Why a Booktrail?
1970s: Ever met a corner who never really wanted to be one in the first place and who now has patients past come back to visit?
The Coroner’s Lunch (Dr Siri 1)
What you need to know before your trail
Laos, 1976.
The country is in a bit of a mess. The Communists have taken over the country and the monarchy is no more. Many people have fled the country fearful of what the communist take over will mean. Dr Siri Paiboun however stays right where he is. Whether that’s because he’s old, or whether he loves his job is open to question but he’s always thought that since he’s supported the party all this time, his retirement should be a good one.
However since he’s one of the few physicians to remain, he’s made the most reluctant state coroner you could imagine. Life floats along until bodies start appearing – bodies of party leader spouses and soldiers – and Siri is the one who has to solve it all with the heap of his old, dead, strange and varied friends.
Travel Guide
Laos in 1976 – a country struggling with its new communist regime and what’s a good way to represent a true time of upheaval? With a witty and tongue in cheek nod to it all via fiction!
An ageing doctor in Laos does not want to be a coroner and hopes his party support will take him far in to a nice an easy retirement. Sadly this is not to be the case and he finds himself in a run down morgue in the city with barely any equipment or staff.
“He learned to walk tall through his nightmares and not be afraid of what happened there”
The politics of the country come back to haunt (quite literally at times! with the discover of a body – that of the wife of a Communist leader. With recent political events, this is a significant and troublesome case.
It’s the jungle however that teaches him perhaps the most about the country and also about himself as he searches for the truth. In this jungle, in deepest Laos, there is someone, something which could help him with finding the answers he is so desperately seeking.
Sprinkled with a healthy dose of Laos history – the bombing, the devastation, the change to communism all add to a backdrop of intrigue and mystery. With plenty dark days thrown in.
In this mix of a world between the physical and the spiritual, there is a lot to discover and marvel at.
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
What a fascinating book! Reminded me a little of Alexander Mc Call Smith who draws a captivating picture of a country and small community within a country.
Laos is a country with a varied and violent history so to have a coroner who sees dead people and who gets involved with the communist legacy of his country is quite a read! Quirky and unique, this really gives a colourful and mixed picture of a small city in a relatively little featured country in literature.
I really enjoyed this. The detective story is unusual and culturally unique but it was the wit and the dry humour which really got under my skin
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