Colin Cotterill, The Coroner's Lunch

The Coroner's Lunch

Colin Cotterill

Soho, Dec 2004, $23.00, 272 pp.

ISBN: 1569473765

In 1975, the Pathet Lao takes over Laos, incorporating a communist bureaucracy centered from the capitol at Vientiane. Most of the country's intelligentsia fled but septuagenarian Paris-trained physician Dr. Siri Paiboun remains behind expecting to gently retire. However, the new government names Siri state coroner. He deduces this was done because his superiors like Magistrate Haeng expect him to make no waves since he was the last breathing medical doctor still in country.

Though Comrade Haeng tortures Siri with his required "burden sharing tutorials" that questions the obvious, the doctor shockingly takes his job seriously, seeking the truth even when the brass wants heart attack as cause of death regardless of reality. He upsets the party with his inquires into the death of Comrade Kham's wife as Haeng claims food poisoning. Siri further upsets the communist balance with his deeper look at the accidental deaths of three men who show signs of torture in spite of being food for fish. Finally, the suicide of Mai seems a fake to hide homicide. As Haeng harangues, Siri sets things right.

Readers who enjoy mysteries in other lands will fully appreciate this delightful tale. The storyline provides a deep look at Laos as the Communist Party transitions into power with Siri applying logic to solve cases that his by-the-book superior wants buried. With the help of dreams that enable the hero to humorously organize his cases, his life, and his society, Siri is a terrific protagonist. His wry comments and asides satirizes his plight as a not so indoctrinated Communist who joined five decades because of how a woman who became his wife breathed. THE CORONER'S LUNCH is a winner due to him.

Harriet Klausner