The Coroner’s Lunch

The Dr. Siri Investigations, Book 1

By: Colin Cotterill

Narrated by: Clive Chafer

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Laos, 1975: The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job, there is no one else: the rest of the educated class have fled.

He is expected to come up with the answers the party wants, but crafty and charming Dr. Siri is immune to bureaucratic pressure. At his age, he reasons, what can they do to him? And he knows he cannot fail the dead who come into his care without risk of incurring their boundless displeasure. Eternity could be a long time to have the spirits mad at you.

©2004 Colin Cotterill (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A wonderfully fresh and exotic mystery…If Cotterill…had done nothing more than treat us to Siri’s views on the dramatic, even comic crises that mark periods of government upheaval, his debut mystery would still be fascinating. But the multiple cases spread out on Siri’s examining table…are not cozy entertainments but substantial crimes that take us into the thick of political intrigue.” ( New York Times Book Review)

What an adventure!

A truly fun listen, like watching NCIS. A very original setting and catchy dialog too.

Love/hate

When I FINALLY was able to get past the monotone, lifeless style of Chafer’s voice I really enjoyed the story. Yes the character of Siri is dry,ironic etc so when he is speaking it wouldnt be so bad. BUT The first few chapters are mainly straight narration, no dialog, which he does well, to break up the monotony. I kept going back to reviews saying “give it a chance”, so I did. kind of, just kind of, got used to Chafer voice. Love the characters, storyline and dry wit portrayed but STILL would rather a Chafer narrate like he does when doing dialog

Joyful read!

Strange to say on murder mystery with supernatural undertones but repartee in this novel was really charming, tongue in cheek and intelligent. Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Dr. Siri - part Maigret, part Buffy

Where does The Coroner’s Lunch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top

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

Never knew what was going to happen, only that Siri, Dtui, Mr Geung and Pavilai would probably be okay at the end. Personal note: I looked up the names. One of the few downsides for me of audio books is that I don't know how things are spelled. On the other hand, I at least know how they are pronounced.

Which scene was your favorite?

The end when the bad guys got what they deserved. And the part with the Hmong. And the part where Mr Geung bawls him out so he promotes Dtui. And most of his interactions with Pavilai. And the part where he tells off the chicken counter. There were a lot of good parts.

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

No, but I listened to it in 2 days.

Any additional comments?

The paranormal parts sort of reminded me of the same sort of thing in the Longmire books. Stuff that would be nifty to believe is real. I also really enjoy books where the author's obvious wealth of background knowledge supports the story rather than becoming the point of the book.

Much, Much Better than I Expected! Try it!

The first few minutes of this book did not impress. . . but I gave it a bit more time and before I knew it, I was totally hooked. This is a very good mystery story set in a time and place (Laos post war) that has been mostly overlooked in fiction. The author did a great job of creating characters who demanded your empathy or ire; and produced a plot line that kept me wondering. The narration is (at the beginning) a bit flat and may be the element that made me wonder about my choice of books; but Clive Chafer did a remarkable job throughout. HIs performance is different that many others with which you may be familiar. I will listen to more of his books.

Worth the credit!

Pleasantly surprised, wry humour, good characters

I'm glad I found this title on sale, otherwise I might not have every discovered it.....and now I will have no problems using a full credit in the future for more in the series. This is really a character-based story, and the characters are great. The protagonist, Dr. Siri, has a wry and ironic humour that he readily expresses in spite of the heavy-handedness of the Communist leaders in Laos in the late 1970s. The mystery is really secondary (like the Royal Spyness novels, as another reviewer suggested) and Dr. Siri sees spirits of those who have passed, so keep in mind this is not a real "mystery/thriller" and certainly not detective type of mystery either.

A couple of things to be prepared for: in spite of the fact the author pronounces Dr. Siri's first name like the name of Apple's on-board assistant or the daughter of Katie Holmes, the narrator's pronunciation is more like "see-li". I don't know if that's really the Lao pronunciation, or whether that's the narrator's error or assumption about Asian languages and the sound "r". Also, the fact that the narrator has a British accent (and so do all the Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese characters in the book) is a little off-putting at first. While I definitely enjoyed the stories, they really didn't feel like they took place in SE Asia because of that accent. Perhaps to Brits, where the narrator's accent might sound normal and not accented, it might be easier to ignore the geographically and factually misplaced sound.

Engaging if unusual crime novel set in Laos

It took a little for me to get into this, but it was well worth the time. An unusual hero, in his 70s, but still sharp (and apparently even sexually viable, imagine) Clever dialogue, cultural revelations, political maneuvers, good supporting characters… I’m really looking forward to another one of these

Agatha Christie Set in 1970's Communist Laos

Would you listen to The Coroner’s Lunch again? Why?

This was a very fun book. The characters are at once Laotian and British (or from the British Commonwealth). I mean the characters are mostly native Laotians, but the author is clearly not a native Laotian. Despite this duality, the novel is terrific in virtually every way. I even learned a lot of about everyday life for average Laotians in the 1970's.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dr. Siri, of course.

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

The narrator was terrific. I cannot compare his performance to other books.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were moments of deep pathos in this book. The dystopia of communist regimes becomes all too apparent throughout the book. However, there is a humor and humanity of the protagonists that cannot be erased.

An original tale

A light-hearted and original tale of the adventures of an elderly Laotian coroner in the early years of the Laos’s communist regime. The novel often takes comical surreal turns that are based on truths. Dr. Siri is an unlikely and lovable hero. I loved the setting of Laos, the description of its mostly likeable people and its culture, and the interesting era. Kudos to author Cotterill for coming up with such a novel idea for his series.

all right

was a little hard to follow with all the names about the same but over all was very good