Author(s): Colin Cotterill

Crime

Following a rash but perhaps not unexpected moment of insolence, Dr. Siri is forced to go on a road trip with Judge Haeng and the Justice Department. On a deserted jungle trail they are ambushed and Siri is kidnapped by Hmong insurgents. His only route to freedom is to exorcise the village of its demon - a task he has no idea how to accomplish. Newly pregnant Nurse Dtui and Dr. Siri's fiance, Madame Daeng, are left alone to track down an assassin intent on wiping out the mortuary staff. If only their troubles ended there. Before the case is solved they'll face exploding corpses, undead muggers and geriatric gunslingers. Just another day at the office for the Laos National Morgue, then. Review: Cotterill's novels have richer plots than Alexander McCall Smith's African detective stories, but the same comic charm - Sunday Times Siri's greatest aspects are his charm, persistence and dry humour, qualities that also make Cotterill's first novel an unexpected pleasure - Guardian Fascinating background, engaging characters and witty dialogue - Sunday Telegraph First published 2009.