Waterstones The Coroner's Lunch
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Price: £9.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: Laos, 1976. The monarchy has been deposed, the Communist Pathet Lao have taken over. Most of the educated class has fled, but Dr Siri Paiboun, a Paris-trained doctor remains. And so this 72-year-old physician is appointed state coroner, despite having no training, equipment, experience or even inclination for the job. But the job's not that bad and Siri quickly settles into a routine of studying outdated medical texts, scrounging scarce supplies, and circumnavigating bureaucratic red tape to arrive at justice. The fact that the recently departed are prone to pay Siri the odd, unwanted nocturnal visit turns out to be an added bonus in his new line of work. But when the wife of a party leader turns up dead and the bodies of tortured Vietnamese soldiers start bobbing to the surface of a Laotian lake, all eyes turn to Siri. Faced with official cover-ups and an emerging international crisis, the doctor enlists old friends, village shamans, forest spirits, dream visits from the dead - and even the occasional bit of medical deduction - to solve the crimes. Waterstones The Coroner's Lunch - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781849165181
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781849165181
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Author: catsholiday
Rating: 5
Review: I struggled initially to get into the style of this author but after about ten pages I was with him. The book is set in Laos just after the communists took over. The author has worked in both Laos and Thailand and uses his knowledge of the people and geography in the story. The coroner is an elderly man who was one of those in favour of the regime. He is now about 65 and had thought that his years working for the party and as a doctor would be rewarded with a nice retirement but instead he is made coroner. He is coroner for the entire country in an office with no equipment, a young girl who wanted to be a nurse and a young man with Down's Syndrome as his work partners. The story is a murder mystery set in Laos struggling with its new communism. It is told in a tongue in cheek manner and several times I laughed out loud. My husband had to put up with several quotes being read to him and that is a sign of something making me laugh in that I cannot wait to share it. The story is quite complex and involves the hero visiting a loyal hill tribe. He discovers he has some psychic powers and these help him solve some of the mysteries he has to deal with. I really liked the author's style of writing. I liked that he poked fun at the Laos communist system in a gentle but not at all superior or patronising way. I loved the main character and all the side characters were also written in a believable and sympathetic way. It reminds me of Shamini Flint or Tarquin Hall's books as they have a bit more of a real mystery than McColl Smith's books do but they fact that they are set in the different countries makes them appeal to me.
Author: PBfan
Rating: 4
Review: I found this book to be an enjoyable tale although somewhat bordering the world of reality as far as ghosts are concerned. There is a gentle humour to the characters but the plot seemed to be slightly hazey at times.
