The second biggest nothing /
Material type: TextSeries: A Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery ; 14Publisher: New York, NY : Soho Crime, 2019Description: 1 volume ; 21 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781641290616
- 1641290617
- 823/.914 23
- PR6053.O778 S43 2019
- FIC016000
Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Loan | Coeur d'Alene Library Adult Fiction | Coeur d'Alene Library | Book | COTTERI (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 50610022461466 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Vientiane, 1980: Dr. Siri, the former national coroner of Laos, is doing remarkably well - especially considering the fact that he is possessed by a thousand-year-old Hmong shaman. That is, until he finds a death threat tied to his dog, Ugly's, tail. And whoever wrote the note claims the job will be executed in two weeks. Thus, at the urging of his wife and his motley crew of faithful friends, Dr. Siri must figure out who wants him dead, and there will be grave consequences in the present if he can't decipher the clues from his past.
Vientiane, 1980: Laos is celebrating its fifth anniversary of communist rule, and Dr. Siri and his crew couldn't be less thrilled. But really, things could be a lot worse. Madame Daeng's noodle shop is thriving, Tukta and Geung are on their honeymoon, and Siri and Civilai are still plotting their directorial debut. But before things get too comfortable, Dr. Siri finds something odd tied with pink ribbon to his dog, Ugly's, tail: a mysterious note written in English. Upon finding someone to translate the note, Dr. Siri learns it is a death threat--and not just to him, but to everyone he holds dear. And whoever wrote the note claims the job will be executed in two weeks. Thus, at the urging of his motley crew of faithful friends, Dr. Siri contemplates who would hold such a strong grudge as to wish him dead, launching him into hair-bending scenes from his past, including the first time Siri met his lifelong pal Civilai in Paris in the early '30s, a particularly disruptive episode at an art museum in Saigon in 1956, and a prisoner of war negotiation in Hanoi at the height of the Vietnam War in the '70s. There will be grave consequences in the present if Dr. Siri can't put together the clues in the past"--
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Publishers Weekly Review
In 1980, Vientiane, the Laotian capital city, is hosting a celebration of five years of Communist rule, despite the regime's signal failure to achieve anything, in Cotterill's exceptional 14th mystery featuring retired Laotian national coroner Siri Paiboun (after 2018's Don't Eat Me). Siri is enjoying the political theater until he receives a note attached to the tail of his dog, Ugly. The message's anonymous writer states that "my desire to destroy you and your loved ones is a fire that has burned in my heart without end." When further written threats follow, and as people connected to Siri start dying, he wracks his brains to figure out which of the many persons in his past who have vowed vengeance is behind the violence. Flashbacks to Siri's younger days, including an episode in 1932 Paris, where he witnessed an assassination and identified the hit man, offer glimpses of possible suspects. The eccentric Siri, who some believe to be possessed by a thousand-year-old shaman, has rarely been funnier or more astute. Cotterill is writing at the top of his game. (Aug.)Booklist Review
In this fourteenth installment in the Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteries, which combine the madcap, the tragic, and the magical, it's 1980, and Dr. Siri, the former national coroner of Laos, finds a death threat tied to the tail of his dog, Ugly. The threat promises to ruin the life Siri has constructed so carefully over the years. Siri and his beloved wife, Madame Daeng (owner of the best noodle shop in Vientiane), meet the threat with oddly exhilarated resolve. They have, after all, survived the Vietnam War and continuing Communist rule, and are amazed to be alive when so many of their contemporaries died long ago. Siri must scan his past, looking for enemy indicators. And this is where the mystery becomes much more than a typical hero must confront his past story. Cotterill uses three embedded narratives, showing Siri as a young med student in Paris in 1932, at an art museum in Saigon in 1956, and at a POW negotiation in Hanoi in 1972. This is a beautifully evocative way to show the history that Siri has witnessed, from French colonialism through the Vietnam War and Communist rule in Laos. Cotterill packs a lot into this mystery history, mordant wit, clock-ticking suspense, resilient characters, and odd, entrancing details, like Siri's very crabby spirit guide. A weird and wonderful series continues.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2010 BooklistAuthor notes provided by Syndetics
Colin Cotterill is an author and cartoonist. He was born in London in 1952, and trained as a Physical Education teacher, before setting off on a world tour that hasn't ended yet. Along the way, he has held various teaching positions in Israel, Australia, the U. S., Japan, and Southeast Asia. He would eventually become involved in child protection, and it was his work with trafficked children that motivated him to write his first novel, The Night Bastard. The reaction was so positive that he decided to take time off and write full-time. Two of his subsequent novels are child-protection based: Evil in the Land Without, and Pool and its role in Asian Communism.Cotterill may be best known as the author of the Dr. Siri Paiboun series, set in the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. Titles in the series include: Six and a Half Deadly Sins, the Woman Who Wouldn't Die, Love Songs from a Shallow Grave, The Merry Misogynist, Thirty-Three Teeth and The Coroner's Lunch.
He also pens the Jim Jurree series, set in southern Thailand. Titles in this series include: The Axe Factor, Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach and Killed at the Whim of a Hat.
(Bowker Author Biography)
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