The year is 1977 and Laos is about to sign a big much publicised treaty with Vietnam in just a few days time. Dr Siri Paiboun, Laos' 73 year old rather reluctant coroner, has been summoned to revolutionary headquarters in the north east where the treaty is to be signed because, rather inconveniently, a mummified arm is protruding from a concrete path in the President's compound.

Dr Siri and his assistant Nurse Dtui are normally to be found running the morgue at Mahosot hospital in Vientiane. They have come away leaving their Downs Syndrome assistant Mr Geung in charge of the morgue. Recently Dr Siri has discovered that he hosts the spirit of an ancient Hmong shaman called Yeh Ming. The discovery has helped to explain his ability to communicate with the souls of the departed, but it does mean there are times when Siri has a problem distinguishing the supernatural from reality. On the other hand his supernatural "abilities" often play a far greater role in solving mysteries than his coronial skills do.

DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED is a rather quirky mixture of sleuthing and the supernatural, together with gobbets of Laotian culture and Communist history. Dr Siri's own acceptance of his shamanism means that the Western reader who would perhaps not normally accept this view of the world have no problem in accepting its role. Read more.

This is the third in this delightful but different series, the other two titles being THE CORONER'S LUNCH and THIRTY-THREE TEETH. There is just enough of the back-story from the two earlier novels recounted in DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED, although both of the other titles are also worth looking for.

Titles to look for in the Dr. Siri series
THE CORONER'S LUNCH (2004)
THIRTY THREE TEETH (2005)
DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED (2006)
ANARCHY & OLD DOGS (2007) ( )

Third in the Laotian mystery series featuring 73-year-old national coroner Dr. Siri Paiboun. Dr. Siri and his nurse Dtui travel north to investigate the case of a body trapped in cement for approximately five months. How did it come to be there, and was it murder? They (or rather, the young head of security, Lit, at the compound where they’re headed) need to solve the case before the president arrives there for a concert the following week. The body was that of a Cuban, and it seems he was alive when he went into the cement. Dr. Siri’s mystical bent continues, when he hears and feels a nightly disco dance in the concert hall—when he investigates, he sees it as well, with many spirits participating. Meanwhile, Mr. Geung, Dr. Siri’s morgue assistant who has Down’s Syndrome and was left behind to mind the morgue, is kidnapped by a Communist Party official (“it doesn’t look good having a retard working in such an important post’) and removed to a labor camp. While Siri and Dtui are laboring up north, Mr. Geung escapes his captors makes the 300-kilometer trek back home, quite an interesting feat for someone who can’t read and has limited mental capability. But he promised Dr. Siri to look after the morgue in his absence and he means to keep the promise! What a lovely series and a great way to end the month! ( )

This is the latest in the best mystery series I've read in a long time. The author deftly weaves a story of communism/capitalism, the living/spirits, and one man who must make sense of it all. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/... ( )

Dr. Siri returns for a third installment of murder and Cotterill's uniquely witty mayhem in 70's Laos. He and nurse Dtui are called to the northeast to examine a body that has been mummified in a block of concrete. Rather cleverly plotted, and a real treat to read. ( )