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Dr. Siri Paiboun #6
The Merry Misogynist
Somebody in Laos is wooing and wedding country girls - and then killing them on honeymoon and binding their bodies to trees. The horror of what this monster does to his victims appals Dr Siri and his morgue team and they vow revenge. But they're distracted by the disappearance of itinerant Crazy Rajid. Siri has been getting premonitions that he's in danger. A trail of elaborate clues and remarkable disclosures about the Indian's past lead them to Vientiane's most ancient temple - and a terrible discovery.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
49 people are currently reading
921 people want to read
About the author
Colin Cotterill
72 books1,022 followersColin 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.
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.
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August 10, 2021
"He hadn’t said anything to Daeng but he was worried about Siri. Out here they weren’t far from the Thai border. Rebels occupied the hills and insurgents crossed the river to create havoc. Bandit gangs and renegade gunmen often hijacked lone vehicles. A Triumph motorcycle in good condition would be quite a catch."
Dr. Siri Paiboun is making his way through his personal “seventies.” Through no fault of his own, he is one of the last real medical doctors within Laos. The socialist/communist government (after the Pathet Lao takeover) has not been a welcoming place for those with such skills. Yet, people still die under suspicious circumstances and the country needs at least one forensic medical examiner. When the previous one passed on, they came to Siri and he had little choice.
This is book number six in the series and it’s better if you read them in order.
The Merry Misogynist is a “two-fer” with two separate matters that demand Dr. Siri’s attention. A local “crazy” has disappeared and Siri is one of the few who notices. While, in the hinterlands, a serial killer may be continuing to flourish. A body arrives at Siri’s morgue that galvanizes him to action.
"It appears she’d heard it from her sister, and her sister’s a nurse.”
“In Luang Nam Tha?”
“Yes, which attaches a grain of truth to the rumor.”
“You have the sister’s name?”
“And address. Am I not the complete detective?”
“You’re Inspector Migraine incarnate.”"
Siri was forced into being a medical examiner and then compelled by his nature to be a sort of detective. This book combines both thriller and mystery.
“I’m just going as a scout,” he told her. “As soon as Phosy gets there I’m through. But I want to be sure I haven’t condemned another girl to death by letting the strangler out of my sight.”
My appreciation of this book is not without some reflection on misogyny, whether that of the plot or perhaps of the author. This book has a lot to like with its insights into Laotian life and its lively characters. But Cotterill walks a fine line in his repeated objectifying references to women. Be forewarned.
Dr. Siri Paiboun is making his way through his personal “seventies.” Through no fault of his own, he is one of the last real medical doctors within Laos. The socialist/communist government (after the Pathet Lao takeover) has not been a welcoming place for those with such skills. Yet, people still die under suspicious circumstances and the country needs at least one forensic medical examiner. When the previous one passed on, they came to Siri and he had little choice.
This is book number six in the series and it’s better if you read them in order.
The Merry Misogynist is a “two-fer” with two separate matters that demand Dr. Siri’s attention. A local “crazy” has disappeared and Siri is one of the few who notices. While, in the hinterlands, a serial killer may be continuing to flourish. A body arrives at Siri’s morgue that galvanizes him to action.
"It appears she’d heard it from her sister, and her sister’s a nurse.”
“In Luang Nam Tha?”
“Yes, which attaches a grain of truth to the rumor.”
“You have the sister’s name?”
“And address. Am I not the complete detective?”
“You’re Inspector Migraine incarnate.”"
Siri was forced into being a medical examiner and then compelled by his nature to be a sort of detective. This book combines both thriller and mystery.
“I’m just going as a scout,” he told her. “As soon as Phosy gets there I’m through. But I want to be sure I haven’t condemned another girl to death by letting the strangler out of my sight.”
My appreciation of this book is not without some reflection on misogyny, whether that of the plot or perhaps of the author. This book has a lot to like with its insights into Laotian life and its lively characters. But Cotterill walks a fine line in his repeated objectifying references to women. Be forewarned.
August 1, 2021
I don’t write reviews.
Oh joy in the morning! It’s a typical hot, cloying, cicada-shrieking Japanese summer and that puts me right in the mood for a humid, tropical Laotian story. I love traveling via literature. Laos is breathtaking, yet I have zero wish to actually visit.
In this volume, Dtui is very pregnant so Madame Daeng is Siri’s sleuthing partner. Their relationship is growing and I find them absolutely delightful. Inspector Phosy develops as a character as well. I found myself liking him even more.
I was worried that the written-from-the-perspective-of-the-killer parts would ruin it for me, but Cotterill balanced it nicely. Many people are complaining about the killer’s backstory, but I had no problems with it. The complaints are a bit eh… “woke” for regular people, you dig?
Everything wraps up perfectly as well. I am very happy that audible included Cotterill and that I stumbled upon him that fateful day.
Oh joy in the morning! It’s a typical hot, cloying, cicada-shrieking Japanese summer and that puts me right in the mood for a humid, tropical Laotian story. I love traveling via literature. Laos is breathtaking, yet I have zero wish to actually visit.
In this volume, Dtui is very pregnant so Madame Daeng is Siri’s sleuthing partner. Their relationship is growing and I find them absolutely delightful. Inspector Phosy develops as a character as well. I found myself liking him even more.
I was worried that the written-from-the-perspective-of-the-killer parts would ruin it for me, but Cotterill balanced it nicely. Many people are complaining about the killer’s backstory, but I had no problems with it. The complaints are a bit eh… “woke” for regular people, you dig?
Everything wraps up perfectly as well. I am very happy that audible included Cotterill and that I stumbled upon him that fateful day.
September 13, 2016
The sixth installment in a mystery series about a 73 year-old Laotian national coroner, Dr. Siri. A corpse of a young village woman ends up in his morgue, and he and his team take a personal interest in the case. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing is investigating the number and nature of illegal residents in Siri's government-supplied housing. As he ruminates with a friend, they realize they having seen Crazy Rajid skinny-dipping in some time, and decide to search for the village madman.
Let me be forthright. I am flat-out turned off by the serial killer perspective, virtually guaranteed to dislike any book that includes it as a secondary narrative. For the most part, I manage to avoid it, but every so often, a mystery novelist is tempted to dip their toes into a new narrative, and I get blindsided. When I read the synopsis for The Merry Misogynist, I was tempted to skip it entirely, except Cotterill has been building on Dr. Siri's emotional and social circle from book to book, and I didn't want to miss significant life events.
Why? Too often, it's a crutch towards creating tension and plot movement, a manner of building a sense of impending disaster when the main narrative can't sustain the mystery or sense of danger. Even more often, the killer viewpoint becomes a window into a show of torture porn. Don't need it. Don't want to dwell on it. Lastly, in this particular case, it is a poor narrative choice with the previous series tone, a fact that Dr. Siri and his comrades point out as they discover the killer has multiple victims.
One of the clever hooks of the Dr. Siri series is his connection to the spirits of his homeland, who often show themselves to him in an effort to incite him towards action or vengeance. In this book, the spirits were barely present, appearing only harbingers of doom rather than agents of the dead. Then there was a giant deux ex machina to solve Siri's (political) humorous housing problem, and did I mention how much I hate the serial killer viewpoint? The combination of women-hating/stalking combined with humorous, 'let's make-buffoons-of politicians' are an inharmonious mix.
But you know what I hate worse than a homicidal viewpoint? Making the serial killer a gender-bender with a domineering mother. Seriously. Seriously. I can't get over how genderist that is. Just when I think Cotterill has managed to defy convention with his elderly Laotian, socialist protagonist, he pulls out an antique, moth-eaten trope of sexuality that was dated in Victorian times. I'm not pretending any great knowledge of Laotian culture, but I will put forth that third-gender identity is relatively common in the non-Euro-Western world. Thailand in particular has a third-gender tradition, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_ge...) and Cotterill was seemly open to the concept with one of the earlier characters in the series. So why dust off this unenlightened trope in a series built on defying convention? Don't know. Not sure I care. But I enjoy a good conspiracy, so maybe we can just blame it on the publishing house or something and hope the old Cotterill comes back with the next book.
That said, there were moments of Siri witticisms that worked exceptionally well. Cotterill's flare for the slightly deconstructed idiom remains. This time, much of the humor is in dialogue or absurd situations with Siri's house guests while he stays at Madame Daeng's.
"'Perhaps you'd like an orange cordial to help you cool down, uncle," sad lady of the night Gongjai.
'I don't want to be cool,' Siri replied. 'I want my head as hot as I can make it so you understand I'm not just speaking for my own benefit.'
'So you don't want a drink?' Gongjai tried again.
'I didn't say that. I just don't want you thinking it's going to make me any calmer.'"
There's an insightful moment when Siri muses on his years in the jungle and the endangered species he's eaten: In those days a man didn't give a hoot about the survival of an avian family lineage. It was them or us... he believed that if God made you colorful, overweight, and delicious and didn't give you any survival skills, you deserved to get eaten." Classic Cotterill--one of those humorous asides that is also so insightful into what the reality of subsistence living is.
I enjoyed Siri's and Daeng's intimate version of 'rock-paper-scissors'--elephant-mouse-ant. "The elephant crushed the mouse, the mouse squashed the ant, and the ant crawled up the elephant's trunk and paralyzed his brain."
Overall, enough flavors of the earlier books remained to hope that Cotterill regains his footing in the next.
Let me be forthright. I am flat-out turned off by the serial killer perspective, virtually guaranteed to dislike any book that includes it as a secondary narrative. For the most part, I manage to avoid it, but every so often, a mystery novelist is tempted to dip their toes into a new narrative, and I get blindsided. When I read the synopsis for The Merry Misogynist, I was tempted to skip it entirely, except Cotterill has been building on Dr. Siri's emotional and social circle from book to book, and I didn't want to miss significant life events.
Why? Too often, it's a crutch towards creating tension and plot movement, a manner of building a sense of impending disaster when the main narrative can't sustain the mystery or sense of danger. Even more often, the killer viewpoint becomes a window into a show of torture porn. Don't need it. Don't want to dwell on it. Lastly, in this particular case, it is a poor narrative choice with the previous series tone, a fact that Dr. Siri and his comrades point out as they discover the killer has multiple victims.
One of the clever hooks of the Dr. Siri series is his connection to the spirits of his homeland, who often show themselves to him in an effort to incite him towards action or vengeance. In this book, the spirits were barely present, appearing only harbingers of doom rather than agents of the dead. Then there was a giant deux ex machina to solve Siri's (political) humorous housing problem, and did I mention how much I hate the serial killer viewpoint? The combination of women-hating/stalking combined with humorous, 'let's make-buffoons-of politicians' are an inharmonious mix.
But you know what I hate worse than a homicidal viewpoint? Making the serial killer a gender-bender with a domineering mother. Seriously. Seriously. I can't get over how genderist that is. Just when I think Cotterill has managed to defy convention with his elderly Laotian, socialist protagonist, he pulls out an antique, moth-eaten trope of sexuality that was dated in Victorian times. I'm not pretending any great knowledge of Laotian culture, but I will put forth that third-gender identity is relatively common in the non-Euro-Western world. Thailand in particular has a third-gender tradition, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_ge...) and Cotterill was seemly open to the concept with one of the earlier characters in the series. So why dust off this unenlightened trope in a series built on defying convention? Don't know. Not sure I care. But I enjoy a good conspiracy, so maybe we can just blame it on the publishing house or something and hope the old Cotterill comes back with the next book.
That said, there were moments of Siri witticisms that worked exceptionally well. Cotterill's flare for the slightly deconstructed idiom remains. This time, much of the humor is in dialogue or absurd situations with Siri's house guests while he stays at Madame Daeng's.
"'Perhaps you'd like an orange cordial to help you cool down, uncle," sad lady of the night Gongjai.
'I don't want to be cool,' Siri replied. 'I want my head as hot as I can make it so you understand I'm not just speaking for my own benefit.'
'So you don't want a drink?' Gongjai tried again.
'I didn't say that. I just don't want you thinking it's going to make me any calmer.'"
There's an insightful moment when Siri muses on his years in the jungle and the endangered species he's eaten: In those days a man didn't give a hoot about the survival of an avian family lineage. It was them or us... he believed that if God made you colorful, overweight, and delicious and didn't give you any survival skills, you deserved to get eaten." Classic Cotterill--one of those humorous asides that is also so insightful into what the reality of subsistence living is.
I enjoyed Siri's and Daeng's intimate version of 'rock-paper-scissors'--elephant-mouse-ant. "The elephant crushed the mouse, the mouse squashed the ant, and the ant crawled up the elephant's trunk and paralyzed his brain."
Overall, enough flavors of the earlier books remained to hope that Cotterill regains his footing in the next.
July 24, 2014
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: In poverty-stricken 1978 Laos, a man with a truck from the city was "somebody," a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri's morgue and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped, although her flesh had been torn. And though the victim had clear, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered.
On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that the beautiful female corpse bound to a tree has already risen to the status of a rural myth. This has happened many times before. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon--a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos--only to discover when he has identified the murderer that not only pretty maidens are at risk. Seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims, too.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is the twenty-third, favorite novel with an exotic background.
Laos in 1978 counts as exotic to me. I'm not sure the Laotians would agree, probably thinking of Long Island suburbia as exotic. It's all where you stand.
I love the series mystery world for its orderliness and its assurance that Right will be done. In this sixth Dr. Siri mystery, Right is indeed done and just in the nick of time. There's a secondary plot that I wasn't sure was needed, concerning Crazy Rajid the naked Indian who hangs with Dr. Siri, Comrade Civilai, and Inspector Phosy down by the Mekong. It doesn't seem necessary to me, but then why the hell not, it was fun.
The crimes and the punishment are well-handled here, and the believability of the situation created was up to snuff. But the star of the series, pace Dr. Siri, is Laos in all its tropical glory. I thoroughly enjoy my trips there, which I most emphatically would NOT if the trips were physical. As I huddle in front of the air conditioner, cursing temperatures that make me sweat and suffer but which would seem almost wintry to the Laotians, I visit the beauty of the jungle...without the bugs or the sweat.
I love that. Thanks for taking me there, Colin Cotterill!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: In poverty-stricken 1978 Laos, a man with a truck from the city was "somebody," a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri's morgue and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped, although her flesh had been torn. And though the victim had clear, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered.
On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that the beautiful female corpse bound to a tree has already risen to the status of a rural myth. This has happened many times before. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon--a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos--only to discover when he has identified the murderer that not only pretty maidens are at risk. Seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims, too.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is the twenty-third, favorite novel with an exotic background.
Laos in 1978 counts as exotic to me. I'm not sure the Laotians would agree, probably thinking of Long Island suburbia as exotic. It's all where you stand.
I love the series mystery world for its orderliness and its assurance that Right will be done. In this sixth Dr. Siri mystery, Right is indeed done and just in the nick of time. There's a secondary plot that I wasn't sure was needed, concerning Crazy Rajid the naked Indian who hangs with Dr. Siri, Comrade Civilai, and Inspector Phosy down by the Mekong. It doesn't seem necessary to me, but then why the hell not, it was fun.
The crimes and the punishment are well-handled here, and the believability of the situation created was up to snuff. But the star of the series, pace Dr. Siri, is Laos in all its tropical glory. I thoroughly enjoy my trips there, which I most emphatically would NOT if the trips were physical. As I huddle in front of the air conditioner, cursing temperatures that make me sweat and suffer but which would seem almost wintry to the Laotians, I visit the beauty of the jungle...without the bugs or the sweat.
I love that. Thanks for taking me there, Colin Cotterill!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
August 12, 2016
Book #6 in the series about the 70s-era reluctant Laos coroner/detective, this one had more spark than the last couple of instalments, with a return to more traditional sleuthing and less reliance on the spiritual world (other than the odd premonition) for solving the main mystery. We also got a bit more character development, with a secondary plot revealing an intriguing backstory for Crazy Rajid - more to come later, I suspect. The 'whodunnit' aspect of the story was satisfying, with the killer's identity carefully concealed until the swift denouement in the final pages. More interesting, though, was the 'whydunnit', which I thought elevated Colin Cotterill's plotting to a higher level.
April 13, 2020
This is a bit darker than the other installments, as Dr. Siri and the gang is after a particularly sadistic serial killer who marries beautiful young virgins and brutally murders them on their wedding night. There is plenty of mystery that is well written and there is a twist at the very end.
However I want to mention that especially in this installment where Cotteril takes on a deadly misogynist, I find that he often indulges in casual sexism. I let it slide until now, but in this one it bugs me. He never fails to mention Dtui’s weight, often remarks on women’s breasts and buttocks, writes disparagingly about a trans woman in earlier books, and in this one our killer misogynist turns out - well, can’t give out spoilers but it rather ruins the stance against men who hate women.
So while the mystery and characters are still high quality, he fails on the point he is trying to make.
However I want to mention that especially in this installment where Cotteril takes on a deadly misogynist, I find that he often indulges in casual sexism. I let it slide until now, but in this one it bugs me. He never fails to mention Dtui’s weight, often remarks on women’s breasts and buttocks, writes disparagingly about a trans woman in earlier books, and in this one our killer misogynist turns out - well, can’t give out spoilers but it rather ruins the stance against men who hate women.
So while the mystery and characters are still high quality, he fails on the point he is trying to make.
November 15, 2009
I'm not sure what to rate this book... 1 star seems harsh, b/c I had a great time reading it right up until the end. but ultimately, I "didn't like it." in the past, I have enjoyed the Dr. Siri mysteries wholeheartedly, no reservations, had a lot of fun reading them, etc. But then there is this book. this is less of a massive spoiler than you might believe, given the little twist at the end that succeeded in keeping me in the dark about the identity of the villain. The villain is intersexed & (implied, consequently) psychotic. I just...I was so disappointed to see the formula "gender variation produces mental monster" appear in a series that has been friendly to gender variation in previous books (the cross-dressing street corner prophet, for example, is not such a bad character). I wondered if a few enlightened words from Dr. Siri in the super short debriefing at the end of the book would have helped, but I don't think so. Intersexed people are not helped by narratives like this...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2021
A crime novel set in Vientiane, what's not to love?
Essentially, a great beach read! I have a fascination for all things Laos despite never having been there, so anything about Vientiane appeals enormously, I don't know why?
Perhaps, because it's the poor cousin of Vietnam yet the French influence persists-the houses, the names, the shambolic government, the dereliction. The books utilising this environment that I have read and admired, only serve to heighten its attraction. Think "The Quiet American", "The Honourable Schoolboy", but the forerunner is "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down", that beautiful book about a Hmong child suffering with epilepsy.
So, here there's an elderly reluctant coroner/pathologist who's at loggerheads with his ministerial boss, and starts playing amateur sleuth when dead women appear for autopsy having been strangled with stone pestles in their genital tract. All rather bizarre but it becomes more implausible as the tale becomes taller.
However, it's all written with a delicious levity and I forgave the author the injudicious title. But, it's neither memorable nor illuminating and I'm unsure that I need to follow the adventures of this unusual elderly protagonist despite his alluring backdrop?
3 hobbled stars.
Essentially, a great beach read! I have a fascination for all things Laos despite never having been there, so anything about Vientiane appeals enormously, I don't know why?
Perhaps, because it's the poor cousin of Vietnam yet the French influence persists-the houses, the names, the shambolic government, the dereliction. The books utilising this environment that I have read and admired, only serve to heighten its attraction. Think "The Quiet American", "The Honourable Schoolboy", but the forerunner is "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down", that beautiful book about a Hmong child suffering with epilepsy.
So, here there's an elderly reluctant coroner/pathologist who's at loggerheads with his ministerial boss, and starts playing amateur sleuth when dead women appear for autopsy having been strangled with stone pestles in their genital tract. All rather bizarre but it becomes more implausible as the tale becomes taller.
However, it's all written with a delicious levity and I forgave the author the injudicious title. But, it's neither memorable nor illuminating and I'm unsure that I need to follow the adventures of this unusual elderly protagonist despite his alluring backdrop?
3 hobbled stars.
November 9, 2012
Awh. My least favourite so far. It was kind of trashy in a CSI way. My charming hero has no call jumping around and engaging in feats of physical strength - he's 72 after all. There was too much of...well, everything, so I felt a little overdone by the time I finished it. It was like going to your favourite little independent cafe and finding out it had been taken over by a large American chain of coffee houses. Designer coffee, shiny seats, fancy mugs - but really, all you wanted was the little cafe with the old formica tables. Hope we haven't jumped the shark.
February 9, 2017
Usually I love this series, and there was a lot to love about the book at first. But the whole "intersex person is a deranged sex killer" trope is disgustingly bigoted, not to mention played out. It really ruined this one for me.
May 20, 2015
This is my second Dr Siri mystery – though number six in the series. Dr Siri Paibour is now 73, and the national coroner in The People's Democratic Republic of Laos. It is 1978, and he has recently married the ever-resourceful Madame Daeng, aged 66, who runs a noodle shop. Life is good for them, but not without challenges. These include solving a series of esoteric riddles, tracking down a suave, calculating, ruthless killer, who is given space in the book to voice his strange obsessions, and at Dr. Siri's home - the problems of running a household of illegal tenants, when the housing police are after you. If this sounds a bit of a hotch potch - it is - but it all meshes together beautifully, giving the sense of a community with breadth and caring.
The book’s various issues are explored with warmth, humour and brilliant story telling. It is whimsical but not remotely cloying - its dry humour saves it from ever being overly-sentimental. Occasionally the story stretches credulity, but then you remember that the hero is Dr Siri and it all makes sense. The book is intensely readable. A real page-turner. I loved it.
The book’s various issues are explored with warmth, humour and brilliant story telling. It is whimsical but not remotely cloying - its dry humour saves it from ever being overly-sentimental. Occasionally the story stretches credulity, but then you remember that the hero is Dr Siri and it all makes sense. The book is intensely readable. A real page-turner. I loved it.
June 3, 2023
Another charming and exciting adventure of the “doc” … clean and well narrated is, as usual, herein. 06-03-23
1st reading May 21-22,2023
Always and interesting plot (usually several cases in each book). A pleasant and clear narrator. And a lot of Asian religions (the story revolves around Asians). Usually clean this one’s no exception.
1st reading May 21-22,2023
Always and interesting plot (usually several cases in each book). A pleasant and clear narrator. And a lot of Asian religions (the story revolves around Asians). Usually clean this one’s no exception.
April 14, 2019
I’m on another mini-binge of reading about Dr. Siri Paiboun, the 70-something national coroner of Laos, and I hadn’t got very far into this one when, thanks to Criminal Minds, I knew we had a serial killer as the titular [The] Merry Misogynist, an admittedly incongruous title. While the capture of this killer was never in doubt, a secondary mystery was, for me, more compelling: the Indian man that Siri and Civilai call “Crazy Rajid” is missing. Siri keeps seeing spirits that he interprets as omens of his own death, but he finally realizes they are warning him about the danger Rajid is in.
I’ve mentioned several times in the past that the reason I read mystery series is for the interesting characters and/or settings. In this series, it is both. Laos is incredibly rich in natural beauty but incredibly poor financially after years of colonialism, revolution against the monarchy that followed, and now a socialist regime that looks just like Animal Farm:
I’m very happy that Siri’s new wife, noodle-entrepreneur Madame Daeng, will apparently be joining his little band of sleuths. Likewise, I hope that Dtui won’t lose page-time now that she’s a new mother.
I’ve mentioned several times in the past that the reason I read mystery series is for the interesting characters and/or settings. In this series, it is both. Laos is incredibly rich in natural beauty but incredibly poor financially after years of colonialism, revolution against the monarchy that followed, and now a socialist regime that looks just like Animal Farm:
He passed two government buildings, Finance and Foreign Affairs, which, until a week ago, had been mere departments. Overnight they had become ministries. He remembered a meeting in the caves of Vieng Xai where the old cadres had voted unanimously that when they came to power, they wouldn’t encumber their work with the linguistic ornaments of the decadent West. They didn’t need ministers or ministries because that would distance them from the common people. No, for them titles like “Comrade Bounlert in charge of agriculture” would be sufficient. But the temptation to be Somebody had obviously proven too great and the Department of Information had announced that all departments, including itself, would thereafter be called ministries, “merely to avoid confusion among foreign diplomats.”
I’m very happy that Siri’s new wife, noodle-entrepreneur Madame Daeng, will apparently be joining his little band of sleuths. Likewise, I hope that Dtui won’t lose page-time now that she’s a new mother.
September 9, 2022
I do continue to enjoy Dr. Siri and his community of friends. Not sure that I loved the twist on the misogynist but another fun read that was hard to stop.
July 5, 2021
I first started reading this series at a time when my son was living in Bangkok. On my visits to him I became fascinated with Thailand and its neighbors, Cambodia and Laos. Returning to the series after so many years conjured up many fond memories of my trips to the region.
Set in Laos in the years just after the turmoil of the Vietnam war, Dr. Siri Paiboun is forced out of retirement to take on the role of state coroner. In "The Merry Misogynist", Siri must investigate the brutal murder of young woman from the rural countryside. At first, they cannot even identify her. However, it soon develops that she may not be the only victim of this ritualistic slayer. How does one track down a serial killer in a country with somewhat primitive investigative resources that is only just recovering from almost 30 years of war? You'll have to read the book to find out but I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the journey.
Dr. Siri is a, erudite, likeable protagonist with a fine sense of humor and a knack for attracting some of the more eccentric citizens of Laos into his circle. I really enjoyed my re-entry into this series and look forward to reading more of Mr. Cotterill's work. Cheers!
Set in Laos in the years just after the turmoil of the Vietnam war, Dr. Siri Paiboun is forced out of retirement to take on the role of state coroner. In "The Merry Misogynist", Siri must investigate the brutal murder of young woman from the rural countryside. At first, they cannot even identify her. However, it soon develops that she may not be the only victim of this ritualistic slayer. How does one track down a serial killer in a country with somewhat primitive investigative resources that is only just recovering from almost 30 years of war? You'll have to read the book to find out but I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the journey.
Dr. Siri is a, erudite, likeable protagonist with a fine sense of humor and a knack for attracting some of the more eccentric citizens of Laos into his circle. I really enjoyed my re-entry into this series and look forward to reading more of Mr. Cotterill's work. Cheers!
March 12, 2023
Dr. Siri Paiboun is waking up daily in Madame Daeng's apartment, a change that doesn't go unnoticed by the Housing Authority. While Siri is canoodling with Daeng, there is a motley crew of residents in his home. The bureaucrats do not approve. If you've made it this far in the series, you'll know Siri's favourite pastime is outfoxing government officials. This conflict is the slice of life background for The Merry Misogynist, the mystery is a serial killer targeting young women.
The cast of characters, along with the Laotian location, is what hooked me on this quirky series. They are a lively group to spend a few hours with even when a story contains dark themes.
The cast of characters, along with the Laotian location, is what hooked me on this quirky series. They are a lively group to spend a few hours with even when a story contains dark themes.
September 28, 2009
#6 Dr. Siri Paiboun series set in 1970's Vientiane, Laos. As usual, Dr. Siri and gang have two cases going--the first, a personal one, has Siri and his noodle-making wife Madame Daeng trying to locate Crazy Rajid, a mute Indian street person who hasn't been seen by anyone for several days. They follow a set of riddles around the city to try to figure out what happened to him--Siri has a bad feeling about it, and he's learned to pay attention to his spirit guides.
The second case involves a woman brought to him as a 'customer' to the morgue, a beautiful young woman who appears to have been the victim of a strangling. Fairly routine, until they get to the internal exam and find a foreign body stuck in her female parts. At first it seems to be a lone case, but eventually someone remembers a similar case a few years ago and Siri and Inspector Phosy investigate what they believe to be an especially brutal serial killer, a rather uncommon animal in Laos.
On a personal note, Nurse Dtui (also Inspector Phosy's wife) is large with child, and Siri is being investigated by the Housing Authority, since he does not live at his proscribed address but has moved in with his wife above her noodle shop and allows various and sundry characters to inhabit his former home. Very, very enjoyable read--this is definitely among my top ten favorite series of all time. If there were a rating for six stars, I would gladly give it!
The second case involves a woman brought to him as a 'customer' to the morgue, a beautiful young woman who appears to have been the victim of a strangling. Fairly routine, until they get to the internal exam and find a foreign body stuck in her female parts. At first it seems to be a lone case, but eventually someone remembers a similar case a few years ago and Siri and Inspector Phosy investigate what they believe to be an especially brutal serial killer, a rather uncommon animal in Laos.
On a personal note, Nurse Dtui (also Inspector Phosy's wife) is large with child, and Siri is being investigated by the Housing Authority, since he does not live at his proscribed address but has moved in with his wife above her noodle shop and allows various and sundry characters to inhabit his former home. Very, very enjoyable read--this is definitely among my top ten favorite series of all time. If there were a rating for six stars, I would gladly give it!
October 28, 2012
It's such a joy to find a new, wonderful author at this stage of my life. So many of my favorite authors' writing has palled; just changes in me, not them, I suspect.
This writer is still surprisingly fresh, engaging, informative, witty in this, the sixth in the series about now-seventy-four year old Laotian coroner, Siri Paiboun, set in the mid-seventies.
Doesn't sound exciting? I urge you to check it out; I can't imagine anyone not loving these books. (The first in the series is Yhe Coroner's Lunch.)
P.S. I don't do synopses*; I think you do better to read the book blurb. And I hate repeating what someone else said.
*But, I like it when others do. Go figure.
September 24, 2013
Oh Dr. Siri how I love you! This is another excellent book in this series. Colin Cotterill has such a gift for creating not only complex and wonderful characters, but also his descriptions of the landscape and atmosphere in this story are so vivid.
Whenever I finish one of these books I always feel like I've actually been a part of the story and lived it with the characters.
There is a chaos and near death experiences, babies, and even a serial killer in this book and I loved every minute of reading it!
Whenever I finish one of these books I always feel like I've actually been a part of the story and lived it with the characters.
There is a chaos and near death experiences, babies, and even a serial killer in this book and I loved every minute of reading it!
October 7, 2019
Always enjoy my visits with 73 year old Dr. Siri, the National Coroner of Laos. (not a job he asked for or wanted) The time in the late 1970's in Laos. The mystery in this book evolves around a serial killer who is killing young women before their honeymoon starts. The subplot is the search for Crazy Rajid, a homeless man who antics Dr Siri and Civilai observe during their lunches together and the whole town knows. He has not been seen for 3 weeks.
I always enjoy each book of the Dr. Siri series. They are original and have subtle humor. It is the cast of characters that make these books so special. From Dr. Siri, to his new bride Madame Daeng, a world class noodle maker, to his office help Nurse Dtui and Mr Geung and his best friend Civilai. Phosy is Nurse Dtui policeman husband and he works with Dr. Siri solving the crimes. He and Nurse Dtui are going to be new parents.
Looking forward to continuing with the series. I came to it late but am up to the 6th book now. When I read the first book The Coroner's Lunch, I was hooked.
I always enjoy each book of the Dr. Siri series. They are original and have subtle humor. It is the cast of characters that make these books so special. From Dr. Siri, to his new bride Madame Daeng, a world class noodle maker, to his office help Nurse Dtui and Mr Geung and his best friend Civilai. Phosy is Nurse Dtui policeman husband and he works with Dr. Siri solving the crimes. He and Nurse Dtui are going to be new parents.
Looking forward to continuing with the series. I came to it late but am up to the 6th book now. When I read the first book The Coroner's Lunch, I was hooked.
March 24, 2024
Den sjätte boken om Dr Siri, utspelar sig i Laos på 70-talet. Efter att kommunisterna tagit över makten i Laos upptäcker dr Siri att istället för en trevlig pensionering, får han anställning som landets enda rättsläkare. Ett nytt fall väntar, en seriemördare verkar vara i farten, och vart har galne Rajid tagit vägen? Ett spännande äventyr kryddat med magi och folktro.
February 13, 2010
‘Days always had a standard length and breadth until that Monday.’
Dr Siri, newly married to Madame Daeng, is in trouble with the Laotian bureaucracy over his living arrangements: he is apparently not living in the accommodation assigned to him by the government. At the same time as zealous officials are investigating this, he is called on to examine the body of a beautiful young woman from the remote hill country. An examination of her body reveals that she was strangled – a very uncommon method of murder in Laos – and then he discovers that this murder is not the first.
Dr Siri is distracted as well by the disappearance of Crazy Rajid. How do you begin to track an itinerant mute? Rajid has left a trail of elaborate clues which may assist, but time is of the essence. And, of course, the housing problem needs to be addressed or the people Dr Siri allows to stay in his government-allocated accommodation will be homeless.
Despite these distractions, Dr Siri and his intrepid gang (including Nurse Dtui, Madame Gaeng, Phosy, Civilai and Mr Geung) are all focussed on trying to identify the serial killer who is wooing and wedding – and then killing – young country girls.
This is the sixth in the Dr Siri series, and is simply wonderful. I read it in one day because I simply couldn’t put it down. There was less of the supernatural element in this novel, which I found made it easier to focus on the story itself. It seems, too, that Dr Siri is rejuvenated by his marriage and may well continue to be Laos’s reluctant national coroner for some time. I hope so.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Dr Siri, newly married to Madame Daeng, is in trouble with the Laotian bureaucracy over his living arrangements: he is apparently not living in the accommodation assigned to him by the government. At the same time as zealous officials are investigating this, he is called on to examine the body of a beautiful young woman from the remote hill country. An examination of her body reveals that she was strangled – a very uncommon method of murder in Laos – and then he discovers that this murder is not the first.
Dr Siri is distracted as well by the disappearance of Crazy Rajid. How do you begin to track an itinerant mute? Rajid has left a trail of elaborate clues which may assist, but time is of the essence. And, of course, the housing problem needs to be addressed or the people Dr Siri allows to stay in his government-allocated accommodation will be homeless.
Despite these distractions, Dr Siri and his intrepid gang (including Nurse Dtui, Madame Gaeng, Phosy, Civilai and Mr Geung) are all focussed on trying to identify the serial killer who is wooing and wedding – and then killing – young country girls.
This is the sixth in the Dr Siri series, and is simply wonderful. I read it in one day because I simply couldn’t put it down. There was less of the supernatural element in this novel, which I found made it easier to focus on the story itself. It seems, too, that Dr Siri is rejuvenated by his marriage and may well continue to be Laos’s reluctant national coroner for some time. I hope so.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
December 5, 2010
Hard to start a series at the end, so I don’t know all that precedes “The Merry Misogynist.” However, Dr. Siri Paiboun is one of the most refreshing and memorable characters I’ve encountered in “mysteries.” He’s the national coroner of Laos. He’s 73, soon to be 74. He is five-foot-two. It’s the late 1970’s and the country is a mess. Siri is irascible, determined, jaded, feisty, ornery and determined. He’s surrounded by a colorful cast, including his wife, the “freedom fighter” Madame Daeng, who is “still pretty at sixty-six, still carrying a torch for her silver-haired doctor.” She runs a noodle shop.
Throughout “The Merry Misogynist,” Cotterill sets up the humor in gentle rolling waves of narration as Siri battles his own demons and visions, the housing inspector bureaucrats, and as goes searching for a crazy street person who has been missing for weeks. The writing is light, carefree and the plot skips along on a hot breeze, barely touching down. Colorful touches abound. The main plot involving the serial killer is a bit familiar—and the serial killer’s motivations, revealed at the end—are standard issue and unnecessarily cliché. When Siri finally confronts the killer, the tension dissolves because we are told the story in flashback rather than in-the-moment. This is an odd choice. The energy of the ending didn’t match the build-up.
Nonetheless, the vigorous, colorful writing and hard-to-forget Siri will definitely bring me back to Cotterill at some point down the road.
Throughout “The Merry Misogynist,” Cotterill sets up the humor in gentle rolling waves of narration as Siri battles his own demons and visions, the housing inspector bureaucrats, and as goes searching for a crazy street person who has been missing for weeks. The writing is light, carefree and the plot skips along on a hot breeze, barely touching down. Colorful touches abound. The main plot involving the serial killer is a bit familiar—and the serial killer’s motivations, revealed at the end—are standard issue and unnecessarily cliché. When Siri finally confronts the killer, the tension dissolves because we are told the story in flashback rather than in-the-moment. This is an odd choice. The energy of the ending didn’t match the build-up.
Nonetheless, the vigorous, colorful writing and hard-to-forget Siri will definitely bring me back to Cotterill at some point down the road.
August 7, 2011
Absolutely rollicking, fast and fun read. Someone is killing young brides and it's Dr. Siri to the rescue (kind of). Madam Daeng is the perfect partner to the intrepid coroner. And who would have thought that Civilai could bake? The cast of characters get more and more likeable with book. Even that annoying Judge....
The sideplots of the officious Ministry of Housing harrassing Dr. Siri and the boarders at his residence, the missing Indian mad man are all equally captivating. The only one missing from this outing is the cross-dressing fortune teller who had set up shop outside the Aeroflot office. For a series dealing with grisly murders, there is relatively little blood except at the point when Dr. Siri tangles directly with the murderer.
It truly is amazing how humour and crime solving (and without whizz-bang sophisticated CSI procedurals and tech too) blend so well. Can't wait to get my hands on the next Dr. Siri adventure!
The sideplots of the officious Ministry of Housing harrassing Dr. Siri and the boarders at his residence, the missing Indian mad man are all equally captivating. The only one missing from this outing is the cross-dressing fortune teller who had set up shop outside the Aeroflot office. For a series dealing with grisly murders, there is relatively little blood except at the point when Dr. Siri tangles directly with the murderer.
It truly is amazing how humour and crime solving (and without whizz-bang sophisticated CSI procedurals and tech too) blend so well. Can't wait to get my hands on the next Dr. Siri adventure!
October 6, 2013
My first book by Cotterill and it reminded me a bit of Alexander McCall Smith. Siri Paiboun, the elderly coroner is a very endearing figure and along with his wife Madam Daeng (hope the spellings are correct) makes for a cute couple. In spite of being in his seventies he scampers around trying to solve cases and is helpful to quite a lot of people encumbered with a wide array of problems ranging from mere inconvenience to life threatening danger. In this book Siri manages to identify and capture a serial killer who marries beautiful women after a miniscule courtship and kills them brutally on the first night of their wedding itself. The murders so far remained undetected because Laos, the tiny country where all this takes place is politically unstable and is quite behind times (or is it, I may be wrong as I now faintly remember that this book was written in 1978 or so) and lacks modern communication devices. The final pages twisted the story so much as to surprise me with the identity of the perp.
Read
July 31, 2011I really love Dr. Siri and he is getting a little feistier the longer the Communists stay in Laos--he is starting to give back a little in his old age. in this one, the bad guy has a super creepy feel to him, nad some of the good guys are unusual as well. There are fewer ancillary players than is the norm for this series, and there is maybe even a little bit more action (although it is more of a British mystery in that sense--all very civilized, hardly any blood...beyond the murder, that is). So this is a good installment in what is developing into a great series.
August 7, 2017
I saw it coming, but (based on the positive way he portrays the character with Down Syndrome) I still hoped up until nearly the end that Cotterill wasn't going to go for the cheap (and offensive) out of "he went crazy because he was born intersex and his mom dressed him like a girl."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2014
Strong characters, great sense of place and culture, a few surprises in the plot. Very entertaining
November 28, 2022
I still love this series!
No doubt from the title itself I was going to have trouble with some of the subject matter. The violence toward women and the heinous act that this guy does, yuck! Also, the emphasis on white skin…the ghostly girl. It is so sad that this is prevalent across cultures…a recognition that white=elitism, also yuck!
I was scared many times when reading this book. Most especially on p.257 when Siri had to make an air hole for himself.
The book was balanced out by the joy Siri and Daeng have in their new marriage. And Siri enlists the help of Daeng as an investigator. Daeng actually cracks the case!
Two storylines were cleaned up in this book. Bao was like a daughter to Siri instead of a hinted love interest. And the babies are “recharged” when returned to Bao by Tong and Gongjai. (so sweet)
The author continues to use puns and word play especially in the chapter headings. And here are examples (again) of the author’s LITERAL creative writing:
p. 38 Efficacy of the Lao expression BO BEN NYANG, they would certainly have invented their own versions of it. It magically expressed, That’s all right, it’s not important, I don’t care, you’re welcome, no problem, plus several more obscure nuances, but with a Lao slant that suggested there was no matter of such great importance in the world that one needed to get one’s knickers in a twist.
p. 106 Their version of rock-paper-scissors was elephant (fist), mouse (palm), and ant (little finger). The elephant crushed the mouse, the mouse squashed the ant, and the ant crawled up the elephant’s trunk and paralyzed his brain.
p. 161 He wondered what happened to him this time. His mind travelled back over some of the other disasters he’d awoken from over the past two years: the house that had fallen on him, the maniac’s attack, the possession, the electrocution, and of course the drowning. It was a wonder he woke up at all any more. But he was glad he did.
p. 191 All I want to say is, even if you hadn’t been with Boua then, we were too important, too big for our own lives. If we’d tried to be together it wouldn’t have worked. It could never have been like this. But over the years we got smaller, and I crawled through to your chamber, and now we are…the happy peanuts.
p. 224 It was a picturesque place with a stream, like an illustration for a month on a calendar: heaven, unless you had to live in such an isolated place with no power or sanitation or medicines.
No doubt from the title itself I was going to have trouble with some of the subject matter. The violence toward women and the heinous act that this guy does, yuck! Also, the emphasis on white skin…the ghostly girl. It is so sad that this is prevalent across cultures…a recognition that white=elitism, also yuck!
I was scared many times when reading this book. Most especially on p.257 when Siri had to make an air hole for himself.
The book was balanced out by the joy Siri and Daeng have in their new marriage. And Siri enlists the help of Daeng as an investigator. Daeng actually cracks the case!
Two storylines were cleaned up in this book. Bao was like a daughter to Siri instead of a hinted love interest. And the babies are “recharged” when returned to Bao by Tong and Gongjai. (so sweet)
The author continues to use puns and word play especially in the chapter headings. And here are examples (again) of the author’s LITERAL creative writing:
p. 38 Efficacy of the Lao expression BO BEN NYANG, they would certainly have invented their own versions of it. It magically expressed, That’s all right, it’s not important, I don’t care, you’re welcome, no problem, plus several more obscure nuances, but with a Lao slant that suggested there was no matter of such great importance in the world that one needed to get one’s knickers in a twist.
p. 106 Their version of rock-paper-scissors was elephant (fist), mouse (palm), and ant (little finger). The elephant crushed the mouse, the mouse squashed the ant, and the ant crawled up the elephant’s trunk and paralyzed his brain.
p. 161 He wondered what happened to him this time. His mind travelled back over some of the other disasters he’d awoken from over the past two years: the house that had fallen on him, the maniac’s attack, the possession, the electrocution, and of course the drowning. It was a wonder he woke up at all any more. But he was glad he did.
p. 191 All I want to say is, even if you hadn’t been with Boua then, we were too important, too big for our own lives. If we’d tried to be together it wouldn’t have worked. It could never have been like this. But over the years we got smaller, and I crawled through to your chamber, and now we are…the happy peanuts.
p. 224 It was a picturesque place with a stream, like an illustration for a month on a calendar: heaven, unless you had to live in such an isolated place with no power or sanitation or medicines.
April 15, 2025
A most well crafted suspenser from Cotterill. Dr. Siri plays detective, with the focus on investigation. The villain is especially cretinous, but the witty banter between Siri and his crew adds levity and brightness. A great ending, which includes characters from a previous work.
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