Disco for the Departed

The Dr. Siri Investigations, Book 3

By: Colin Cotterill

Narrated by: Clive Chafer

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Dr. Siri Paiboun is summoned to the mountains of Huaphan Province, where for years the leaders of the current communist government hid in caves, waiting to assume power. Now a major celebration of the new regime is scheduled to take place, but an arm is found protruding from the concrete walk laid from the president’s former cave hideout to his new house beneath the cliffs. Siri must supervise the disinterment of the body attached to the arm, identify it, and determine the cause of death.

The autopsy provides some surprises, but it is his gifts as a shaman that enable the 73-year-old doctor to discover why the victim was buried alive and to identify the killer.

©2006 Colin Cotterill (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Purely entertaining…Elements of the ritualistic killings are pretty gross and the spooks can be scary; but as the author gently points out, life would be dreary without a few thrills.” ( New York Times Book Review)

It's a Dead Man's Party

Tony Hillerman (1925 - 2008) introduced me to Navajo culture when I picked up a used paperback copy of "The Blessing Way" (1970), laying between small metal cutouts of boots painted turquoise with magnets glued to the back, and a worn and rusted set of metric wrenches at Peddlers Pass in Prescott, AZ. For a few charmed hours, I was transported into a Native American culture nothing like the Ojibwa I was a little familiar with.

Before I listened to Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series, Laos merged into Cambodia/Thailand/Vietnam, just like all Native American tribes were somehow lumped together in my mind before Hillerman's books. Thanks to the epic journey from one end of Laos to the other of Siri's morgue assistant, Mr. Geung in "Disco for the Departed" (2006), I know that Laos is (or was) no more homogenized than any other tribal region. "The Coroner's Lunch" (2004) Book 1 introduced Dr. Siri and his resident spirit, Ya Ming ; "Thirty-three Teeth" (2005) Book 2 introduces the kind, sturdy autodidact Nurse Dtui; and this book - Book 3 shows how people with Down syndrome can preserver over incredible odds.

In "Disco for the Departed", old communist party fighter Dr. Siri solves an old, undiscovered mystery in the caves he and his comrades fought the war from. Deposed Laos royalty continues to play a small, fascinating role in the story. The ghosts that haunt the Disco are a good counterpart to the story, but - in the tradition of all good mysteries - spiritus ex machina does not solve the case.

I don't actually know if the Lao pronunciations are right, but I assume Cotterill - who lived in Laos for years but was raised In an English speaking country - chose Clive Chafer as a narrator because his Lao and Hmong pronunciation was good. I didn't need an audio version to enjoy Hillerman's books, but I'm around enough native Navajo speakers when I visit Arizona to know how to read what I'm seeing. Since I don't know Lao or Hmong, the Audible worked especially well for me.

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Life goes on

it is hard to explain why a series about a 72-year-old French-trained physician working under repressive conditions for a regime he gave his youth to put in power should be so life-affirming. It is hard to explain why the mysticism that underlies the stories and frequently moves the plot should work so well.

So I won't try.

Just be sure to start at the start of the series,The stories actually get better, but the first book helps ground you in the environment that Mr. Cotterill has created..

Colin Cotterill the great

I love this series. Each book stands alone, but you'd be best advised to start at the beginning, not here, with book three. Unfortunately, the first, "The Coroner's Lunch," is currently unavailable at Audible. What up with that? I've got it in my Audible library. If I could just give it to everyone, I would.

These stories take place three decades after the communist takeover in Laos, after the disaster of the Vietnam War created the problem it was designed to prevent - the spread of an obsolete and cruel ideology. Operating within it is the wonderful Dr. Siri. He knows communism is a failure, but he does his elderly best to be a good man in a bad system. The writing is wonderful, and the stories - all mysteries - are complex, funny and life affirming. They've made me love Laos and its people.

A delightful non-detective!

ghosts, history-and-culture, historical-fiction, magic, murder-investigation, muted-humor

Dr. Siri is at it again! Our slyly amusing National Coroner and his nurse Dtui are called away to investigate a gruesome corpse. The ensuing investigation is more than a little unusual and full of red herrings and sneaky twists. Very shortly after they left, the self serving head of the justice department arranged to have Mr Geung transported by the army to a remote area simply because the valuable morgue assistant has Down's. That is another complicated tale and parallel to the other. All in all, this is a fascinating read!
Clive Chafer is the great narrator here!

Funny and full of fascinating details

What did you love best about Disco for the Departed?

I really enjoy the mixture of medical detail, shamanism, political information and vivid characters. I have now read three of the series and am putting off the treat of the next one, since I want them to last!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot switches back and forth between two different intersecting stories involving the three most familiar characters. Great for listening - the voices were brilliant.

Have you listened to any of Clive Chafer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily - too much of a good thing

engrossing, whimsical, funny tale with geographic

Engrossing, whimsical, fun tale with a view of the culture and history of Laos in recent times.

Love Dr. Siri series

Must read these in order to fully appreciate them. They're fabulous. I read then over and over again.

soooooo entertaining

There are parts of this book that are absolutely fascinating and other parts that are down right funny. The characters are so wonderfully described that I think I would recognize them if I were to meet them on the street. Mr. Chafer does a truly great job of performing this book. Thank all who are involved in producing this book.

Another fun Dr. Siri book

This whole series has been fun for me. Easy to listen too, light hearted with a little mystery mixed in and some humor. Sometimes you just are not looking for a piece of thought provoking literature.

Great story telling

This was a fun, story that took you down many avenues. An insight into other cultures.