Thirty-Three Teeth (A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Book 2)

Dr Siri is a reluctant coroner in communist Laos immediately following the end of the Vietnam war. In his seventies, hoping for retirement having spent decades fighting for independence from first the French then the Americans, Dr Siri finds himself working as the only coroner in the land, with no forensic training and helped by a nurse and a Downes syndrome man both of whom are indispensable. Dr Siri is a humorous and kindly character, lacking in even the most basic forensic facilities, he is reliant on his knowledge of medicine, basic chemistry and an onboard spirit of a thousand year old Shaman who allows Siri to commune with the dead and get, usually cryptic, clues on how they died. Written with humour and wit, never skirting the dreadful lives lived by the Lao under the new and bumbling communist rule of the 70's. He paints a picture of a beautiful country, kindly people and sometimes hilarious situations that make you laugh out loud whilst never forgetting the who-done-it storyline.

Thirty-Three Teeth, the second book in the Dr. Siri series set in '70s Laos, is as fascinating as the first. The mystery is dessert. The main course is our protagonist, Dr. Siri (the reluctant coroner), the residents of Vientiane and elsewhere in Laos, the culture, the ease with which Cotterill blends the spiritual with the physical -- without turning this novel into fantasy/magic realism. The challenge of investigation and solving crimes in a world where the authorities may not care if or why a crime occurred, and/or may have a preferred explanation for events that one is wise not to defy, makes for quite a different set of obstacles than those faced by the lead investigator in a typical British or American cozy mystery (not that there's anything wrong with that, as they say). As a result, the government in this book is almost a character of its own. Good luck figuring out which government, too. Consider this a complex, circuitous cozy mystery, laden with southeast asian culture and values. If you haven't read the initial book, you could start here with ease, but put the first one on your list to read, too.