reviwed on a recorded bookshow by Ro Bennett Oct. 2013
This is the sixth Dr Siri book about the lovely old
pathologist in Laos. It was another excellent page turner. And it’s an absolute
bargain at only £1.78 for the kindle edition.
The Blurb:
Somebody in Laos is wooing and wedding country girls
- and then killing them on honeymoon and binding their bodies to trees. The
horror of what this monster does to his victims appalls Dr Siri and his morgue
team and they vow revenge.
But they're distracted by the disappearance of
itinerant Crazy Rajid. Siri has been getting premonitions that he's in danger. A
trail of elaborate clues and remarkable disclosures about the Indian's past lead
them to Vientiane's most ancient temple - and a terrible discovery.
This is the usual wonderful mix of humour, suspense,
pathos and feel good
factor. I love the characters, I love how the
relationships and their stories are evolving, the insight into Lao life and
culture and I love Colin Cotterill’s writing style. It’s like catching up with
family and their latest adventures.
It’s the 1970‘s / 80‘s and the exhausted people of
Laos are trying to rebuild their country and live a normal life after a
prolonged civil war that has resulted in an ill-equipped Communist Party coming
to power. As usual, Dr Siri is in trouble with the authorities and trying to
outwit them and their ridiculous rules and regulations and red tape. This time
he is being accused of not living in the accommodation assigned him by the
government. The zealous housing department officers are spying on him, trying to
catch him out, staying overnight with his wife Madame Daeng above her noodle
shop instead of in his official residence. He needs to sort this out
successfully because if he loses his home, all the people staying there will be
homeless.
Dr Siri and Civilai are also looking for crazy Rajid
who hasn’t been seen for a while. As well as all this, he and his team at the
mortuary are trying to identify a beautiful young woman who has been strangled -
an unusual form of murder in Laos. This takes them to villages in a more remote
and dangerous area of Laos.
The book was quite gripping, tense, scary and
gruesome in parts, with unexpected twists and turns as well, but balanced with
the gentle humour and lovely heart warming characters. So an all round
excellent book which I heartily recommend.
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