Love Songs from a Shallow Grave

Dr. Siri Paiboun #7

by Colin Cotterill

Praise for the Dr. Siri series:

“The consistently fine characterizations of the entire cast are matched by a tightly constructed plot.”—Booklist

“Glimpses of everyday life in Laos will appeal to those readers curious about a culture unfamiliar to most Americans.”—Publishers Weekly

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 threatened with death. The Khmer Rouge is relentless, and it is touch and go for the dauntless, seventy-four-year-old national—and only—coroner of Laos.

Colin Cotterill was born in London in 1952 and taught and trained teachers around the world before settling in Thailand. He spent several years in Laos, initially with UNESCO, before he moved on to become involved in child protection in the region and set up a non-governmental organization in Phuket. He later moved on to ECPAT, an international organization combating child prostitution and pornography. Colin writes and illustrates full time, and lives in Chumphon on the Gulf of Thailand with his wife, Jessi, and a bunch of dogs. He is a Dilys Award winner.

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

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had something intelligent to add to the series of cracking good reviews already written on this book. After Meeting Peit Van Der Valk (Nicolas Freeling) of the Netherlands and Detective Wallander (Henning Mankell) of the Swedish police, I thought I had already met the men of my dreams. However, I have now begun an unblushing love affair with the Laotian Dr. Siri Paiboun. Like the angst-ridden Wallander, and the wise-cracking Piet Van der Valk, Dr. Siri spends much of his time maneuvering around an unwieldy bureaucracy. However, unlike the first two, his ability to cope is often a matter of sheer survival, and unlike the occasionally suicidal Wallander, Dr. Siri has every intention of hanging on to life and keeping his fellow humans in the same condition regardless of the grimness of situation - it couldn't get much grimmer than Cambodia in the late 70s. Anybody who lived in southeast Asia during that time can find a lot of familiar scenes: under-equipped hospitals, antiquated equipment and the necessity for some surprising collaborations (e.g. with a non-medical institution that possesses the only microscope), but also a kind of innocence that came with the era. We can, for example remember how a rainy day used to be fun. I look forward to more books by Colin Cotterill.

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

Absolutely brilliant! I wonder if this is the high-water mark of the series. Both the A and B plots were well-constructed and though basically unrelated, they didn’t clash as competing storylines. Cotterill interwove the first-person narration of the B plot through the novel expertly.

I appreciated the character development the most in this story. Even stoic Phosey opens up. The first-person comes from our lovely doctor himself. Madame Deng gets some great scenes as well. I’m quite impressed with the direction Cotterill is taking. This is hardly your average detective series.

There’s one added bonus to these stories; they show the evil vulgarity of politics. Cotterill makes a point of showing how politics are the true enemy of humanity and love.

[Yeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Songs From a Shallow Grave was confusing and tortured, and it led me on a ride that was spine-tingling and heart wrenching. I loved this book, but there were so many times I wanted to cry. Sometimes this book felt almost too real. The atrocities that occurred during the seventies in Cambodia and Vietnam were horrific, and this tale gave a sense of reality to what happened there. I was in middle school during that time, and I remembered one of my friends losing her brother. As I read this story, I thought about that. I had a friend I knew as a young adult, and he had been to Vietnam. He was older than I, but he was so messed up.

I know this book is fiction, but I know some of the things described here were similar to things that actually happened, and that made me so sad. Still, I love the resilience of the characters in this series. They have no money, a government that's out of whack, and a national ideology that is like a tape-worm run amuck in the gut of their nation, but they still survive and love and celebrate. I think this series provides great examples of living beyond the circumstances of life and finding joy and meaning in the hard times as well as the times when life just seems mundane.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5★ for my seventh outing with Dr Siri & Co. It's not that the series is tired - or that I'm tired of it - it's just that this instalment was a bit different to the others. Usually there is a strong, central police/coronial mystery at the heart of the story, and around the edges we enjoy further building of the main characters and progress of their life-story arc. But this time it was like both parts were given equal weight; like the mystery wasn't strong enough on its own.

It's Laos in 1978. Over a deadly weekend in Vientiane, three women are murdered with the same unusual weapon - a fencing épée. Inspector Phosy and Dr Siri are on the case. Meanwhile, Civilai has been invited to Phnom Penh on a public relations junket and has nominated Siri as his travelling companion. Siri doesn't really want to go as the murder case hasn't yet been solved, but he has happy memories of visiting the Cambodian capital with his first wife in the 1940s, and he's curious to return. BUT this is not Cambodia - it's the Kampuchea of the Khmer Rouge - and the two elderly gents are dismayed by what they find there.

As always, I enjoyed the piece by piece solving of the murder puzzle, and I also really appreciated getting some insight to Phosy's character, with a lot more backstory provided this time around. Overall though, it felt like a bit of a chore to read. The Kampuchea chapters were pretty dark, naturally, and I found myself skimming a bit just to get through it. Hopefully #8 will be a bit lighter.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the darkest so far and looks back at the terrible, senseless 1978 genocide in Cambodia. Siri is in the middle of an investigation when he is sent to Cambodia on a diplomatic mission - and discovers the true terror of what’s happening there. The other side of the story is a murder investigation involving fencing and women who studied in the Eastern Block. There is a theme of being afraid of losing love, and learning appreciation for life, and for all its silliness, Laos.

The parts where Dr Siri speaks from a Lao prison are very dark and harrowing, and some things were incomgruous, but the ending tied it together for me. Can’t say it was mindless entertainment than the other books, though. I hope the next one is lighter.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dr. Siri Paiboun series is one of my favorite series. I found it late so am now reading it from book 1. Dr Siri is a reluctant National Coroner of Laos. The previous Coroner swam across the river to leave Cambodia. The series takes place in the 70's. Dr. Siri is in his late 70's and was trained in France as a doctor. He used a French book to learn his coroner position. He fought for the Communist party with his wife before the take over of the government.

Now on to this book. A serial murder is happening which is unusual. Three women have been murdered and it looks like it is linked to a person who knows fencing. Dr Siri and his workers/wife/friends are on the trail to find the murdered. Dr. Siri is sent to Cambodia during this time. The news hadn't reached the outside world as what atrocities and mass murders were occurring there. Dr. Siri lands in a Pol Pot prison and suffers greatly. It appears this will be the last Dr. Siri book.

What makes these books so enjoyable is the gentle humor of Dr. Siri and his connections with a circle of companions. The times are hard but they survive with humor and a sense of family. This was the 7th book in the series. At this time, I am half way through the series so I have a lot more visiting to do with Dr. Siri and his circle of friends.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seventh in the series and among the best. I found in the past books that some of the sweetness could be cloying and here the humour and affection the characters have for eachother is set off perfectly with the incredibly dark scenes set in Cambodia. A good murder twist at the end is a bit of an afterthought, but overall high quality light entertainment and if you enjoyed the other books in the series you will not want to miss this one.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seventh entry in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series sees Siri called out to an unusual murder, the victim was killed expertly with a fencing epee. That should narrow the field of suspects; however, the case becomes complicated.

While Inspector Phosey continues the investigation, Siri and his close friend, Civilai, are recruited for a political delegation to Cambodia (Kampuchea) where the Khmer Rouge reign of terror is in progress. The darkness of this time period is reflected in the narrative bringing a more somber tone to this novel compared to others in the series.

I enjoy these books for the well-drawn characters, the unique location and the history that Colin Cotterill incorporates into his novels. It's an underrated series that has so much to offer.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first title I've read in the Dr. Siri Paibourn mystery series, and it is an impressive outing. If you don't know much about Laos and the Khmer Rouge in neighboring Cambodia, Long Songs will give you a true but grim history lesson. Dr. Siri is the only coroner working in 1978 Laos when he takes on a serial killer who's done in three young ladies using fencing swords. Meanwhile he's also dispatched to Cambodia on a diplomatic mission where he runs into trouble. The wry sense of humor takes the edge off the violence and gritty settings. But I also liked the nifty murder mystery that fooled me. Definitely a series worth reading from book one and onward.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked with Cambodian refugees in Atlanta in the 80's and found myself grateful for Cotterill's decision to take Siri into the spiritual and social devastation of Pol Pot's revolution. The Cambodian segment, unfortunately, is not well-woven into the mystery in Laos -- feels like parallel, disconnected stories. But both stories are so well written, yet again, that you cut Cotterill slack. Even with the subject matter, I still laughed out loud at several descriptions -- people in harsh situations find hope in humor.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful installment featuring the National Coroner of Laos, septuagenarian and newly-wed Dr. Siri Paiboun! This one features a nicely-plotted murder mystery in which 3 ; in addition, Civilai and Siri are “invited” to Phnom Penn along with a group of Chinese officials.

Phosy and Dtui appear to be having marital difficulties; she confides to Daeng that she thinks he is having an affair. Daeng deputizes Siri to talk to Phosy about it. Siri chickens out but leaves a note for Phosy before he leaves for Phnom Penn; the note does the trick. Phosy and Dtui have a real conversation and confess they love each other.

The spirit of a betel-nut-chewing old woman, that Siri thinks may be his mother, warns him not to go to Cambodia. Comrade Phat, Siri’s friend who is a Vietnamese adviser to the Ministry of Justice, also warns him against going. Of course, he goes anyway.

Cotterill presents a chilling picture of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Siri escaped from the embassy, and for that crime, is accused of being a spy. He is imprisoned and tortured, while Civilai is sent back home. After weeks pass with no Siri, his friends give him up for dead.

[Jen K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Siri is 70+ year old doctor in communist Laos in the 1970's who hoped for retirement when the Party took control of the government but instead found himself appointed as the only coroner in the nation. At this point in the series, Dr Siri has a pretty solid group of colleagues and friends who are all lovely and endearing. This one was a bit different with two interwoven storylines, one of him pursuing a triple murder by epee taking place mostly in the old American and not Vietnamese quarters and in custody of the Khmer during the time of the killing fields.

The mysteries are interesting but even more so is the history of SE Asia after the overthrow of the colonists and many choosing communism. The characters are grey and complex but also fiercely loyal. I enjoy the series.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've come to enjoy this series very much and it occurred to me that it's because of the sense of family Cotterill has created among his characters and because of his ability to so completely put the reader in the time and place of late 1970s Laos. The former trait has built up over time as I've come to know the characters and they've grown together. The latter is best illustrated through the author's splendid gift for metaphor and simile. For example: "He hiked eyebrows lifted from old doormats." The Democratic People's Republic of Laos had moved along like a 30 year old Peugeot on blocks." "Timetables in the People's Democratic Republic of Laos occupied the same area of the government bookshop as legends and fairy tales." "Time became a heavy log towed by an ancient elephant." The series is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to #8.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

...notes and fav bits...
(4)
"Heroes don't just 'pass" like flatulence in a strong breeze."
...
(5)
The Department of Hero Creation, the DHC, was housed in a small annex of the propaganda section of the Ministry of Information. Based loosely on a Vietnamese initiative already in place, the DHC was responsible for identifying role models, exaggerating their revolutionary qualities, and creating a fairy story around their lives. A week earlier, Dr. Siri and Comrade Civilai had received their invitations to attend this preliminary meeting. They'd heard of the DHC, of course, and seen evidence of its devious work. Every-one over seventy who'd done the Party the great service of staying alive was under consideration. If selected, school textbooks would mention their bravery. Histories would be written detailing their supernatural ability to surmount the insurmountable and carry the red flag to victory. Siri and Civilai could hardly pass up a chance to scuttle such a nefarious scheme.
...
(23)
-There was nothing he detested more than not being allowed to watch a film to its natural conclusion. In his mind there was no emergency so great as to deprive a man a cinematic climax.
...
(201)
- In the car back to their ostentatious hotel, The Sublime, the cadre had asked whether they might enjoy fourteen-year-old girls before they slept. Neither Siri nor Civilai could envisage what they might do with a fourteen-year-old other than a quick game of badminton.
...
(250)
He often talked to himself when he was overwhelmed with fear. He was it as a more dignified reaction than wetting himself.
...
(252-253)
-"But when he reached the lawn of the national library he stopped cold. His sadness for a beautiful defiled city turned to a bitter acid in his gut. Strewn across the grass were the soggy remains of thousands of books. Tens of thousands. Some old tomes had been set alight and had melded together. Illustrated pages flapped in the breeze. Precious and priceless volumes providing mulch for the next generations of plants. He crouched and paid reverence to the victims of ignorance and wondered whether anyone else in this city had been able to mourn the death of culture. It was then that he believed it all. If Big Brother could destroy literature and history, he could destroy lives."
...
robot reference (pg 278):
-"The Khmer Rouge weren't... they weren't human. You couldn't talk to them. They were robots." (I find this insulting on behalf of robots)
...
(288)
I had the option of crawling out on my hands and knees but that lacked...dignity. I wanted to make my escape attempt at least look like that of a biped rather than a tortoise.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Songs from a Shallow Grave is the seventh book in the Dr Siri series. Of the four that I’ve read it’s the strongest in terms of the plot, which is very well constructed and executed, blending a nice mystery puzzle with a strong sense of place and fascinating historical and social context. Whilst the tale still has some of the comic charm of the other books, both of the intersecting storylines are dark, especially Siri’s time in Kampuchea, which is quite harrowing but well handled. And although the story principally follows the investigation and the official trip, Cotterill advances the personal lives of the stable of main characters Siri, Madame Daeng, Nurse Dtui, Inspector Phosy, former Minister Civilai, and Mr Geung. Indeed, a real strength of the book is that the full gang are present for nearly the entire tale, each with their own interesting subplot. Overall, a clever, dark and enjoyable tale with a fascinating geographical and historical context.

[Kalika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, the seventh of the Dr. Siri series, is the first I have read. I was told that it is comparable to the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series. It isn't. The plot is much thicker, and though the author does bring out the ambience of Laos in 1970s with humour very effectively, the book is a little more serious. The book has two parallel narratives, one of serial murders in Laos, and another of a prisoner in a Khmer Rouge torture camp in Cambodia. The counterbalance of the horrors of Khmer Rouge with the gentle humanity of Vientiane probably takes it to a different level than Mma Ramotswe's adventures (as much as I love and enjoy those)
The book is dedicated to "the spirits of the Khmer who perished under Pol Pot, and the resourceful souls who survived".

[Rog Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third book I have read in this series about the adventures of an elderly coroner in Laos in the late 1970s. Although there is some humour this book is quite dark. There is the mystery of the three women killed with fencing swords but there is also the background story of the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea. I was hoping for a fairly light hearted read but I found this book depressing. It's well written but not what I wanted.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cotterill is a genius, what can I say? His unlikely hero is perfect, the setting in an alternate universe that is 1970s Laos, although this one has a dark venture into the horror that was Cambodia. Spooky and funny, a great read.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, you've got to #7 in the series. You knew it would come to this. Cotterill had to address Cambodia, and he has. Ugh. We owe it to him to stay with it and learn. But it's tied into a fairly clever mystery, and Siri is as irrepressible as ever.

I do hope #8 is a little more cheerful.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual annoying back and forth between past and present with Dr. Siri as well as his vivid dreams and visions cavorting with the deceased.

In the midst of a murder investigation which grows from one victim to three, all women, Siri is dispatched with Civilai to Phnom Penh on a diplomatic mission. At the time no one is aware of the killing fields. Siri experiences them first hand while solving an investigation via proxy.

Entertaining with the usual twists. I’d missed reading this one when it came out in 2010. Now I’ve read them all. Wish there were more.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had almost forgotten this wonderful series, set in Laos around 1978. In this one, Dr. Siri, the elderly coroner for the whole country in its Communist infancy, investigates the killing of three young women in quick succession, all by fencing swords. But this odd mystery assumes secondary interest as Dr. Siri accompanies his friend in the diplomatic corps to Phnom Penh, where he is quickly imprisoned and witnesses first hand some of the horrors of Pol Pot's killing fields. His motto has always been, "No matter how terribly you're suffering, someone else has it worse." Now he has to add, "Unless you're a Cambodian." The solving of the mystery is almost superfluous after these horrors, but also after the quirky humor and love shown between all the main characters.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Siri and Phosy try to solve a series of murders that seem to have been perpetrated by a fencer; Dr Siri makes an ill-advised trip to Phnom Penh. This was a gripping read that I had trouble putting down.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darker than the previous books in the series, the first half of the book concerns Dr. Siri working to solve three connected murders. Just as the clues and evidence begin to make sense, he is called to go on a diplomatic trip to Cambodia where he gets too close to the brutal Khmer Rouge and their Killing Fields. Those two storylines don't quite mesh into a coherent narrative, although each is interesting in itself. Not the strongest book in the series, but still an enjoyable read.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The story is darker than the previous books but the endearing characters are still there and also a mystery to solve.

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific twining of plots and a fictional look at the horror of those times through the eyes of Dr. Siri and his pals.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of my favorite series. Couldn't resist a reread.

[Kathy K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The insight into the Khmer rouge.

[Vicki Kohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm working my through Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun novels set in Laos in the 1970s, and I'm still enjoying each one.

Good story, great characters, humanity, humor.

While discussing a police investigation into three similar murders, they remark on the paperwork involved. Civilai, Siri's best friend and a retired politburo member, states the following: "Intentions can be as flimsy as toilet paper in a cheap bar."

Yet another amusing quotation that hits home.

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series. Dr. Siri is really one of the most charming characters in all of the mystery genre and I always enjoy reading about his adventures and absorbing his gentle wisdom and view of the world. That being said, I was disappointed in this particular book. In trying to analyze just why, I came to the conclusion that it was because it tried to do too much.

These stories take place in 1970s Laos, just after their revolution, as the new socialist government was trying to find its footing. Across the border in Cambodia, a much darker tale of transition was taking place. The Killing Fields were in full production. The population and the culture of the country were being systematically destroyed. In this book, Cotterill attempts to address that tragedy along with the more mundane events of Vientiane, if serial murders can ever be described as mundane. The contrast between Cambodia - Kampuchea - and the more benign society of Laos is stark. But the contrast is really too stark, too dissonant and disruptive and too difficult to take in.

Cotterill's device for bringing in the Khmer Rouge story is that Dr. Siri is lured to Cambodia, along with his friend Civilai, on an all-expense-paid diplomatic mission. There, Siri's natural curiosity and abrasiveness lead him to stick his nose in where his hosts don't want it to be and he winds up afoul of the Khmer Rouge and chained and locked in a horrible prison where he is tortured and starved and where he expects to be killed.

Before he went to Cambodia though, Siri had been involved in the investigation of a serial murder case in Vientiane. Three young women have been killed, skewered by epees and with a Z carved into their thighs. There seems to be no logical connection between the three murders, and Siri and his usual posse struggle to find the solution to the puzzle. Before he is able to reach a conclusion, the trip to Cambodia interferes. The story proceeds on two tracks, in Vientiane and in Cambodia.

We know that Dr. Siri will survive his horrible experience, because the series continues, but how he does so is more than a little incredible. After all, the 74-year-old national coroner of Laos is hardly James Bond, but his escape from Cambodia seems all too Bond-like.

Moreover, we know that he will solve the serial murder case. In this instance, the list of questions that he leaves for policeman Phosy before going to Cambodia lead to the surprising solution. But it's all just a bit too much, a bit too convenient.

My disappointment with this book is certainly not enough to put me off the series and I'll be looking forward to reading the next entry. I just hope it is a bit more narrowly focused.