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.
The Merry Misogynist, Colin Cotterill
If the idea of a serial killer novel titled THE MERRY MISOGYNIST has you slightly confused, then I can only guess that perhaps you've never read a Dr Siri book before. If you're a fan of quirky, without cute or cosy, humour without slapstick and the most marvellous sense of place that you're likely to encounter, then I can only suggest that you rectify that as soon as possible.
THE MERRY MISOGYNIST is the sixth Dr Siri mystery, all set in Communist Laos. Dr Siri is a most reluctant national Coroner, although he is supported by a most willing morgue team of colleagues and friends. The Dr Siri books do contain a certain level of the supernatural (woo woo as we tend to call it), but it's set within a cultural context that will make it quite believable and somehow almost apt for any readers who normally break out in a bit of a rash when confronted by this. The dry humour is fantastic, the interactions between all of the characters frequently moving and always encouraging. It's a lovely touch to think that no matter how unexpected, bureacratic and controlled a society can become, there's levels of quiet rebellion all over the place - and Dr Siri does a particularly elegant line in quiet rebellion.