Curse
of the Pogo Stick
A
Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery
Colin
Cotterill
Soho
Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-485-0 (1569474850)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-485-3 (9781569474853)
Publication Date: August 2008
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): In Vientiane, Laos, a booby-trapped corpse, intended
for Dr. Siri, the national coroner, has been delivered to the morgue.
In his absence, only Nurse Dtui’s intervention saves the
lives of the morgue attendants, visiting doctors and Madame Daeng, Dr.
Siri’s fiancée.
On his way back from a Communist party meeting in the north, Dr. Siri
is kidnapped by seven female Hmong villagers under the direction of the
village elder so that he will, in the guise of Yeh Ming, the thousand
year old shaman with whom he shares his body, exorcise the
headman’s daughter, whose soul is possessed by a demon, and
lift the curse of the pogo stick.
Review:
While traveling, the national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun, is
kidnapped en route to the capital while his staff seeks the person
behind two acts of attempted murder at the morgue in his absence in Curse of the Pogo Stick,
the exceptional fifth mystery in this series by Colin Cotterill.
There are two, separate, plotlines that never intersect but are related
nonetheless. The story opens with the arrival of a body to the national
morgue that has clearly been tampered with. An X-ray reveals a live
grenade buried in the chest cavity that would have gone off had a
typical autopsy been performed. Fortunately, Siri's nurse, Dtui,
notices the anomaly in the body before any harm can come. Later, a box
of poisoned treats arrives, but is consumed by government auditors
before any of the staff can partake. Dtui and Siri's fiancé,
Daeng, together with detective Phosy, set out to find the suspected
murderer before any more lives are lost.
In the meantime, Siri, attending a communist party seminar in northern
Laos, is returning to Vientiane, a multi-day journey at best, when his
convey is ambushed and he is kidnapped. His superior, Judge Haeng,
traveling with him, escapes into the countryside. But Siri's kidnapping
doesn't have a hostile motive, rather, his abductors, indigenous Hmong,
want to employ his resident spirit, Yeh Ming, to drive away evil that
has settled upon the family clan. Siri knows he's not a shaman but
understands his captors need to believe and goes about doing what's
asked of him. "I'm a cynic," he says at one point. "[A]lbeit a cynic
who is constantly confounded by the truth."
Curse
of the Pogo Stick isn't
strictly a whodunit-style mystery (though there are clearly elements
present that make it seem like one) but rather a fascinating and
absorbing tale of perception and acumen on the part of Siri and,
separately, Dtui and Daeng. The story goes off in unexpected and
delightful directions and is quite simply a joy to read. The author has
a remarkable ability to introduce a rhythm, a cadence as it were, into
his narrative. Consider the following exceptional passage, typical of
many:
Siri
knew he had no choice. He prayed to the ancestors for a way out but
nothing was immediately forthcoming. So he lofted his ax and stood
before the buffalo, who suddenly realized all eyes were upon her. With
a beard of grass hanging from her mouth she looked up at the old man in
front of her. In his hand she saw the hoisted ax and, through whatever
process an ox makes connections to past events, something seemed to
register in her slow brain. And when she realized what was about to
happen, her heart, already heavy with hay, gave out. She keeled to one
side, took one more chew of her grass, and passed away. To Elder Long
it was confirmation. One more miracle. Yeh Ming had felled a buffalo
with his mind. He became even more convinced that the trouble that
haunted their village could be cured.
Curse
of the Pogo Stick is set in
the mid-1970s, following the withdrawal of western forces from the
region and after the Lao kingdom was overthrown by the communists. It's
a fascinating and unique period in which to set any story, let alone a
mystery. Throughout the book the author makes searing, if frequently
humorous, observations at the hypocrisy of communism in general and
specifically as it applies to the characters, in particular the Hmong.
That the comments have broad relevance today, 30 years later, is all
the more enlightening.
Seek out Curse
of the Pogo Stick: it's one
of the year's best novels, mystery or otherwise.
Special thanks to Soho Press for providing a copy of Curse of the Pogo Stick for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Curse of the Pogo Stick? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Coroner's
Lunch
Soho Press (Hardcover), December 2004
ISBN-10: 1-56947-376-5 (1569473765)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-376-4 (9781569473764)
Thirty-Three
Teeth
Soho Press (Hardcover), July 2005
ISBN-10: 1-56947-388-9 (1569473889)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-388-7 (9781569473887)
Disco for
the
Departed
Soho Press (Hardcover), June 2006
ISBN-10: 1-56947-428-1 (1569474281)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-428-0 (9781569474280)
Anarchy and Old Dogs
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback), August 2008
ISBN-10: 1-56947-501-6 (1569475016)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-501-0 (9781569475010)
Curse of the Pogo Stick
Soho Crime (Hardcover), August 2008
ISBN-10: 1-56947-485-0 (1569474850)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-485-3 (9781569474853)
The Merry Misogynist
Soho Press (Hardcover), August 2009
ISBN-10: 1-56947-566-3 (1569475663)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-566-0 (9781569475660)
Omnimystery
keywords for Curse of the Pogo Stick
...
Location(s) referenced: Laos.
