the impact of war on its innocent victims those who just happen to live in the wrong place.
He also makes us aware that bigotry exists in every country,

The story is one of relationships and loyalty, The mystery is an intriguing blend of the mystical and the plain, old ferreting out information, The book is an absolutely wonderful read,

DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED Lic Inv/ParaDr, Siri PaibounLoasCont/G
Cotterill, Colinrd in series
Quercus, UK Hardcover,ISBN:
Third in the series and I am comfortable in thinking that Cotterill is using his "allegorical Laoness" to impart some interest and maybe empathy to what has happened to this multicultural landlocked country in Southeast Asia.
I will definitely go on to the next in the series, I love it when an author who has invented a good character gets settled in and obviously enjoys writing each ensuing book.
This one's great. Geung, Dtui and Siri all underego some character development, and the sly humour is steady,

Siri reminds me of Master Li is Barry Hughart's excellent books about oldtime China, THere can be no higher praise,
It's always fascinating to see how all the plot threads will come together, I continue enjoying listening to the adventures of the irreverent Dr, Siri as I cant read so much while sewing face masks, These are humorous, satisfying, entertaining, and continue providing insight into communist Laos and its complicated foreign affairs, In this installment we have Cubans entombed in cement, black magic, and yes, a disco for the departed, The mystery is a lot better than the previous one, and the cast and the humor just as good, My library has at least four more of these available on audio, which is great for taking ones mind off the news.
Onto the next one! This is the third book in the series about Siri Paiboun, "the feistyyearold national coroner of Laos" as the backcover blurb says.
This time he has to use his deductive powers and access to the spirit world to solve the deaths of three people before the Laotian and Vietnamese politburos show up at the old rebel capital for a national celebration.


Cotterill lets the lessthanbenevolent side of the Pathet Lao show through a bit more here than in the previous two entries but the emphasis is still on the inefficiency and bureaucratic inanity of the government Nurse Dtui is "courted" by the local security commander, who clears his marriage proposal with the Social Relations Council before asking her, and the focus is on the three main characters of the series: Dr.
Siri, Nurse Dtui and Mr, Geung.

Dr. Siri was a doctor and soldier with the Pathet Lao, and hoped to enjoy a wellearned retirement after they defeated the Royalists but finds himself press ganged into being the national coroner when most other doctors in the country flee to Thailand or otherwise abroad.
Though he believes in the ideals of the party, he joined the Communists largely because his beloved wife Boua had, Over the years, particularly after his wife dies, Siri has become disillusioned with the Party's methods and effectiveness but does his best to ensure that the unfortunates who come to his table receive some sort of justice.
Nurse Dtui is his young female protege the equal potentially of Siri at the operating table, she's just as good a detective as the good doctor outside the morgue.
Mr. Geung is a young man with Down syndrome who works as Siri's lab assistant, Taken in by the previous coroner, Geung, ironically, knows more about autopsies and morgue procedures than either Siri or Dtui did when they first arrived.


Cotterill is good at invoking both the brutal realities of life for Laotians and the compassion that it can induce.


While the mystery is definitely secondary to the narrative, it is satisfactorily convoluted enough so that the reader doesn't immediately figure out what's going on.
The only potential problem I foresee is that Cotterill may come to rely on Siri's access to the spirit world as a deus ex machina if he can't figure things out deductively, Siri will just ask his spirit friends.
I enjoy this series and had to get this book on interlibrary loan, This is bookin the series and it can be read as a stand alone, but the series is more enjoyable if read in order.
In this book, Dr. Siri Paiboun, the National Coroner of Laosand the only coroner in Laos, is sent to the rural Northeast of Laos to examine a body

recently uncovered by a boulder crashing into a cement walkway.

He brings his assistant, Nurse Dtui with him, She wants to become a doctor, and he is doing all he can to help her achieve her goal,
Dtui and Siri discover more bodies and gradually discover what happened with the help of the spirit world, Siri is in regular contact with the spirit world, part of a long tradition in Laos, Siri also manages to deal with unpleasant superiors, successfully outmaneuvering several of them,
I rate this book a solidstars,
The interesting insights into Laos society and quirky characters keep bringing me back to this series, I am loving this series, In an earlier review, I mentioned that Siri reminds me of Gamache, But the series itself also reminds me of mysteries by Alex McCall Smith No,Ladies' Detective Agency and Kerry Greenwood Corinna Chapman mysteries, I think this is because there is a core set of characters that you return to in each book, In this case, Siri, Dtui and Geung actually go there own separate ways and are reunited at the end, Siri is still coming to terms with his supernatural abilities, In this story, there is the possibility that witchcraft has entered the country via some Cuban men, Dtui is coming into her own as far as her ability to solve medical cases and help with nursing, Geung is grappling with how to remain dutiful even when kidnapped and removed from the morgue/his work site, Yes, I just want to read more and more of these, A favorite image from this book: "He found himself mesmerized by the setting sun, He saw it as a huge bullet puncturing the horizon in slow motion, The horizon bled, red seeping from the entry wound, and oozing across the landscape, It occurred to him that forensic pathology might be damaging his appreciation of nature, " Dr. Siri and Nurse Dtui leave the the Laotian capital of Vientiane to travel to the Huaphan mountain province that was formerly home to the Pathet Lao guerilla movement.
Visiting some of his old haunts literally to solve a murder, Siri encounters old friends and new spirits, A compelling side story with morgue assistant Mr, Geung does not quite gel with the rest of the narrative, Another enjoyable read in a series featuring likable characters, lush settings, and just a touch of magic, The books in this series, so far, are a,. Enjoyable reads. Quite different in several respects, Set in Laos in thes, An elderly state coroner for the communist party, A feisty female nurse/assistant, A morgue attendant with Down's Syndrome, Magical realism / shamanism / murder mysteries, Local, regional, and sometimes global Communist party politics presented sardonically as a backdrop to the goings on,

Why are these books so readable and warmly engaging Most professional and amateur readers wonder that out loud, I don't have any answers, just agreement,

This series is also different in that I never even try to figure out the mystery, That's not because it feels impossible somehow, It just doesn't really occur to me, I'm just in it for the transport to a different time and place, and a visit with now familiar and just exotic enough quirky, real, original characters.


While I enjoy these books during the read, I neither yearn to get back to them when I'm not reading, nor get excited about the idea of reading the next one.
It's a very low key relationship, But whenever I get around to the next one I know I'll enjoy it enough, respect it a lot, and not be sorry I read it.
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