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Colin Cotterill was born in London and trained as a teacher and set off on a world tour that didn't ever come to an end. He worked as a Physical Education instructor in Israel, a primary school teacher in Australia, a counselor for educationally handicapped adults in the US, and a university lecturer in Japan. But the greater part of his latter years has been spent in Southeast Asia. Colin has taught and trained teachers in Thailand and on the Burmese border. He spent several years in Laos, initially with UNESCO and wrote and produced a forty-programme language teaching series; English By Accident, for Thai national television.
All the while, Colin continued with his two other passions; cartooning and writing. He contributed regular columns for the Bangkok Post but had little time to write. It wasn't until his work with trafficked children that he found himself sufficiently stimulated to put together his first novel, The Night Bastard (Suk's Editions. 2000).
Colin is married and lives in a fishing community on the Gulf of Siam with his wife, Jessi, and two very annoying dogs.
Author photo © Roy Hamric
Shortlisted for the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award at CrimeFest 2014. On the gulf of Thailand, the Juree family are managing their run-down beach resort for the second year - still stalked by disaster. Daughter Jimm has a new love in her life, but finds herself pursued by another man with a markedly different agenda in mind. Meanwhile, Jimm's new case is that of Dr. Somluk, a champion of the rights of rural mothers, who is missing following a run-in with the marketeers of infant formula. As ever, there is blood, brine and bedlam aplenty at the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort.
When crime reporter Jimm Juree is forced to follow her family from Chiang Mai to a fishing village on the Gulf of Siam, she's convinced her career is over. Her journalism will surely dwindle to reports on the annual monsoon-induced floods, for what crimes could possibly happen in such an out-of-the-way place? A local palm oil plantation owner and his worker are excavating a well. They dig down six feet and hit metal. It turns out to be the roof of an old Volkswagen combi, which, once unearthed, is found to contain two skeletons - one of them wearing a hat. A monk is murdered in Lang Suan, the nearest town. There is apparently no motive for the killing and no suspects are found. But there are odd connections between this killing and several others. Suddenly Jimm's new life becomes somewhat more promising - and a great deal more dangerous.
The next instalment in the Dr Siri series see’s the horrific murders of young newlywed brides being killed on their honeymoons. Dr Siri’s team set about discovering who is responsible. Another great story from the constantly entertaining, and slightly eccentric Cotterill. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
Colin Cotterill was the winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library 2009 - the prize awarded for an author's body of work. Dr Siri is back this time finding himself kidnapped while on a road trip with the Justice department. Meanwhile his new nurse and fiancé are trying to figure out who is intent on killing off all the mortuary staff back at Laos national Morgue. More quirky story lines as well as a fascinating insight in to the very recent history of Indochina. This is a great series. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
Another wonderful, whimsical, humorous and magical tale featuring an ancient chief coroner of Laos in the 1970s and his bunch of eccentric colleagues, here with a plot to overthrow the government to be thwarted. He has won this year’s Crime Writers Association ‘Body in the Library’ award for the whole series which, although each book is complete in itself, if you start at the beginning you get the characters’ development which adds to the pleasure. Comparison: Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Zouroudi, Matt Rees. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
Colin Cotterill was the winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library 2009 - the prize awarded for an author's body of work. Dr Siri is back this time finding himself kidnapped while on a road trip with the Justice department. Meanwhile his new nurse and fiancé are trying to figure out who is intent on killing off all the mortuary staff back at Laos national Morgue. More quirky story lines as well as a fascinating insight in to the very recent history of Indochina. This is a great series. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
Another outing for the sleuthing pathologist, Dr Siri. The great thing about these novels is the old fashioned crime solving, mixed with a little of Dr Siri’s supernatural skills, and the humour despite the nasty business of murder. All set against the beautiful backdrop of Laos this series moves from strength to strength. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
This is very special. It is the second in a series which you will enjoy on its own but appreciate a lot more if you read the first too (The Coroner’s Lunch). We are in Laos, 18 months into the communist regime, but the old beliefs in spirits and magic cannot be crushed. Reluctant coroner, Dr Siri, old, wise and with a strong belief in the spirit world, is a wonderful creation as are his two rather eccentric assistants. I cannot recommend this highly enough. It has a sort of fairytale magic and yet the strange occurrences have simple explanations. It is definitely a must-read, once tried you’re hooked. Comparison: Alexander McCall Smith, Tony Hillerman, Nury Vittachi. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
There will be comparisons to Alexander McCall Smith’s No.1 Ladies Detective Agency but this new series is different in many ways. The fascinating thing is that the books are set in Laos in 1976, a time and place rarely explored in modern fiction so not only do you get a great detective book but also an interesting history from that time and place. Great stuff. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
There will be comparisons to Alexander McCall Smith’s No.1 Ladies Detective Agency but this new series is different in many ways. The fascinating thing is that the books are set in Laos in 1976, a time and place rarely explored in modern fiction so not only do you get a great detective book but also an interesting history from that time and place. Great stuff. Dr Siri Paiboun series: 1. The Coroner's Lunch 2. Thirty-Three Teeth 3. Disco for the Departed 4. Anarchy and Old Dogs 5. Curse of the Pogo Stick 6. The Merry Misogynist
On the gulf of Thailand, the Juree family are managing their run-down beach resort for the second year - still stalked by disaster. Daughter Jimm has a new love in her life, but finds herself pursued by another man with a markedly different agenda in mind. Meanwhile, Jimm's new case is that of Dr. Somluk, a champion of the rights of rural mothers, who is missing following a run-in with the marketeers of infant formula. As ever, there is blood, brine and bedlam aplenty at the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort.
The long-awaited follow-up to Slash and Burn and the ninth installment in Colin Cotterill's bestselling mystery series starring the inimitable Lao national coroner, Dr. Siri In a small Lao village, a very strange thing has happened. A woman was shot and killed in her bed during a burglary; she was given a funeral and everyone in the village saw her body burned. Then, three days later, she was back in her house as if she'd never been dead at all. But now she's clairvoyant and can speak to the dead. That's why the long-dead brother of a Lao general has enlisted her to help his brother uncover his remains, which have been lost at the bottom of a river for many years. Lao national coroner Dr. Siri Paiboun and his wife, Madame Daeng, are sent along to supervise the excavation. It could be a kind of relaxing vacation for them, maybe, except Siri is obsessed with the pretty, undead medium's special abilities, and Madame Daeng might be a little jealous. She doesn't trust the woman for some reason. Is her hunch right? What is the group really digging for at the bottom of this remote river on the Thai border? What war secrets are being covered up?
Intrepid coroner Dr Siri is used to playing the lead in the dramas of his life. But this time his wife is centre stage. Madame Daeng is privy to a secret and it puts her in grave danger. And that's not all. When Siri whisks his wife away for a romantic weekend they walk straight into another mystery, meeting a woman who's been shot twice but is still clinging to life. Who would want to kill her and why? Dr Siri will have his work cut out to unravel this case, while keeping Madame Daeng away from those who want to harm her. But he soon discovers there's much more to his wife than meets the eye...
What do you do when you find a severed head on the beach? With her former cop grandfather as back up, crime reporter Jimm Juree sets out to discover how the poor fellow got there. On their journey they uncover gruesome tales of piracy, slavery, violence and murder, yet the authorities show no interest at all. Is it because the victims aren't Thai? Whatever the reason, Jimm and her team are going it alone. Airport hostages and hand grenades, monkeys and naked policemen - once more the sublime and the ridiculous clash in the Gulf of Thailand.
Dr Siri's bagged himself a holiday: an all-expenses-paid trip to the northern mountains of Laos. What's more, through a bit of skilful bartering (well, blackmail) he has wangled it so that his nearest and dearest may accompany him. They are to assist a US-funded search for a lost CIA pilot - Boyd Bowry - missing since his aircraft was downed in 1968. But Siri's not taking the search too seriously, as he strongly suspects that when the helicopter exploded, the pilot followed suit. However, just hours into the trip, it becomes apparent that ulterior motives are at work within the group. And Siri's suspicions are confirmed when those associated with the airman start dropping like the insects that frequent his country. Siri and co are caught up in something big: something that goes way back, and way over their heads. And, if this wasn't bad enough, a psychic of unquestionable repute then informs Siri that he will shortly die: in 'a day or two', to be precise.
Dr. Siri might finally be allowed to retire (again). Although he loves his two morgue assistants, he's tired of being Laos' national coroner-a job he never wanted in the first place. Plus, he's pushing eighty and wants to spend some time with his wife before his untimely death, which has been predicted by the local transvestite fortune teller. But retirement is not in the cards for Dr. Siri after all. He's dragged into one last job for the Lao government: supervising an excavation for the remains of a US fighter pilot who went down in the remote northern Lao jungle ten years earlier. The presence of American soldiers in Laos is a hot-button issue for both the Americans and the Lao involved, and the search party includes high-level politicians and scientists. When a member of the party is found dead, a chain of accidents that Dr. Siri suspects are not completely accidental is set off. Everyone is trapped in a cabin in the jungle, and the bodies are starting to pile up. Can Dr. Siri get to the bottom of the MIA pilot's mysterious story before the fortune teller's prediction comes true?
Three young Laotian women have died from fencing-sword wounds. Each of them had studied abroad in an Eastern bloc country. Before he can complete his investigation, Dr. Siri is lured to Cambodia by an all-expenses-paid trip. Accused of spying for the Vietnamese, he is imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death. The Khmer Rouge is relentless, and it is touch and go for the dauntless, seventy-four-year-old national-and only-coroner of Laos.
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