Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
Courtesy of a runaway logging truck, a blind, retired dentist has just checked into Dr Siri's downtown morgue. Laos' one and only coroner is mildly curious as to how anyone - even a blind man - could be run over in a country where two vehicles on one road would be considered a traffic jam. Is the ex ex-dentist's demise connected to the letter in his pocket? Not only is this unusual missive written in invisible ink, it is also written in code.

Dr Siri soon finds himself embroiled in his most explosive case yet. He will consult a transvestite fortune-teller, watch Bruce Lee defeat the lackeys of Western capitalism, take a dip with a dolphin and come face-to-face with a plot to overthrow the government.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs. Quercus, ISBN: 1847247849 (May, 2009), 258 p., £7.99.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs (UK 2008)

From the Publisher:
Aged seventy-three, Dr Siri Paiboun - Laos' one and only coroner - is beginning to forgive his country's communist rulers for denying him the comfortable retirement he so richly deserves. His morgue may have less equipment than the local butcher, and he may curse his job after an all night session on the rice whisky, but Dr Siri is finding there is something most stimulating about investigating mysterious deaths - especially when they lead to things better left undisturbed.

So when a blind dentist is run down by a logging truck, Dr Siri is immediately intrigued - not by his mortal remains, but by the letter in his pocket. Written in invisible ink and encrypted, Dr Siri knows an irresistible challenge when he sees one.

Assembling his code-cracking team, Dr Siri is soon embroiled in his most explosive case yet. An anti-communist plot is brewing, and with the Laos government suffering from the debilitating effects of ineptitude, it just might be up to Siri and his friends to save their beloved country. But it's a race against time, and navigating jungle swamps and government red tape is a lengthy business. If only they could track down the elusive Devil's Vagina...

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs. Quercus, ISBN: 1847245765 (October, 2008), 258 p., £12.99.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
Dr. Siri Paiboun, the reluctant national coroner of Laos, has to identify the victim of a traffic accident who is carrying a message written in invisible ink and in code. Deciphering the note reveals that the corpse was a blind dentist and that he was involved in a plot to overthrow the government.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs. A Dr. Siri Paiboun Investigation. Soho, ISBN: 1569475016 (August, 2008), 272 p., $12.00.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs (USA 2007)

From the Publisher:
Dr. Siri Paiboun, reluctant national coroner of Laos, must discover the identity of a corpse that has been delivered to the morgue in Vientiane. The victim, who was run down in front of the Post Office by a logging truck, turns out to be a retired dentist. He was blind, yet he had come into town on the bus to pick up a letter written in invisible ink which is found in his jacket pocket. Dr. Siri is puzzled by the letter, which seems to be in code as well. The solution to this conundrum will have far reaching implications, involving the seventy-three-year-old doctor with murder and political conspiracy.

The dentist's widow explains that the enig-matic letters and numbers describe chess moves in a long-distance game her husband was playing. But they are unlike any chess symbols that Dr. Siri has previously encoun-tered. He begins to wonder if the "widow" was indeed the dentist's wife.

With the help of his best friend, Civilai, now a senior member of the Laos politburo; Nurse Dtui ("Fatty"); Phosy, a police officer; and Auntie Bpoo, a transvestite fortune teller; Dr. Siri solves the crimes even at a high personal cost.

Colin Cotterill: Anarchy and Old Dogs. A Dr. Siri Paiboun Investigation. Soho, ISBN: 156947463X (August, 2007), 238 p., $24.00.