The Second Biggest Nothing

A death threat to Dr. Siri and all his friends sends the ex-coroner down memory lane in the 14th installment of Cotterill's quirky, critically acclaimed series set in 1970s Laos.

Vientiane, 1980: For a man of his age and in his corner of the world, Dr. Siri, the...Read more

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die

Until the French government declassified documents concerning their ignominious defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Madam Daeng's past had been a well-kept secret. Now Dr Siri's wife is vulnerable and being stalked by a killer.

But when Dr Siri whisks her away for a romantic working weekend...Read more

Love Songs from a Shallow Grave

Three young Laotian women have died of 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...Read more

Slash and Burn

Things have been pretty hectic for Dr Siri. Now he's off on what he calls a 'therapeutic holiday' in the mountains with his wife and friends. But sadly there's no rest for the wicked - with the help of a little blackmail they are accompanying an American MIA team. Their mission is to...Read more

Anarchy and Old Dogs

A blind retired dentist has been run down by a logging truck on the street in Vientiane just opposite the post office. His body is duly delivered to the morgue of Dr. Siri Paiboun, the official and only coroner of Laos. At the age of seventy-four, Dr. Siri is too old to be in awe of the new...Read more

Curse of the Pogo Stick

Dr Siri Paiboun, the spry seventy-three-year-old reluctant national coroner of Laos, is out of town when a booby-trapped corpse is delivered to the morgue in Vientiane.  The lives of visting doctors, the morgue attendant, and Madame Daeng, Dr Siri's fiancĂ©e, are saved by the intervention of...Read more

Disco for the Departed

The surprise appearance of a mummified arm protruding from a concrete path leading to the President's new mansion has caused an understandable degree of embarrassment. Dr Siri finds himself despatched to discretely disinter the body attached to the arm, identify it and determine the cause...Read more

Thirty-Three Teeth

Laos, 1977. Something wild and evil has been let loose in the city of Vientiane and a series of mutilated corpses lands in the morgue of Dr Siri Paiboun, the reluctant national coroner.

Just as things in the capital start to get interesting, 72-year old Dr Siri is sent to the...Read more

The Coroner's Lunch

Meet Dr. Siri Paiboun, the reluctant national coroner of Laos.

Laos, 1975 - The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a seventy-two-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job,...Read more

How to Pronounce Knife

An ex-boxer turned nail salon worker falls for a pair of immaculate hands; a mother and daughter harvest earthworms in the middle of the night; a country music-obsessed housewife abandons her family for fantasy; and a young girl's love for her father transcends language.

In this...Read more