In The Spotlight: Colin Cotterill’s The Coroner’s Lunch

Hello, All,

Welcome to another edition of In The Spotlight. Some crime fiction series add to the genre by featuring an unusual sort of sleuth who works in a unique setting. Now of course, words such as unusual and unique are often included in publishers’ blurbs and so on to the point where they may have lost their power. It’s a shame too because there are some series where those words apply. One of them is Colin Cotterill’s series featuring Dr. Siri Paiboun. To show you what I mean, let’s turn the spotlight on the first of that series, The Coroner’s Lunch.

Dr. Siri is Laos’ official coroner/medical examiner and as this series takes place in the late 1970’s, Dr. Siri’s Laos is getting used to the new socialist regime. Dr. Siri doesn’t have a lot of medical equipment and he has no background as a coroner. In fact, his original plan had been to retire, something he believes he’s earned by the age of seventy-two. However, he’s been ‘volunteered’ for this position so he has little choice in the matter. He works with a staff of two: Dtui, who is his official nurse and unofficial apprentice, and Mr. Geung, who is the mortuary assistant. Most of the team’s work is routine until two very unusual cases come up.

One is the case of the death of Comrade Nitnoy, wife of Senior Comrade Kham, a highly placed member of the government. Nitnoy was at a luncheon when she suddenly collapsed and died. One possibility is that the cause of death was accidental poisoning by parasites in some raw food she ate. But a few clues suggest otherwise. Most importantly, there seems to be an unusual rush to get the official paperwork done and the body cremated as is the custom. Now Siri is interested and begins to ask questions.

He’s working on this case when another is assigned to him. Two bodies have been discovered in the Nam Ngum Reservoir in Khamuan. A third body is soon added to those two. All three victims were Vietnamese nationals who might or might not have been involved in covert operations in Laos. What’s worse, their bodies show signs of torture so the Vietnamese government wants to know what happened to its people. The Vietnamese also want to know whether the government of Laos had anything to do with what happened. Dr. Siri and his team are told to work as quickly and discreetly as possible so the matter can be handled quietly. With him on this case is his Vietnamese counterpart Dr. Nguyen Hong.

When Dr. Siri gets to Kharmoun he discovers a possible piece of his past that he didn’t know existed and one thread of this novel is his process of beginning to learn about that part of himself. As he deals with that process as well as continuing his investigations, Dr. Siri runs into several obstacles. His office is rifled, some papers are stolen and then his home is rifled too. Now Dr. Siri is sure that someone is very much afraid of what will happen if he finds out the truth about the murders he’s investigating. And then there’s another death which may be connected to one of the cases. Dr. Siri now has to do his best to find out who’s targeting him before he becomes a victim.

One of the strongest elements in this novel is the character of Dr. Siri. He is observant and intelligent but he’s never studied forensics in any depth and is by most objective measures really not qualified to be a medical examiner. But he’s a doctor and he’s all they have as the saying goes. He’s far from stupid though and learns his new role quickly although he’s very reluctant. He’s not at all afraid to speak his mind and in his view, he’s old enough to get away with saying what he wants.

There’s another side to Dr. Siri too. As we learn in this novel (and this gets further developed as the series goes on), he has some connection to an ancient shaman named Yeh Ming. And there are little hints of that throughout the novel. As one example, he frequently has dreams and visions in which those whose death he investigates find ways to communicate with him. This ancient spiritualism plays an interesting role in the story too. Readers who don’t like supernatural solutions to their mysteries need not worry: these cases have prosaic explanations. But woven throughout the novel is a strong sense of the spiritual and of ancient beliefs. Readers who enjoy the thread of spiritualism that runs through, for example, Arthur Upfield’s series featuring Queensland detective Napolean ‘Bony’ Bonaparte or Adrian Hyland’s Emily Tempest series will recognise that this novel is similar in that way.

Dr. Siri is the main character in this novel, but he depends heavily on his team and his friends. Mr. Geung for instance may have mild Down’s syndrome but he knows more about conducting an autopsy than his boss does. Dtui is also very good at what she does and a few times during this novel, her skills turn out to be crucial. And to the extent that he can, Dr. Siri protects them too. That team is a close-knit group and their friendship is an important element in the novel.

The story takes place against the Laos of the mid/late-1970s and we see that all throughout the story. Here for instance is a bit of description of Dr. Siri’s home:
 

‘Hs apartment was at the rear overlooking the little Hay Sok temple…There was a desk with books waiting for him at the window. A thin mattress was rolled up against one wall under the skirt of a mosquito net. Three peeling vinyl chairs gathered around a tin coffee table, and a small stained sink perched on a thick metal pipe.’
 

A critical part of life in Laos at that time was the recently-installed socialist government and we see that government throughout the novel:
 

‘Community service in the city of Vientiane wasn’t a punishment; it was a reward for being a good citizen. It was the authorities’ gift to the people. They didn’t want a single man, woman or child to miss out on the heart-swelling pride that comes from resurfacing a road or dredging a stream. The government knew the people would gladly give up their only day off for such a treat.’  
 

That bit also shows another strong element running through this novel: its wit, cleverness and sense of humour. Life in Laos isn’t easy. Most people are poor, there are long waits for just about everything, and what many of us consider basic necessities aren’t available. This is to say nothing of government micro-managing and citizen informants. So the people have a rather dark, sarcastic sense of humour about managing to make as much of a life as they can. Dr. Siri especially sees what’s happening around him with a sardonic eye.

The Coroner’s Lunch takes place in a fascinating time in history in what for most of us is an unusual – even exotic – place. It features a sleuth with some rich and interesting sides to his character and history, and tells the story of credible mysteries, especially given the time and place. There are some interesting plot twists but Cotterill ‘plays fair’ with the reader too. And readers who enjoy a solid sense of wit and humour in their novels will appreciate this one. But what’s your view? Have you read The Coroner’s Lunch? If you have, what elements do you see in it?

 
 
 

Coming Up On In The Spotlight
 

Monday 18 February/Tuesday 19 February – Unexpected Night – Elizabeth Daly

Monday 25 February/Tuesday 26 February – Full Dark House – Christopher Fowler

Monday 4 March/Tuesday 5 March – House Report – Deborah Nicholson

 

Philosophers and Ploughmen, Each Must Know His Part*

We often think of fictional sleuths (real ones too, actually) as people of action. They go to crime scenes, they sift through and look for evidence, they catch the “bad guy” and so on. And a good crime novel has that kind of action in it. But some crime fictional sleuths are also philosophers. They think about the larger questions of human existence. That makes sense, too. After all, detectives look for reasons that people commit crime; that can certainly take one into the realm of philosophy. So to an extent, you could say that all sleuths are philosophers. But some sleuths are more interested in those larger questions than other sleuths are.

Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot sometimes looks to those larger questions as he investigates. For instance, in Evil Under the Sun, he takes a holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel on Leathercombe Bay. One of his follow guests is the Reverend Stephen Lane. One day the two get into an interesting discussion on the existence of Evil in the world. Poirot mentions murder can happen anywhere, even in a peaceful, idyllic setting such as Leathercombe Bay. Lane then says:

 

“‘I was glad to hear you say that. Nowadays, no one believes in evil….Evil, people say, is done by those who…are more to be pitied than blamed. But M. Poirot, evil is real!’…
‘I understand your meaning. Up to a point I agree with you. Evil does walk the earth and can be recognized as such.’” 

 

Whatever you believe about good and evil it’s an interesting philosophical discussion. Things get much less hypothetical when another hotel guest Arlena Stuart Marshall is strangled. Her husband is the obvious first suspect, but when it is shown that he’s innocent, Poirot works with the local police to find out who murdered her and why.

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza’s Insepctor Espinosa is also a philosopher. He certainly takes his share of action, but he’s very reflective as well. For instance, in The Silence of the Rain, he and his team are investigating the robbery and murder of wealthy Richard Carvalho, who’s been shot while sitting in his car. There’s a significant amount of money missing, so robbery seems to be the prime motive. But it’s not as simple as that, as Espinosa learns when Carvalho’s secretary disappears. Espinosa and his team have to untangle a complicated web of corruption, kidnapping and greed to find out the truth about Carvalho’s death. Here is one of Espinosa’s thoughts about fitting in as a cop:

 

“Espinosa’s style learned more toward hunting good books than hunting criminals. But whenever he had to go into action or carry out an investigation, his efficiency surprised his colleagues. The difference was that once he was done he reverted immediately to his usual reserve, back to being a stranger. He was well aware what he was like; it didn’t matter where he was. Maybe that was why he’d never left the police force: he wouldn’t have felt any more at home in another profession. He wasn’t a stranger just to his colleagues but to everything – he inhabited a different space and time.”

 

Espinosa reflections may mean he spends his share of time just thinking, but they don’t mean he doesn’t catch criminals.

The same is true of Arnaldur Indriðason’s Inspector Erlendur. In his own way he’s a philosopher, too. For instance, in Jar City, he and his team are investigating the murder of a seemingly inoffensive old man Holberg, whose body is found in his apartment. As the team begins to search for answers, it slowly becomes clear that Holberg isn’t as inoffensive as everyone has always thought. He’s got a dark history of accusations of rape, although nothing was ever proven and Holberg never went to prison. Bit by bit, Erlendur and his team unravel Holberg’s past and find out who wanted to kill him and why. Meanwhile, Erlendur has personal issues of his own to deal with when his daughter Eva Lind comes back into his life after an absence. Here’s one of Erlendur’s thoughts about families:

 

“He thought about mothers and daughters and fathers and sons and mothers and sons and fathers and daughters and children that were born and no-one wanted and children who died in that little community, Iceland, where everyone seemed related and connected in some way.”

 

While it’s true that the return of Eva Lind doesn’t solve the case, it’s interesting in this novel how Erlendur’s reflections and philosophy play roles in the way he investigates.

Another philosopher is Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri Paiboun, the septuagenarian chief medical officer in Laos. At the time in which this series takes place, the 1970’s, the Khmer Rouge has taken over in Cambodia and the military has taken over in Laos. Dr. Siri doesn’t want to become chief medical officer, but he’s “volunteered” into the job, so he does the best he can. In The Coroner’s Lunch, Dr. Siri investigates the death of Mrs. Nitnoy, the wife of a prominent government official, who is poisoned during a banquet luncheon. This case is of course fraught with all sorts of political ramifications, but Dr. Siri isn’t interested in politics. He wants to find out the truth behind the death. And so he does. Here’s Dr. Siri’s view of communism:

 

“If the truth were to be told, he was a heathen of a communist. He’d come to believe two conflicting ideas with equal conviction: that communism was the only way man could be truly content; and that man, given his selfish ways, could never practice communism with any success. The natural product of these two views was that man could never be content.”
 

Dr. Siri has thoughtful views on other larger issues too and his philosophical way of thinking adds to these novels.

And then there’s Peter Høeg’s Smilla Jaspersen, whom we meet in Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow. She’s a half Inuit/half Danish Greenlander who now lives in Copenhagen. When her young neighbour Isaiah, also a Greenlander, falls from the roof of the building in which they live, it’s put down to a terrible accident. But Jaspersen suspects otherwise as soon as she sees the patterns in the snow on the roof. She’s grown up with snow and Ice and they tell her things. Once she begins to suspect that Isaiah might have been killed, she goes to extraordinary lengths to find out why and by whom. And she succeeds in the sense that she finds out who the murderer is and what the motive is. Jaspersen is a philosopher, and integrated throughout this novel are her views on life, on international relations, on men and women and lots more. Here is her view on love:

 

“Falling in love has been greatly overrated. Falling in love consists of forty-five percent fear of not being accepted, and forty-five percent hope that this time the fear will be put to shame and a modest ten percent frail awareness of the possibility of love.”

 

No matter what your views on life and love, it’s interesting to learn how Jaspersen views the world and thinks about it.

That’s also true of Mma. Precious Ramotswe, who “stars” in Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. She’s got a very philosophical turn of mind and although she certainly takes action, she also spends quite a lot of time reflecting on the larger questions, too. For instance, in Morality For Beautiful Girls, she gets a visit from an important Government Man, who believes that his sister-in-law is trying to poison his brother. He wants Mma. Ramotswe to find out the truth and stop his sister-in-law. Mma. Ramotswe agrees to at least visit. While she is there, she finds out the surprising truth, and shares it with her client. Throughout their interactions, the Government Man has been arrogant and officious, even insolent. Mma. Ramotswe doesn’t like it and won’t stand for being bullied. But she has also learned the truth about the Government Man and his family. She decides to give him the answers to his questions in allegory form. Here is what she says about his bullying (once she’s put him in his place, of course):

 

“He [the Government Man] was very rude to her [Mma. Ramotswe], because he had developed habits of rudeness and because he always got his own way. But she realised that under the skin of a bully there is always a person who is frightened and unhappy. And this lady thought that she would speak to that frightened and unhappy person.” 

 

And so she does.

 

Sleuths who are also philosophers can get us thinking about all sorts of different things that we might not have thought of otherwise. Which are your favourites?
 
 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Rush’s Closer to the Heart.

 

This is the Story of a Girl*

Thanks to Pop Culture Nerd, My Life as a Book is back! It’s a fun meme in which players complete sentences about themselves with titles of books. I had a lot of fun being a part of last year’s meme, and now that the 2011 edition is out, I’ve decided to jump in again . So here goes!

 

One time at band/summer camp, I: Buried Strangers (Leighton Gage)

 

Weekends at my house are: Total Chaos (Jean-Claude Izzo)

 

My neighbour is: Thirteen Steps Down (Ruth Rendell)

 

My boss is: The Man in the Brown Suit (Agatha Christie)

 

My ex was: The Merry Misogynist (Colin Cotterill)

 

My superhero secret identity is: Nemesis (Agatha Christie)

 

You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry because: Vengeance is Mine! (Mickey Spillane)

 

I’d win a gold medal in: Triple Jeopardy (Rex Stout) – Certainly not in any athletic events – trust me!

 

I’d pay good money for:  The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins)

 

If I were president, I would: Pray for Silence (Linda Castillo)

 

When I don’t have good books, I:  Die a Little (Megan Abbott)

 

Loud talkers at the movies should be: More Work for the Undertaker (Margery Allingham)

 

 

How about you? Wanna play? All you need to do is complete the sentences in your own way, with your own title choices. Then, just post a comment at the meme site. Come on! Let’s have some fun !

 

Ps  The ‘photos? Yes, those are of me; they are from a very long  time ago .

 

 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Nine Days’ Absolutely (Story of a Girl).

Well, How Did I Get Here?*

One of the interesting things about learning a sleuth’s backstory is learning how he or she got into the sleuthing business in the first place. Of course, all well-written sleuths are interesting people to begin with; otherwise we wouldn’t read about them. But for some sleuths, the way they got into the business is almost as interesting as anything else about them. Lots of times (although certainly not always) authors give that information in the novel that introduces the sleuth. Sometimes, authors choose to reveal it later in the series where it may be more relevant to a plot. Other times, especially for sleuths who are police officers or otherwise professional detectives, we never do learn exactly what made the sleuth decide to take up the trade, so to speak. But when we do learn, it can make for an interesting bit of backstory.

For example, in Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary, we meet Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley. They’ve been friends all their lives, so they’re delighted to meet up again right after World War I. Neither has any money or a job, so rather impulsively, they decide to go into business for themselves. They start a company called Young Adventurers, Ltd., and advertise themselves as being willing to take on any job. By chance their conversation is overheard and Tuppence is hired for a job. Little does she know that she and her partner (soon-to-be husband) are about to be caught up in an international plot that involves stolen papers and foreign intrigue. You could say that this couple starts sleuthing without really having much of an idea of what they’re getting into, but they last in the business for over fifty years.

Another interesting “how it all started” story comes from Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse. As we learn in The Riddle of the Third Mile, Morse actually planned to become an academic. He was preparing to study History, Logic and Philosophy at St. John’s College, Oxford. After two years there, he met Wendy Spencer, who was preparing for her doctorate at St. Hilda’s College. He fell in love with her and of course, his studies suffered. Then, when she broke off the relationship, he fell into a deep depression. So profound was his melancholy that he stopped working and ended up having to leave the university. Bitter and disappointed with life, Morse wasn’t sure what to do. It was actually his father who suggested that he might consider the police force and the rest, as they say, is history. In fact, Morse doesn’t really return to that part of until his former mentor Oliver Browne-Smith disappears in The Riddle of the Third Mile. When a body turns up wearing Browne-Smith’s clothes, it seems at first as though the police have found the missing man. But of course, this being a Morse mystery, it’s not as simple as that…

There’s also Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael. He’s a Benedictine monk at 12^th Century Shrewsbury Abbey. The religious life isn’t his first calling, though. He was a soldier in the Crusades and fought in other wars, too. He was also a sailor. In both careers, he killed. Although he didn’t enjoy killing, he did what he had to do. When he came to Shrewsbury, it was only fitting, from his perspective, that he should use his talents to help people, so he became an herbalist. He says this about his career in A Morbid Taste For Bones:

 

“When you have done everything else, perfecting a conventional herb-garden is a fine and satisfying thing to do.”

 

Cadfael gets involved in sleuthing as a part of his calling as a monk to help others as much as for any other reason.

There’s another really interesting story of “getting into the business” with Alexander McCall Smith’s Mma. Precious Ramotswe. In The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, we learn that as a young woman, she had hoped to marry and have a family. But when she fell in love with and married jazz musician Note Makoti, she found herself in an abusive situation. After some terrible personal sadness, she left Makoti and moved home with her beloved father Obed Ramotswe. Then, sadly, he died. At loose ends as it were, Precious Ramotswe decided to open a detective agency. She used the proceeds from the sale of her father’s cattle to open the business and quickly gained a reputation as a skilled and principled detective. Starting with not much more than a small room, a desk and a telephone, she soon developed a very successful business.

Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri Paiboun, Laos’ state medical examiner, also got into sleuthing in an interesting and unusual way. He was never interested in being in an official government position, and certainly not interested in detecting. But he was the only doctor left in Laos, so in The Coroner’s Lunch, we find out that he was “volunteered” for the position. Dr. Siri wasn’t particularly keen to be a part of the new bureaucracy, but he also knew that he didn’t have a lot of choice. Expedience won out and he became Laos’ official coroner. It wasn’t long, either, before he had his first cases: the poisoning of the wife of an influential bureaucrat, and the discovery of three bodies that turn out to be those of Vietnamese diplomats.

Shona MacLean’s Alexander Seaton also gets into sleuthing in an interesting way. In The Redemption of Alexander Seaton, we learn that he was a candidate for the ministry. After a personal disgrace, he was no longer eligible for a pulpit, and became undermaster of the grammar school in Banff, Scotland. When local apothecary’s assistant Patrick Davidson is poisoned one night, his body ends up in Seaton’s classroom. As if that’s not enough, Seaton’s friend Charles Thom is arrested for the crime. He’s got a motive, too, since he was Davidson’s rival for Marion Arbuthnott, the apothecary’s daughter. Thom begs Seaton to help clear his name and Seaton agrees. But he doesn’t really intend to get into the sleuthing business. Instead, you could almost say he does it as a way of redeeming himself. As he gets closer to the truth about who really killed Davidson, he also reaches that point of redemption.

Some of the finest fictional sleuths got into the business in what you might call ordinary ways. They chose the police force, or they studied forensics, or they are medical practitioners. There are other “typical” routes, too, that they’ve taken. It’s certainly possible to become a terrific and beloved fictional sleuth by being a terrific cop. But it can also be interesting, and add a unique layer to a character, if she or he takes a “road less traveled” to becoming a sleuth. That can make all the difference.

How did your favourite sleuths get into the business?

 

 

On Another Note…..

 

 

Do you see that Write to Read 2011!  logo on my sidebar? Yes, that one. This is a reminder that you’ve got just over a week left to check out a terrific auction of some wonderful books – signed, yes, signed by their authors. As if that weren’t enough, it’s also an opportunity for you to help provide books and literacy to those who otherwise might not have them. Go ahead, click the logo and find out what it’s all about!!  Dare ya! 

 

Hey…what are you still doing here?

 

 

 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime.

>A Day in the Life*

>When people find out that I write crime fiction, they often ask what it’s like being an author. And I’ve been asked more than once what my “day job” as a professor is like. I’m usually reluctant to talk very much about my personal life. After all, this is a blog about crime fiction. And if you’re kind enough to read this blog, you know that that’s how I think – crime fictionally . So I figured that the best way to share what it’s like to do what I do is to tell you about a typical day – crime fiction style. So here’s my day in crime fiction:

4:00am – Wake Up Dead (Roger Smith) – Yes, you read it right. I get up at 4. That’s when it’s most peaceful and quiet around my home. I don’t get very far into the day before I need to have some Black Coffee (Agatha Christie). Plenty of it.

4:15am – Time to read my Fan Mail (P.D. Martin) – or at least blog comments and Email. This is when I do my morning “blog rounds,” too. I also work on The Murder Book (Jonathan Kellerman) I’ve got in progress.

After a shower and breakfast….

6:00am – I Started Early, Took My Dog[s] (Kate Atkinson) out for their run and give them breakfast.

7:30am – It’s off to work for An Advancement of Learning (Reginald Hill). After all, I want to make sure my students are Well-Schooled in Murder (Elizabeth George) .

Sometimes, of course, I tele-commute. I like doing that because then I can avoid Road Rage (Ruth Rendell) and rush hour (such an oxymoron) traffic. And it’s efficient and “green.”

Between noon and 2:00pm, depending on the day and my obligations, I have The Coroner’s Lunch (Colin Cotterill), or at least, my own lunch . I also post to my blog, catch up on some other blogs, and work with some of my online students. When there’s time, I work on my writing, too.

4:00pm – 5:00pm – If I’ve been at the office, I head home. If I’ve been tele-commuting, it’s time to wrap-up my Foul Deeds (Susan James) for the day and start thinking domestically. And have some tea.

5:00pm – Time to feed and walk the dogs and plan something Delicious and Suspicious (Riley Adams – AKA Elizabeth Spann Craig) for dinner. Dinner and the early evening is usually A Family Affair (Rex Stout).

After dinner is finished and the dishes cleared, I work with my online students, read, and work on my own writing. And then it’s time for The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler).

Of course, I’ve just given you the Bare Bones (Kathy Reichs) of my day. There’s lots more to it than that, and my days are certainly not all like this. But I didn’t want to go on and on about it. Still, there you have it – my day in crime fiction. What about you? Do you have crime-fictional days? Maybe your entire day is a mystery . I know some of mine are .

And yes, I just thought I’d do this for fun. It’s not an “official” meme (if there is such thing). You can play along if you wish…. Or not.

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a Beatles song.