The
Merry Misogynist
A
Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery
Colin
Cotterill
Soho
Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-556-3 (1569475563)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-556-0 (9781569475560)
Publication Date: August 2009
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): 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.
Review:
Coroner Siri Paiboun is involved with two cases, one a suspected serial
killer and the other a missing person, all the while battling endless
bureaucracy in late 1970s Laos in The
Merry Misogynist,
the 6th mystery in this series by Colin Cotterill.
A young woman, who has been strangled and sexually abused, but not
raped, is in the morgue with no indication of who she is or where she
is from. With government resources limited (the local bureaucrats seem
more interested in finding out who's living in Siri's designated
housing than in searching for the killer), Siri sets out to investigate
on his own. But he's also troubled by a young man, known around town as
Crazy Rajid, who has gone missing. Siri's spirits are telling him Rajid
is in trouble, serious trouble, but no one has seen him in several
weeks. With his fiercely loyal wife at his side, and a dedicated
policeman on call, Siri tackles both cases with urgency as he fears the
serial killer is stalking a new victim and Rajid may be near death.
Dr. Siri Paiboun is a rational man, a scientist and physician,
irreverent and cynical, but one who believes in and trusts his spirits.
Here's a description of the character from early in the book -- "Siri
was certain that if he were more intelligent or a better detective,
he'd be able to interpret what he was being shown. He often arrived at
the eureka moment long after the fact, when the mysteries had been
solved by more conventional, mundane methods. His forehead was
permanently bruised and disfigured from his constant slapping at it
when he realized what the spirits had been trying to tell him." -- but
don't believe it for a minute. Siri is thoughtful, proactive, and
usually a step or two ahead of everyone else. He's a wonderful
character, and a rather unique one in detective fiction.
The author also has a creative way with setting that both evokes a
foreign land at a time not that far in the past yet makes it current
and real. "They were in a village so basic the main house was a thatch
of twigs. They were well-plaited twigs but really nothing to stop a
good wolf puff. 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."
These elements, character and setting, are really the strong points of
the book. The somewhat atypical serial killer plot is well developed
with an interesting twist or two, but the missing person's story is
rather weak and unrelated to everything else going on. Still, overall, The Merry Misogynist
is a solid addition to this series, which is highly and most
enthusiastically recommended.
Special thanks to Soho Press for providing an ARC of The Merry Misogynist for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Merry Misogynist? 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 The Merry Misogynist
...
Location(s) referenced: Laos.
