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    Thirty-Three Teeth
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    Thirty-Three Teeth
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    Thirty-Three Teeth
    Ebook273 pages4 hours

    Thirty-Three Teeth

    By Colin Cotterill

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent seventy-two-year-old has an outstanding qualification for the role: curiosity. And he does not mind incurring the wrath of the party’s hierarchy as he unravels mysterious murders, because the spirits of the dead are on his side—and a little too close for comfort more often than he would like.

    With the help of his newly appointed secretary, the ambitious and shrewd Dtui, and Mr. Geung, the Down Syndrome­–afflicted morgue assistant, Dr. Paiboun performs autopsies and begins to solve the mysteries relating to a series of deaths by what seem to be bear bites, to explain why the government official ran at full speed through a seventh-story window and fell to his death, and to discover the origins of the two charred bodies from the crashed helicopter in the temple at Luang Prabang. As it turns out, not surprisingly, not all is peaceful and calm in the new Communist paradise of Laos.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9781497622081
    Unavailable
    Thirty-Three Teeth
    Author

    Colin Cotterill

    Colin Cotterill (born 2 October 1952) is a London-born teacher, crime writer and cartoonist. Cotterill has dual English and Australian citizenship; however, he currently lives in Southeast Asia, where he writes the award-winning Dr. Siri mystery series set in the People's Democratic Republic of Laos.

    Read more from Colin Cotterill

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    Reviews for Thirty-Three Teeth

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      Not quite as neatly structured as the first but equally well spent time with these characters - i'll seek out the next .

    • 5/5
      Another superb Dr Siri book... quite wonderful!
    • 5/5
      supernatural, superstitions, support-system, friendship, murder-investigation, laos Lots of people prefer visible books, but with this series, I feel that readers who are unfamiliar with the sounds of words in the Southeast Asian languages would enjoy the audio as much as those of us who choose audiobooks for other reasons. That being said, I really love the writing and the characters and the stories themselves. This one has a lot more of the ethnic supernatural stuff in it. I always find that kind of thing fascinating to compare with others. There is also an abundance of suspense and deductive reasoning going on. No spoilers here, just go ahead and enjoy!
    • 4/5
      Quite an interesting mystery and so much culture (Laos) as well. I will definitely read more in this series.
    • 4/5
      What great fun this book is. Cotterill does a fabulous job of weaving the traditional spirit world in with the new secular world created by the Communist. I particularly enjoyed the family the recurring characters have created for themselves.
    • 4/5
      Thirty-Three Teeth continues the story of Dr. Siri Paiboun who, well into his seventies, is drafted to be state coroner of the newly liberated People's Democratic Republic of Laos, circa 1976. In this second book of the series, Dr. Siri has a number of puzzles to solve with the assistance of his unlikely team of colleagues and friends, as well as some help from the spirit world. In the first book of the series, The Coroner's Lunch, Dr. Siri had learned he was the incarnation of the spirit of a powerful 1,000-year-old Hmong shaman.

      Dr Siri has been called upon to travel to Luang Prabang on a national security matter so top secret that the Judge who has dispatched him is unable to tell him anything about it. In the meantime, savaged corpses are piling up in Vientiane. Dr. Siri's able and loyal assistant, Nurse Dtui, undertakes some independent research of her own. Her investigation takes her from the Russian compound, where circus acts practice alongside top-secret work, to an island prison and a search for a weretiger.

      Cotterill's descriptions of Laos in the 1970s are written with knowledge, insight and a wry sense of humor. His characters are richly drawn and complex in nature. Not only is this a great series but I've learned so much about Laos, it's culture and its history. His characters are delightful and captivating. I think it's helpful, but not essential, to read this series in order due to some of the characters development paths and to better understand how Dr. Siri learns of his spiritual incarnation. I highly recommend them to anyone looking something a little different in their next mystery series.
    • 5/5
      Thirty-Three Teeth takes up exactly where The Coroner's Lunch left off. It is now March 1977 and an Asian black bear has just escaped from somewhere. Is this the terrible beast that has been mauling unsuspecting victims to death?Adding to Dr. Siri's title of reluctant coroner is confused psychic - "for reasons he was still trying to fathom he'd been delegated Lao's honorary consul to the spirit world" (p 13).Siri still has his sidekicks, Nurse Dtui, Mr. Geung and even Saloop, the dog who hated him in the beginning of Coroner's Lunch. Nurse Dtui and Saloop have bigger roles this time around.As an aside, the title of the book comes from the belief that if someone has 33 teeth it is a sign they were born as a bridge to the spirit world. You guessed it, Dr. Siri has 33 teeth. One of the best scenes is when he is trying to run his tongue along his teeth to count them.
    • 3/5
      Starts off interesting--Laos after the communists takeover. It's damned hot. But by the end it is a polite, cute, crypto-English gentleman and loyal dog story with pitiable animals, hauntings and generations of ghosts, but ones nicely contained in modern psychology.
    • 4/5
      I remember the first book 'The Coroner's Lunch' as amusing and quirky but this one transcends that somehow - the characters all leap from the page and he had me looking up maps of Laos and learning a bit about why the country is such an odd shape. I think magical realism is a good description, even though it masquerades as as niche detective story.
    • 3/5
      Number 2 in the charming series about Dr. Siri the reluctant coroner trying to do his job with no way to requisition supplies from the newly-taken-over Laotian Communist government. I like this series so much, I'm onto number 3.
    • 4/5
      Reason Read: Sounded intriguing and it is set in Laos. The author is British/Australian citizen who lives in Thailand.The mystery is a bit of paranormal, but mostly full of irony and satire about living in communist Laos. An enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      I’m not really a fan of magical realism and this series, set in Communist Laos, is rather more magical than real. I kept reading because the writing is lovely and the setting is fascinating. Maybe I’ll read another and maybe I won’t.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Siri Paibourn at 72 is the national coroner of Laos after the Communist takeover. When a corpse comes into his makeshift morgue Dr. Siri, an intelligent and curious man, begins to wonder if the wounds found on this unfortunate person are bear bites. Knowing there are no bears in Laos, it might be hard to convince anyone else, so what can he do but begin an investigation himself? Soon the mysteries are piling up. Why did two pilots fall to their deaths from the sky and why did a government official fall to his death from a window? Dr. Siri has his hands full, even with the help of the spirits of the dead who he would like to be rid of. The mysterious setting of Laos, the danger of continually making it clear he doesn't support the government, and spiritualism all combine to make this series like no other! I throughly enjoy it and look forward to the next misadventure.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Siri and the WeretigerReview of the Vintage Canada paperback edition (2006) of the Soho Crime hardcover original (2005)I was late to the party and started my reading of Colin Cotterill's quirky Laos chief coroner Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteries with the 15th and supposed (I never rule out the possibility of continuations) final book "The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot" (2020). Luckily, my friend Karan had several of the earliest books to lend me and I was fortunately able to start the series from the beginning. Thirty-Three Teeth is the 2nd book of the series and is titled after the number of teeth that Dr. Siri has, a further sign of his spiritual connections and powers. Average humans have 32 teeth as you probably know. The pattern for the series is adhered to with several cases running concurrently. There are a series of murders in the Vientiane capital which are suspected to have been caused by an escaped wild animal, Siri meets the former King of Laos when called to autopsy the corpses of some royalists who had planned an escape for the King, a mysterious haunted box stored in the government archives appears to be causing deaths and Siri has conflicts with his neighbour. Nurse Dtui takes a very dramatic investigative role and Dr. Siri brings a shaman back from the countryside to help unravel the box mystery.
    • 4/5
      I am still very much enjoying the Dr. Siri series by Colin Cotterill of which Thirty-Three Teeth is the second book. Continuing on with his story of the reluctant seventy year old national coroner set in 1977 Laos after the communist take-over, this book finds Dr. Siri less reluctant about having to work as the corner and coming to terms with playing host for an ancient shaman’s spirit.Three mysteries are touched upon in this book and there is a lot of spiritual activity. I felt perhaps this aspect was a little overdone, but the author still implants plenty of humour and keeps his settings interesting and informative. Along with the pragmatic Dr. Siri there is a great cast of supporting characters that help to flesh out the story and his writing style is witty, sharp and ironic.These books are not classic whodunits in any way, relying less on mystery solving and more on descriptions of Dr. Siri’s day-to-day activities and the strange things that happen around him. Extremely entertaining, I relish my time spend with Dr. Siri and his cronies.
    • 4/5
      What great fun this book is. Cotterill does a fabulous job of weaving the traditional spirit world in with the new secular world created by the Communist. I particularly enjoyed the family the recurring characters have created for themselves.
    • 4/5
      This book was fun. It is part of the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. He is the only coroner in the Socialist Republic of Laos. He also carries the sprirt of Yeh Ming a shaman who is one thousand years old. As the coroner he gets involved in a lot of murder mysteries and sometimes he uses the powers from Yeh Ming to help solve them. In this book he discovers that he has thirty-three teeth just as The Buddha had.The setting provides a lot of the fun in the book. Laos is a very old country and the people have learned not to take life too seriously. The common greeting when people meet in this story is "It's hot, Damned hot." It hasn't rained in a long time. People don't gripe about global warming. They just fan themselves and say," It's hot." There is plenty of tropical scenery and old French colonial buildings. The only people who aren't fun are the cadres who take themselves too seriously.There are several mysteries in the book. The most serious involves people who are found murdered by a wild animal. Dtui, the nurse at the morgue, finds out that a Malay brown bear has escaped from a cage. She tells the police that the bear is probably the killer. Then she finds out the bear couldn't have been the killer and feels very bad that she may be the cause of the bear's death. She goes on a hunt to find the killer in order to save the bear. The problem is that she finds the killer and gets herself in a real bad situation. Dr. Siri goes to save her. I won't be a spoiler but the story goes from fun to suspense and danger.There is an interesting story in the book that begins with a murder and ends with the discovery of the royal puppets. All through the book a mixture of murders and the light side of life.This is the second Dr. Siri book I have read. They have an interesting mixture of murder and the occult. The more I get to know the characters the more I enjoy spending time with them. Nice people, mostly, good entertainment with a nice mixture of mystery and suspense.
    • 3/5
      3.5*
      It's been a long time since I read the first book in this series (over 5 years at least). I found fairly quickly why that was - it is the paranormal aspects of the plots. Having recognized that fact, I decided to approach it not as a mystery but just as fiction and was able to enjoy it more that way.

      I really enjoy the 1970s Laos setting & the characters. Clive Chafer did an excellent job narrating.
    • 3/5
      Just as the 1st book in the Dr Siri series was, this was an unusual, quirky and entertaining detective story. It was quite enjoyable, although it lost a touch of mysteriousness (and therefore of intrigue) with the spirit world aspect becoming rather matter-of-fact, unlike the 1st book where it was still grey whether Dr Siri was really seeing things or it was in his mind. The ending with the murderer was not 100% convincing for me, but otherwise a very entertaining read. I think I will come back to read more from Dr Siri's adventures.
    • 4/5
      This is the second in the Dr. Siri series, set in Laos in the mid-1970s. Dr. Siri is the reluctant National Coroner and a more kind-hearted and cynical man you could not find. I adore him. Cotterill's writing is delightful (I'm trying to figure out how to get the word "glee" into my comments, but I can't do it at this early hour). Here is a short excerpt that I enjoyed:The 73-year-old Dr. Siri, who usually rides a motorcycle has been loaned a small horse to make a short journey."...the old Lao saying 'A year away from the nipple can make a baby nauseous of breast milk' was coined neither for fun nor for scholastic debate. His motorcycle saddle had made him soft. Five kilometers out of town, he negotiated the animal out of its happy canter and into a more leisurely trot. Old dears on bicycles with huge bundles of lemon grass overtook him. The journey took ninety minutes, not much faster than if he and the animal had changed places."This isn't great literature. It won't challenge your vocabulary or make you stop and think big thoughts. But it's a compassionate glimpse into the Lao culture following the war and it's full of wonderful characters and funny scenes.
    • 4/5
      This is the second book in the Dr. Siri series, now officially a favourite of mine. This time there is a mistreated bear on the loose in Vientiane and people being randomly mauled to death, though of course things aren't quite as they seem; our coroner meets with a very unusual person in what might be the garden of Eden, and the communist party has called a meeting for all the shamans of Laos, which Siri of course manages to attend as one of the mystics. This chapter, called "Doin' the Exorcism Conga" had some of the funniest, laugh out very loud moments in the book, with the party official demanding that the shamans summon the spirits to give them an ultimatum and essentially get them to toe the communist party line. I intend to devour these books one after the other and worry about having come to the end of the series later.
    • 4/5
      The second book of this series finds Dr. Siri embracing his spiritual talents which help him solve the forensic mysteries he is faced with. The scene where the party representatives call together all the shamans of the area to deliver directives to their spirits is absolutely priceless!
    • 4/5
      The 2nd in the Laotian series starring national coroner, Dr Siri Paiboun is back with his trusty assistants Dtui and Geung. A couple of women are found slashed and bitten to death. All evidence appear to indicate that they'd been killed by a bear. In addition, a wooden box with the royal seal was found in a closed office of a government building and is emanating a strong and malevolent vibe which Dr Siri suspects may have caused a government civil servant to throw himself out the window, landing on a passing cyclist, killing the 2 of them. He's also called out to identify 2 crisp bodies of pilots who were burned.While trying to solve the mysteries surrounding the victims, Dr Siri continues to be stalked by enemies of Yeh Ming, his neighbor Ms Vong, and watched over by Saloop, a mangy dog. The spirits continue to help and maybe sometime hinder his work, but his sense of humor continues to prevail, even when he's .... arrested.
    • 4/5
      This is the second of Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri books, and the second one I have read this year. I really enjoy the exoticness of these stories and am glad I found them. This story charmed me just as much as the "The Coroner's Lunch". Dr. Siri must again unravel the mysteries behind several deaths and events. I think that the various storylines and incidental characters are well done, and Dr. Siri is as irreverent as ever. I enjoy the history lessons included with the story - where we continue to learn more about Laos both before and following the communist takeover. The mystical spirit world aspects continue as a major part of the storytelling and we (and Dr. Siri) also learn more about Siri's early life and why he has this spiritual connection. The story builds to a scary and suspenseful climax. This is my new favorite series I think.
    • 4/5
      This is the second in a series of mysteries featuring Laotian national coroner, Dr. Siri Paiboun. These are set in the late '70's, under the new Communist regime in Laos. Dr. Siri is the reluctant holder of his office, having no particular qualifications for the job other than being one of the few doctors who didn't "swim across the river" to Thailand to avoid the troubles that were obviously coming after the overthrow of the royalist Lao government. Dr. Siri is irreverent, scornful of the government, downright subversive in his mild-mannered fashion, and yet quite conscientious about doing his job to the best of his ability with his preposterously limited resources. He is also the receptacle of an ancient shaman's spirit, a fact of which he was blissfully ignorant for the first 70-some years of his life. He has a very big heart and a fine sense of the ridiculous, which allows us to see the whole bureaucratic mess as farce rather than tragedy.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Siri is back, and this time the bodies showing up at his morgue have been mauled - but by what? Is it a coincidence that a Malay black bear has gone missing? And what about the two completely burned up bodies that Dr. Siri is asked to identify? Add to that the two dead bodies found on top of a bicycle beside a fountain outside of the Ministry of Sport and Culture, a mysterious trunk bearing the royal seal that gives off bad mojo, and a government manual outlining proper spirit behavior, and you've got the crazy but curiously addictive makings for the second book in this wacky series. Nurse Dtui will have to rise to the occasion in this one because Dr. Siri has his hands full - and also his mouth. Turns out thirty-three teeth is a sign, "an indication that you've been born as a bridge to the spirit world."This book adds more layers to the characters that we met in The Coroner's Lunch and also delves more deeply into the spirit world. These characters and their clever dialogue are not to be missed. Here is just a small sampling of some on my favorite quotes:Her uniform was bleached white and stretched across her large frame like butcher's paper around a hock of pork.Given the shape of things in Laos, the square was, naturally, a circle.Siri was impressed that the department of information could provide so little of it.Poverty led him to religion, religion to education, education to lust, lust to communism, and communism had brought him back full circle to povertyAnd did I mention that "It's hot. Damned Hot....It was the type of day that could wilt a metal gatepost."
    • 4/5
      "Hot, isn't it?""Damned hot.""How's my favorite policeman?""Dr. Siri. I thought you were dead.""Don't be so sure I'm not."In Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill there are times when Dr. Siri has good reason to believe he is dead. A national coroner in communist Laos, he can commune with spirits - and they seem to take great delight in communing with him. With a penetrating understanding of the absurdities around him and an influential friend, he is able to back down obstinate functionaries and operate with an independence that at times brings him close (very close) to downfall and destruction. In this second book in this mystery series, something large and vicious is striking down victims with blows and bites that may be those of a local escaped bear - or something else entirely. The bear comes to visit Dr. Siri in a dream (or was it a dream?), but the significance is elusive.Why this title? It turns out that having thirty-three teeth is "a sign . . . that you've been born as a bridge to the spirit world." The Buddha reportedly had that many, and members of the deposed and now degenerated royal family once did. Maybe Dr. Siri does, too. The spirit world, of course, does not mix well with the new socialist order. There's a hilarious scene in which Comrade Houey and the head Security Officer call all the local shamans to a meeting: "Quiet! I've called you here today because you are going to summon the spirits and give them an ultimatum." That sounds ill-conceived, doesn't it? Turns out a manual has been created with procedures for the spirits to follow. The spirits, and the shamans, don't think that is such a swell idea, and in the end Comrade Houey and his cohort do their dignified best to make their rushed exit.Dr. Siri's bright assistant, Dtui, is the one who figures out the mystery, but in doing so she gets herself into dire trouble with the assailant. Dr. Siri braves creepy and dank conditions to try to extricate her, and is unexpectedly aided by a person who has known him in the past.A large part of the fun of this series is the irreverent, clear-sighted and risk-taking Dr. Siri, although his supporting cast is well-drawn and pleasing. The book ends with a befitting impish exhibition in defiance of the somber forces of order, and sets the reader up for another foray into the chaotic, dangerous, and enlightening Laos of Dr. Siri.
    • 4/5
      Rating: 4.25* of fiveThe Book Report: Returning to Vientiane, Laos, a good three months after we left it in The Coroner's Lunch, Colin Cotterill drops us in the midst of Laotian Hell: It's the hot season, before the rains, and so the entire nation greets each other with, "Hot, isn't it?" Responding, "Damned hot."I felt that horrible, stifling, miserable heat the entire time I was engrossed in the two mysteries Dr. Siri Paiboun, Laos's only coroner, sets out to solve. The first is a truly terrifying series of maulings, which are blamed on a Malay black bear recently escaped from terrible, cruel captivity at a local luxury hotel's menagerie. Dr. Siri sees the first victim in his morgue, determines there's no human agency in the death, and goes home...there to awake with a black bear breathing on him! He suspects his last earthly moments have come, but the bear merely shambles off after communing with him for a time. More maulings are reported over the course of the book, but the bear herself is not found despite an intensive manhunt.The next layer of mystery announces itself with a strange death at the Ministry of Sport and Culture. An official charged with overseeing the Ministry's archive is found dead at the base of the fountain in the square the Ministry's on, clearly having been precipitated from the roof. The archive is locked, the only key is on the inside of the door, and the official can't possibly have thrown himself that far from the building. Siri breaks into the archive with his pal Inspector Phosy, last seen as a covert cop, and now a Vientiane police inspector. They discover a chest with the Royal seal intact on it, and can't bring themselves to open it because of its evil aura. Siri warns Phosy and his fellow officers to stay away, he will find a way to get into the chest using his newly discovered connections to the Other World; reluctantly they agree; Siri must now figure out what to do, since he has not Clue One how to manage evil spirits.And here is where Cotterill takes this tale from a very good 3.5 to near 4 stars, over the bar, and into the four-star world. Siri is summoned to Luang Prabang, Laos's ancient Royal capital, to look into the deaths of two men whose identities the Communist authorities are eager to discover for reasons they won't go into. Siri meets the spirits of the men, uncovers a vicious and wicked betrayal, and brings the malefactor to Justice, instead of legal justice. In the process, Cotterill introduces Siri and the reader to the Laotian kingdom's central spirit repository, and reveals the unhappy reason for an unhappy nation's descent from quiet prideful independence into ever-increasing want and lack. The scene of the reveal is so moving and so affecting that I was compelled to read it twice.Far from leaving his readers there, though, the author then proceeds to tie in and tie up the maulings with Siri's morgue nurse, Dtui, earning her detective stripes (literally) by her determined and courageous pursuit of a solution to the mysterious animal's whereabouts, taking her from Comrade Minister Civilai's world of the Politburo (where the old codger is the Voice of Reason, an exhausting and thankless task, making him miss his youth spent in the jungles as a freedom fighting boon companion to Siri), to the hidden world of the prisons Laos isn't supposed to need anymore in the Socialist Paradise, and finally to the ragged edge of her own life at the mercy of the evil forces causing the mutilation killings. Siri and his boon companions wind all the loose ends into a very, very happy ending, though just as in real life, there are prices to be paid for all happiness...but on balance, the good outweighs the painful and unhappy.Like we wish it would in Real Life.My Review: Oh my heck. I just can't get over several scenes in this book, the one I won't spoiler that I mentioned above, but also some character scenes that I was moved by. One involves Comrade Coroner Siri, Comrade Minister Civilai, and Comrade Inspector Phosy having lunch by the river, something that childless Siri and Civilai have done together often, but now include the unmarried, middle-aged Phosy in. The scene comes at a very interesting point, where Siri has just confirmed that he (like Buddha) has thirty-three teeth which marks him out as a being who is a bridge between the Other Realms and the mundane world we all live in. It feels like the reader is the quiet fourth person watching a pair of old uncles chaffing and loving their younger, respectful nephew, all with the quietest and most enjoyable teasing sweetness. I was very pleased and honored to be allowed into their moment of closeness, and then remembered that the author was creating this scene, not recording or reporting it.And then there came a moving scene between Siri and Nurse Dtui, which I can't talk about for fear of spoilering events. I hate that I can't talk about it, but to anyone who has felt the ghastly sense of anti-climax when reading a spoilered ending, I need not explain my hesitation. Suffice it to say, Nurse Dtui is more of a daughter to Siri than even he knows yet.Four full and happily given stars, plus a quarter star to grow on. This is a series my mystery fanboy heart has embraced for good.
    • 4/5
      How can crime fiction be fun, with all that death, and autopsies, and politics? I don’t know how he does it, but Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri Paiboun series are simply a hoot. He pokes gentle fun at communism. ”So, there it was in a nutshell. Poverty led him to religion, religion to education, education to lust, lust to communism. And communism had brought him back full circle to poverty. There was a Ph.D. dissertation waiting to be written about such a cycle.” . . . “Even being the national coroner didn’t carry any weight in pushing that old bureaucratic bus up the hill to socialist nirvana.” With native beliefs, he creates amusing storylines that are not at all dismissive. “Thirty-three teeth. It’s almost unheard of. The Lord Buddha also had thirty-three . . . It’s a sign, an indication that you’ve been born as a bridge to the spirit world.Realistic and fascinating settings, engaging characters, and imaginative stories – all the ingredients for a great series!“Hot, isn’t it?” “Damned hot.”
    • 4/5
      Dr. Siri Paiboun, the “Super Spirit Doc,” is sent to ascertain the identity of a couple of charred bodies at the same time as he and his team have to contend with the horrific maulings by what could be a "weretiger," the repercussions of the departure of the deposed king's spirits, and the Government attempting to impose state regulations on the spirit world. Although not quite as engaging as the first book in the series, mainly because there are a few too many things going on, Dr. Siri and his coworkers are still very charming and funny, the mysteries intriguing enough, and the spirit world contributing with some madness, which makes for a very exciting read. If you're reading this purely for mystery the supernatural parts can get a little overwhelming, but they don't detract too much once you're prepared that they'll be part of the solution.