Don't Eat Me: A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery #13

(Paperback)

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Between getting into a tangle with a corrupt local judge, and discovering a disturbing black-market business, Dr. Siri and his friend Inspector Phosy have their hands full in the thirteenth installment of Colin Cotterill's quirky, critically acclaimed series. Between getting into a tangle with a corrupt local judge, and discovering a disturbing black-market business, Dr. Siri and Inspector Phosy have their hands full in the thirteenth installment of Colin Cotterill's quirky, critically acclaimed series. Dr. Siri Paiboun, the 75-year-old ex-national coroner of Laos, may have more experience dissecting bodies than making art, but now that he's managed to smuggle a fancy movie camera into the country, he devises a plan to shoot a Lao adaptation of War and Peace with his friend Civilai. The only problem The Ministry of Culture must approve the script before they can get rolling. That, and they can't figure out how to turn on the camera. Meanwhile, the skeleton of a woman has appeared under the Anusawari Arch in the middle of the night. Siri puts his directorial debut on hold and assists his friend Phosy, the newly promoted Senior Police Inspector, with the ensuing investigation. Though the death of the unknown woman seems to be recent, the flesh on her corpse has been picked off in places as if something-or someone-has been gnawing on the bones. The plot Siri and his friends uncover involves much more than a single set of skeletal remains.

Reviews

Praise for Don't Eat Me

"This is one of the best Dr. Siri's yet."
The Globe and Mail

"Delightful."
The Seattle Times

"Fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Boris Akunin will enjoy this gently ironic series. Definitely recommended for its inclusive characters, humor, and a thought-provoking ending."
Library Journal, Starred Review

"Expands the boundaries of mystery fiction into a heady brew of Communist-oppressive noir and magical realism."
Booklist, Starred Review

"Excellent . . .The eccentric Siri continues to stand out as a unique and endearing series sleuth."
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Grisly and hilarious in equal measure."
BookPage, Top Pick

"Written at times with tongue-in-cheek, but always with sureness."
Crimespree Magazine

"Cotterill's long-running series, now on its 13th installment, runs on the chemistry of his quirky comic characters, who once again deliver delightfully. Tart chapter titles like 'Enough Perverts to Keep Us All Busy' add another layer of ironic humor."
Kirkus Reviews

"Cotterill writes effortlessly, with an excellent sense of timing and a constant undercurrent of humor."
New York Journal of Books

"Cotterill combines serious issues with a charming and frequently amusing tale."
Crime Review UK

"The characters are lovable, exasperating, noble, and above all hilarious . . .The grand finale is satisfying and glorious. Highly recommended."
Over My Dead Body

"Cotterill knows his characters inside and out."
Reviewing the Evidence

"Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri books are always a delight.Don't Eat Memay be one of the most memorable in the series. And it's almost sure to send you back to the earlier titles, whether for the first time or the third (or more)."
Kingdom Books

"Great writing, smooth style, writing that keeps a smile on your lips, and even a very tense period towards the end of the book where he keeps you in a suspense."
Bookgasm

Praise for the Dr. Siri mysteries

Hilarious.
TheNew York Times Book Review

"[Siri] is the most wonderfully human of heroes."
The Christian Science Monitor

Cotterill has a gift for tempering bad stuffspecifically, the baffling and chaotic political climate of communism circa 1980with gently ironic humor and frequent doses of slightly kooky occultism. His books are thus a welcome balm for our own current baffling and chaotic political climate.
The Seattle Times

The book ends with a rat-catching competition that is as bizarre as Dr. Siris wacky sense of humor. This is a unique series.
Dayton Daily News

The Dr. Siri books are by turns laugh-out-loud funny, sobering, convoluted, historical and endlessly entertaining . . . This series will have you reading (and laughing) well after most people in your household are sound asleep.
BookPage, Top Pick

"Filled with magic and quirkiness . . . A madcap and international caper."
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

"Cotterill's twisty mystery plot will entertain readers while his cast of eccentric characters charms."
Shelf-Awareness

"Highly unusual and immensely appealing."
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Stunning . . . This series offers unfailingly satisfying reading, especially so for the glimpses we get into the still-revolutionary characters of Siri and Madame Daeng, both bursting with caustic wit and adventurous spirit.
Booklist, Starred Review

Author Bio

Colin Cotterill is the author of twelve other books in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series- The Coroner's Lunch, Thirty-Three Teeth, Disco for the Departed, Anarchy and Old Dogs, Curse of the Pogo Stick, The Merry Misogynist, Love Songs from a Shallow Grave, Slash and Burn, The Woman Who Wouldn't Die, Six and a Half Deadly Sins, I Shot the Buddha, and The Rat Catchers' Olympics. His fiction has won a Dilys Award and a CWA Dagger in the Library. He lives in Chumphon, Thailand, with his wife and a number of deranged dogs.