The Coroner's Lunch

by Kevin Cotterill

Beverly's recent trip to Laos, Viet Nam, and Thailand turned out to be a rare treat forour book club. Beverly picked this book up on her way to the plane and couldn't wait to recommend it to us. We're so lucky she did.

You would think that a novel set in 1976 in the impoverished, land-locked socialist republic of Laos, at the end of a long and brutal civil war that ended with the Pathet Lao in power would be a dreary and difficult book. However, the protagonist of this wonderful book, Siri Paiboun, an 72 year old doctor, forced to become the country's only coroner instead of enjoying peaceful retirement, brings a wry and delightful view of his country and its politics.

We noted that one of the most endearing dynamics of the book is how itdescribesthe way the books denizens lead their ordinary lives with their little triumphs and failures being the most important parts of living. Siri's a detached viewer of the Soviet-backed communist regime and finds his way through the tricky political landscape with a very human regard for all he meets and a 'MyGyver-ish' solution to obstacles he encounters in performing his distasteful job. His two companions in his sparsely outfitted lab, Drui, a spinster, and Mr. Geung, suffering from Down's Syndrome, form an odd and strangely comforting collaboration in their relationship. He and they are drawn into a conspiracy and he finds he is needed more as a detective then a coroner, even finding his way into the back country among the Hmong people of the forests.

We couldn't help but be reminded of another book we read recently, James Church's Inspector O. It was another example of people living in a poor and repressed country who deal with their daily lives with the same motivations as people living anywhere, solving their problems with a bit of dark humor and political wisdom. Both illustrate that humanity is found wherever you find humans.

The author, Colin Cotterill, (his website), is a London-born and trained teacher who took on a world tour that just didn't end but has lived the greater part of his latter years in Southeast Asia, spending several of those years in Laos. He has written nine novels, five featuring Siri Paiboun, with the sixth book, The Merry Misogynist due out this year. He is also a cartoonist and an activist in child protection fight child trafficking in Southeast Asia.

I don't think most of us would have picked this book off the rack; probably not even Beverly would have had it's subject not been Laos, however it would have been our loss if we hadn't.

This is a solid Four and a half star book!

4-1/2 STARS