Anarchy and Old Dogs - Hardcover

Cotterill, Colin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156947463X ISBN 13: 9781569474631

Publisher: Soho Crime, 2007

Synopsis

Praise for the Dr. Siri Paiboun series:

“A hero unlike any other.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Magically sublime.”—Entertainment Weekly

A blind retired dentist has been run down by a logging truck on the street in Vientiane just opposite the post office. His body is duly delivered to the morgue of Dr. Siri Paiboun, the official and only coroner of Laos. At the age of seventy-four, Dr. Siri is too old to be in awe of the new communist bureaucrats for whom he now works. He identifies the corpse, helped by the letter in the man’s pocket. But first he must decipher it; it is written in code and invisible ink. The dentist’s widow explains that the enigmatic letters and numbers describe chess moves, but they are unlike any chess symbols Siri has previously encountered. With the help of his old friend, Civilai, now a senior member of the Laos politburo; Nurse Dtui (“Fatty”); Phosy, a police officer; and Aunt Bpoo, a transvestite fortune-teller, Dr. Siri solves the mystery of the note and foils a plot to overthrow the government of Laos.

Colin Cotterill is the author of The Coroner’s Lunch, Thirty-Three Teeth, and Disco for the Departed, all featuring Dr. Siri Paiboun. He lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He received the Dilys Award for Thirty-Three Teeth from the Independent Mystery Book-sellers Association.

For more information, visit www.colincotterill.com 

About this title

Review:

Colin Cotterill's strikingly unusual crime series (The Coroner's Lunch, Thirty Three Teeth), featuring Laos’ only coroner, Dr Siri Paiboun, has already gleaned (in a relatively short time) a devoted legion of readers, as much for the sharp and quirky characterisations as for the colourful evocation of the Laos locales. In Anarchy and Old Dogs, the ageing Siri is, as usual, up to his elbows in double-dealing on the part of officialdom as much as the mysteries of the case he is working on.

A sightless dentist is struck by a logging company truck, and Siri Paiboun becomes involved – mainly as there is nobody else performing his function as coroner. The dentist, it transpires, was en route to post a letter, but Siri, when examining it, finds it impossible to read (the dentist has used invisible ink and has then encrypted the message). But as Siri peels back the layers of confusion surrounding the case, he realises that the stakes are as high as might be imagined: in fact, he has stumbled on nothing less than a plot to replace the government.

Aficionados of the crime thriller often lament that moment – all too familiar when reading many a novel – when the thought 'Oh, it's that plot again!' occurs. Colin Cotterill admirers know that such a moment is unlikely to happen in one of his books – and certainly not in Anarchy and Old Dogs. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Cotterill's novels have richer plots than Alexander McCall Smith's African detective stories, but the same comic charm' Sunday Times. (Sunday Times)

'Fascinating background, engaging characters and witty dialogue' Sunday Telegraph. (Sunday Telegraph)

'It is not unusual to find a renegade Thai forest monk or a transvestite fortune-teller wandering casually through the capital city, Vientane, where Dr Siri works ... everywhere Mr Cotterill's characters go, they maintain a wry, seasoned, offhand style that has been the secret weapon of this unexpectedly blithe and charming series' New York Times. (New York Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Soho Crime
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 156947463X
• ISBN 13: 9781569474631
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272