The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot

Dr. Siri Paiboun #15

by Colin Cotterill

Laos, 1981: When an unofficial mailman drops off a strange bilingual diary, Dr. Siri is intrigued. Half is in Lao, but the other half is in Japanese, which no one Siri knows can read; it appears to have been written during the Second World War. Most mysterious of all, it comes with a note stapled to it: Dr. Siri, we need your help most urgently. But who is “we,” and why have they left no return address?
 
To the chagrin of his wife and friends, who have to hear him read the diary out loud, Siri embarks on an investigation by examining the text. Though the journal was apparently written by a kamikaze pilot, it is surprisingly dull. Twenty pages in, no one has died, and the pilot never mentions any combat at all. Despite these shortcomings, Siri begins to obsess over the diary’s abrupt ending . . . and the riddle of why it found its way into his hands. Did the kamikaze pilot ever manage to get off the ground? To find out, he and Madame Daeng will have to hitch a ride south and uncover some of the darkest secrets of the Second World War.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Asia, Mystery Thriller

224 pages, ebook

First published June 2, 2020

About the author

Colin Cotterill was born in London and trained as a teacher and set off on a world tour that didn't ever come to an end. He worked as a Physical Education instructor in Israel, a primary school teacher in Australia, a counselor for educationally handicapped adults in the US, and a university lecturer in Japan. But the greater part of his latter years has been spent in Southeast Asia. Colin has taught and trained teachers in Thailand and on the Burmese border. He spent several years in Laos, initially with UNESCO and wrote and produced a forty-programme language teaching series; English By Accident, for Thai national television.

Ten years ago, Colin became involved in child protection in the region and set up an NGO in Phuket which he ran for the first two years. After two more years of study in child abuse issues, and one more stint in Phuket, he moved on to ECPAT, an international organization combating child prostitution and pornography. He established their training program for caregivers.

All the while, Colin continued with his two other passions; cartooning and writing. He contributed regular columns for the Bangkok Post but had little time to write. It wasn't until his work with trafficked children that he found himself sufficiently stimulated to put together his first novel, The Night Bastard (Suk's Editions. 2000).

The reaction to that first attempt was so positive that Colin decided to take time off and write full-time. Since October 2001 he has written nine more novels. Two of these are child-protection based: Evil in the Land Without (Asia Books December 03), and Pool and Its Role in Asian Communism (Asia Books, Dec 05). These were followed by The Coroner’s Lunch (Soho Press. Dec 04), Thirty Three Teeth (Aug 05), Disco for the Departed (Aug 06), Anarchy and Old Dogs (Aug 07), and Curse of the Pogo Stick (Aug 08), The Merry Misogynist (Aug 09), Love Songs from a Shallow Grave (Aug 10) these last seven are set in Laos in the 1970’s.

On June 15, 2009 Colin Cotterill received the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award for being "the author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to library users".

When the Lao books gained in popularity, Cotterill set up a project to send books to Lao children and sponsor trainee teachers. The Books for Laos programme elicits support from fans of the books and is administered purely on a voluntary basis.

Since 1990, Colin has been a regular cartoonist for national publications. A Thai language translation of his cartoon scrapbook, Ethel and Joan Go to Phuket (Matichon May 04) and weekly social cartoons in the Nation newspaper, set him back onto the cartoon trail in 2004. On 4 April 2004, an illustrated bilingual column ‘cycle logical’ was launched in Matichon’s popular weekly news magazine. These have been published in book form.

Colin is married and lives in a fishing community on the Gulf of Siam with his wife, Kyoko, and ever-expanding pack of very annoying dogs.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alas, it's the last volume in the series. It went out with a bang!

Favorite conversation between several characters:

Siri asks: "Do I look like the type of person who would skip to the last page of a story?"
"Well, yes, you look like exactly that type, especially if it solves the mystery of why he's writing to you."
"See what I mean?" said Daeng. "A thoroughly annoying man."
"Then there's no point in having a mystery in the first place, is there?" said Siri.
"Let's all just skip to the last day of our lives and see what happened. A book is like an orgasm."
"Siri, I don't-" Phosy began.
"You want to get as much mileage out of it as you can before it's all over," Siri continued.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot is being billed as "the last Dr. Siri Mystery." If you aren't familiar with the series that may not mean much to you—but, believe me, the last Dr. Siri is a big deal. Dr. Siri is the retired coroner for Laos, a true believer in socialism, who sees post-war events in his country with a perspective both jaded and hopeful. He also unwillingly travels between our world and the spirit realm,using enigmatic advice from his spiritual guide, a no-longer-living cross-dressing writer of bad verse. All the key characters in this series have similarly unexpected back stories—and all of them have the kind of decency and creativity that leave readers rooting for them.

This series can be read in or out of sequence, but once you start, you'll want to keep going. And you'll be glad there are 15 Dr.Siri mysteries, but sad that apparently there sill be no more.

I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual,a delight.Clever,and poignant.

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last Case for the Laotian Coroner
Review of the Soho Crime hardcover edition (June 2020)

I'm late to the event here as although this is reported to be the final Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery, it is only the first one that I've read. I only just discovered Thailand based writer Colin Cotterill through his fairly recent series of Jimm Juree Case Files short stories.

Unlike Thailand situated Jimm Juree, the Dr. Siri Paiboun series is based in 1970's - early 1980's Laos, during the years of Pathet Lao Communist Party rule. If that wasn't quirky enough, there is an added magical realism element in that Paiboun interacts with the spirit world and has a guide who helps channel his journeys there through dreams and visions.

Delightful Life has several cases running concurrently. Paiboun and his wife Daeng are tracking down clues from a recovered diary of a World War 2 Japanese pilot who was stationed in Laos as part of a salvage crew. They are also dealing with a mystery of relocating abducted girls to their home villages. Paiboun's friend Inspector Phosy investigates a mysterious death in the hills where his policeman has also gone missing.

This was an entertaining and offbeat mystery with some especially good banter between Dr. Paiboun and his rather formidable wife Paeng. I hope to track down some of the earlier books in the series to get more of the back story.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was last novel of siri detective series. they are always fun and informative too. this about wwii and it's aftermath in Laos.

[John Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so the end of the series. Ever since I read the first in 2015 I have always been able to look forward to the next waiting on my shelf and know that I would finish reading it with a smile on my face. Alas, no more.

The trials, tribulations and adventure of Dr Siri, the now ex-national coroner of the Peoples Demorcratic Republic of Laos, have kept me amused and also educated me about a region about which I knew little.

Dr Siri has lead a very full life (but I will leave you to read about that yourself) and he has reached a strange state of contentment in the Communist governed country of the early eighties that he had fought to bring about - but without the luxuries, or even the adequacies that he had expected.

With most series it is better to start at the beginning; here it is essential. To read about Siri's ex commando wife, his mongoloid assistant, his spirit dog called Ugly, the transvestite foretune teller/spirit guide, the 1000 year old Hmong Shaman who lives with or rather in Dr Siri not to mention the usually naked crazy Rajhid without a proper introduction would give you the wrong impression, totally !

One of the pearls of wisdom that I take from this last book and which is equally if not more true today around the world, comes from ex Politburo member and oldest friend, Civilai. He said, "Tourism has a way of deleting all of the wonders that attracted it in the first place." How true.

I shall miss these stories. May be I shall go back to the Jimm Juree books although I didnt think they had the same appeal. The Doctor Siri series is definitely high on my favourite list.
Grateful thanks to the author, Colin Cotterell.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supposedly this book will be the last of the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. It has been a terrific series, and I would be sad, if this is really the last one. However I will say that volume 15 has strayed a long ways from the things that I really connected to in the earlier books.

One thing bothered me toward the end of the book. The reader was warned about reading any further. I am a very literal person and stopped. I did later go back later and read the last few pages. It was a confusing ending to me. I suspect that Cotterill's efforts were to brutally discuss the horrors of war. He is right about that. But, it felt like too harsh an ending for such a lovely series.

In any case, I would like to take a moment now to thank Colin Cotterill for giving his readers these unique and fabulous books. I have read most of them at least 3-4 times and delight in them as much or more, each time I re-read one of the titles.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another series I have avidly followed over the years. Dr. Siri, the one-time state coroner, now retired, of Laos, has been a delightful companion through all the previous fourteen books of the series, but now the author and publisher tell us number fifteen will be the last. I'm thinking that is probably a good thing. This one seemed a bit stale and the plot is basically the same one that has served the author well throughout the series, but perhaps it is time to give it a rest.

It is 1981 and Laos is still struggling to make a go of its newly installed socialist government. That was the revolution that Siri and his best friend Civilai and his now-wife Madame Daeng had supported and fought for during all the years of the struggle. But their victory has been bittersweet. Corruption is rampant in the new government and it has not brought the succor and relief to the ordinary citizens of the country that the revolutionaries had once dreamed of.

Now, both Siri and the twentieth century are in their eighties. Although he did finally manage to retire from his position as coroner, he still visits the morgue regularly and maintains an interest in what goes on there. And he spends his days helping Madame Daeng in her noodle shop, where the best noodles in Vientiane are sold. But his friend Civilai is dead and he feels that loss keenly. He no longer has anyone to sit with him on his favorite log by the Mekong and eat lunch while sharing the latest gossip.

Regardless of his age and the aches and pains that go along with it, Siri's appetite for life and adventure remains high, so when he receives a strange bilingual diary, half in Japanese and half in Lao, he is intrigued and he is determined to discover who sent it to him and why.

He is at a disadvantage because he cannot read Japanese and doesn't have easy access to anyone who can translate, but he soldiers on reading the parts he can understand to Madame Daeng each night. Most mysteriously, there was a note attached to the diary that said, "Dr. Siri, we need your help most urgently." There is no name or return address. "We" remain anonymous.

It becomes apparent that the diary was written during World War II, evidently by a Japanese soldier stationed in Laos. Siri discovers that the author was a kamikaze pilot and that he was in charge of a salvage operation in the town of Thakhek. With the help of his friend police chief Phosy, he finagles a ride to Thakhek, along with Madame Daeng, to investigate further.

While he and Madame Daeng travel to Thakhek, Phosy and one of his officers go to Vang Vieng to search for another officer who had disappeared there when he was sent to interview a woman. Soon Phosy and both of his officers find themselves in a world of trouble and their prospects for extricating themselves do not look good.

Meanwhile, in Thakhek, Siri and Madame Daeng have uncovered more than they bargained for, including a likely hub for human trafficking. We know, of course, that in the end Siri will solve all the mysteries and bring justice to those deprived of it. The story of how he gets there is, as always, filled with humor and Cotterill's light touch. If only we had a humane Dr. Siri to solve all our puzzles and bring justice in real life.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Dr. Siri and am sorry to see the end of the series, but I think it's a wise author who knows when the momentum is gone.

This book was slow-moving but convoluted and an amusing read. I didn't care for part of the ending, but that was a small matter.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Colin Cotterill's first book with Dr. Siri over Christmas 2008. And now, nearly 12 years later and with book #15 that's it with Dr. Siri. I'm truly sad because for years I've always had one or two unread Dr. Siris on my shelf and whenever I hit a reading slump Dr. Siri was there.
But... I remember that Colin Cotterill wanted to quit writing already a few years ago, so I guess as a reader I should be grateful.
And I am. This is such a unique and wonderful series. It seriously has everything: humour, a crime to solve, romance, history, politics, human relationships, animals and pets and lots of supernatural stuff. And all is written so incredibly entertaining and charming. Well done, Colin.
Sadly, this last part sucks wrt an epilogue. I know I know it's in the readers' imagination but if I had any imagination I'd probably be a writer myself. So Colin, give us a proper ending - ofc a happy ending - of Dr. Siri and Madame Daeng and the Vientiane gang. Maybe a novella.
I hope Colin Cotterill won't be a stranger on my shelves.

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the 15th in a series this one was full of pleasant surprises and new tricks. Dr Siri does his thing investigating what is behind a strange diary he is sent. In his investigations the author covers child sex trade, Japan in Laos during WWII, Japanese atrocities in Manchuria, Japanese linguist puzzles, Japanese ghosts and the complexity of the relationships between the Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China. Very clever and as usual it was full of humour.
Pity this seems to be the last in the series but at least it went out on a high.

[Rebecca Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointing, disappointing end to the series.

I will miss these characters a lot. Sadly, after reading this last book, I have no desire to revisit any of the other 14 Siri Paiboun stories. I guess the author just fell out of love for any of the fascinating people he created. They deserved a better wrap up.

[Ashlie Kendrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the latest in the Dr. Siri series. I liked it but not as much as some of the previous books in the series - I think because it focused less on the characters that I’ve come to know and love and more on the characters in the mystery who I just wasn’t as invested in. Still good - 3 1/2 stars.

[Clara Cvik · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8…………. I think. This is the weirdest book I’ve ever read in my life. It was entertaining but there was so many plot twists and story lines in a 300 page book that it all felt really rushed. Very, very mixed feelings.

Favorite quotes:

Phosy hoped, with little confidence, that his Lao brothers and sisters might keep their mouths shut, forget tourism and profits, and leave the pretty views to the locals. As Civilai used to say, tourism had a way of deleting all the wonders that attracted it in the first place.

The best way to disguise a sin is to redecorate it as a blessing.

“You can only appreciate freedom if you have alternatives,” said Siri. “It seems freedom is his only option.”

The sun was smearing a purple bruise across the horizon. The clouds were highlighted in lilacs and mauves, the river pink. The bougainvillea bush in front of the balcony was being ravaged by a hostile gang of purple butterflies. It was the type of scene that would have graced the photo albums of all the tourists the government dreamed would one day come to appreciate the country and spend their money. But this evening only Siri and Daeng could be bothered to enjoy it. There was another ugly hotel being built on the far bank and they hoped the Lao would someday build an even uglier one in revenge.

It was fitted with canisters of high explosives and three additional gas tanks, two of which were not connected to the engine. Every day, the second lieutenant escorted young fliers to the craft that would become their coffins. The youths were always silent, resolved, sad that they’d lived so little, dreamed so wastefully. They were all trapped in the purgatory of imperialism, unable to confess they felt no allegiance to that old man locked away in his palace in Tokyo.

If one man refused to take to the sky, if he dared question the sanity of sending an entire generation off to a fiery death, if he wondered aloud how his country had sunk to allowing a gang of old generals to pervert its customs and hold its culture to ransom for glory, every other suicide pilot would echo those thoughts silently. But they’d band together to hammer down the nail that stood up and they’d climb into the cockpit and shed tears all the way to hell, but not back.

[A.L. Sirois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typically convoluted but engrossing entry in this series -- the LAST book in the series, as it happens. I'm glad Cotterill resisted the temptation to kill off his lead (or Madame Daeng), but I will miss reading about the intrepid and slyly humorous Dr. Siri Paiboun In this final installment, Dr. Siri is seton the trail of a mysterious Japanese soldier who has been in hiding since the end of World War II. Or -- has he? The plot switches back and forth, and, as usual with this series, things are not always as they seem. I'm sorry to come to the end of the series, especially since there are a couple of questions left unanswered -- but I suspect I will be re-reading them one day. After all, I own the entire series! Do yourself a favor and dive in -- but start with the first book, THE CORONER'S LUNCH. You'll be glad you did.

[a hooded figure from your friendly neighbourhood dog park · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the previous book was an in-your-face loving ode to Siri and Civilai's friendship - and FREAKING BROKE MY HEART, how dare youuuuu -- this one once again drove home everything I love about Siri and Daeng as the ultimate power couple.

This book also has one of my fave clue hunts in the series, complete with a proper treasure hunt! And a m/m love story, omg! So if this had been, say, book 14, I'd have had no gripes with it. But really, this is our goodbye? :/ What about Nurse Dtui's career? Everyone else who had faded into the background? And the spirit world plot is still left hanging, even with Civilai's final words.

Still, this is one of my favourite series ever and I'm looking forward to re-reading it again eventually <3

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is the final book in the series according to the end flyer. No indication of its mortality is given in the story or noted by the author.

Three stories here: Siri and his wife being bored retirees are lured to solve a mystery from WWII revolving around a Japanese soldier’s diary; the diary’s text is a weird riddle written in both Lao and Japanese; and Phosi, the chief of police, is held prisoner by a worried father who is concerned that his daughter will be prosecuted for the murder of a wealthy Vietnamese man. The lure of the mystery becomes a quest which morphs into a treasure hunt with some diversion into human trafficking.

I will miss Dr Siri’s weird and fascinating adventures in both the present ( Laos of the 1970’s and 80’s) and the astral plane.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well it was not a comedy I would say that. There is a light hearted conversational style between bored, retired husband and wife detective duo. But I thought it was quite heavy. More highlighting the monstrous side of human nature. The mental health impact this has. The monsters at the top of the pile in wars, ie Nanjing and the cascading monstrosities and like littler monsters developed through this leadership. It was interesting, engaging in the setting of histories, languages, ethnic and racial cultures and the playing out of these in lives lived. . The sheer craftiness needed to survive. But also the wishing for some good to prevail. The surreal side to the story. It doesn’t take much to become a monster though.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this is Dr Siri's last, he's certainly going out with a bang -heh heh. Another fascinating snippet of history from WW2 and Vietnam War. I've liked all the Cotterill books, not only the Dr Siri series, so I'm hoping Cotterill doesn't plan to just sit around and not write any more. This one was a gem - some fantastic characters. Make a great movie. I only hope Cotterill has told the truth, since virtually everything I know about Laos I have learned from these books. I'm intrigued at the plethora of information about kanji in this one, and a character with the same name as Cotterill's wife (though a common name).

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farewell Dr. Siri, I will miss you and the other fascinating characters, both corporal and supernatural, that populate your world. Now I will go back and reread the series!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so sad to see this series end. The characters were delightful in every novel and I learned so much about this area of the world through the lovely narrative and adventures of the characters.

[Carole888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sri Paiboun and friends never disappoint me!

[Julia Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful series. Every one of the 15 books is excellent.

[Anne Meyer]

I just couldn't finish it. It hit two genres that I really dislike: series books and mystery books with quirky narrators. I read the first couple of chapters, skimmed the next couple, and then took it back to the library.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series has been one of my all time favorites. I love the characters and their interactions. This last book did not focus enough on the usual cast of characters which is part of the charm of this series. I left the book feeling sad. I wanted to have an epilogue with Dr Siri. I don’t care about a cast of Japanese soliders coming in and stealing the story. I would stop at book 14.

[Shirley Wetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laos, 1981: Dr. Siri Paiboun is feeling unsettled. He's still mourning the death of his best friend, Comrade Civili, his job as the maitre de of his wife's noodle shop is unfulfilling, and he hasn't heard from the spirit world for some time. He needs an adventure, and when an anonymous source sends him a diary which contains a plea for help, he's found one. He and Madame Daeng set off for a remote and secluded village in the north, looking for information about the WWII Japanese airman who was the author of the mysterious diary.

All good things must come to an end. This is the final book in this sweet, funny, historical series about Laos from the Communist takeover in 1975 through 1981. I like to imagine that Siri and Madame Daeng and all the characters I've come to love are still having adventures. Maybe Siri's dream of making a film loosely based on his and his wife's heroics as young Laotian freedom fighters will finaly come to fruition.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Cotterill,

Thanks for the great series of mysteries and characters. I love them all and will probably come back to visit them again someday.

Your fan,
Lynn

[Warwick Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of an era. I’ve loved making my way through this series over the last several years. Quirky characters, intriguing settings and a natural humour built in. I will miss Dr. Siri Paiboun and his equally eccentric friends.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘As is often the case, a strong-enough yearning was just enough to tweak fate into action.’

Laos, 1981. Dr Siri’s boredom is about to be relieved. Which is just as well, given that he has retired as a coroner and now his dream to be a film producer has been thwarted. How fortunate, then, that the unofficial mailman makes a delivery of a strange old diary, with a note: ‘Dr Siri, we need your help most urgently’. But who has sent the diary, and why? There is no return address. Half of the diary is written in Lao, the other half is in Japanese. Dr Siri thinks, given the date, the diary was written during World War II.

And so begins Dr Siri’s investigation. The diary seems awfully dull for something apparently written by a kamikaze pilot, but Dr Siri is intrigued. He marshals his forces, calls in some favours and then he and Madame Daeng set off.

‘Ah, you know me, Siri,’ said Daeng, ‘Always up for a wasted day on the trail of someone unimportant.’

Meanwhile, Inspector Phosy has a mystery of his own to solve and Mr Geung has the noodle shop to manage. Madame Daeng finds a mystery to solve as well, and all the various pieces seem to be coming together quite well. Dr Siri even finds himself visiting (albeit briefly) an old friend:

‘Being a coroner would be of no value at all in limbo. Knowing how you died is of no use
whatsoever once you’ve gone.’

Mysteries solved and the story is concluding. This is the last of the Dr Siri series, and I am torn between wanting to know how it will end and not wanting it to end. I have enjoyed this series. So long Dr Siri, and thanks for the journey.

It is not necessary to read the fifteen books in order (but it is more fun).

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Rike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this series around ten years ago and have loved it ever since. There were weaker and stronger volumes but they were all fun to read. There are four parts I love:
1) The writing is really lovely. It's fun and ironic but never in a very mean-spirited way. Some scenes and topics are hard to swallow but it's never just grim for the sake of it.
2) The characters are fleshed out. No one is perfect but all the central characters have moments to shine. Crimes are never solved by a genius sleuth but as a group effort.
3) The storylines are very unpredictable. The author usually introduces several mysteries in one volume that get solved parallely. I think it's because if this that I was almost always surprised at the twists.
4) The books in general are very educational. I didn't just learn about Laos but about its neighboring countries, other socialist countries and a lot of social issues. I don't know how accurate all the information given are since these are mystery novels and not scientific papers, but there are a lot of issues that I probably would have never heard of without this series.

That being said, while this volume was very enjoyable to read, I don't think it was even close to being the best one. The twists surprised me but even while I read it, some parts seemed a little far-fetched and constructed. It felt a little like an hommage to the author's (Japanese) wife. I can tell that a lot of thought went into it and the end was very touching, but as a mystery, I wasn't completely convinced.