I’m in Laos with an elderly coroner investigating a suspected coup.

Dr Siri is the coroner of Laos in a series of books written by Colin Cotterill which are set in the years following the Communist takeover of the country (mainly the 1970s). I’ve read a few of these before (see reviews here and here) and have enjoyed them and somewhere I picked up a few more in the series – I can’t tell you where or when except that it was a couple of years ago and that I have two more waiting to be read after this one. These books are delightfully quirky without being silly.

For this challenge I read Anarchy and Old Dogs which is the fourth in the series. Dr Siri, who is now aged 73, performs a post mortem on a blind dentist who has been run down by a car. Although there is little suspicious in the facts of the death the coroner is intrigued by the message which the dead man was carrying which is in code. Deciphering it results in information about a possible coup against the current government and, although Dr Siri has little time for those in power, he feels that he has to do something to investigate further. He, therefore, sets out across the country with his friend Civilai to find out what he can.

In earlier books there was more than a touch of the supernatural about Dr Siri and the events in his life but this story, despite the presence of a transvestite fortune teller, is more grounded in the real world. Dr Siri has to work out who he can trust and along the way he also becomes involved with other deaths and people who have to make important decisions.

I like this series a lot and it’s only because I have accumulated so many other books that I have overlooked reading more about Dr Siri. I like the style of the writing and the fact that the author is honest about the struggle for freedom and the problems that come with it. I am aware, however, that I know very little about this country and its history.

This is an excellent series for those of us who enjoy crime series, especially those set in unusual places so I recommend these books and am looking forward to reading the other two which are on my book pile. I’m not keeping this series and, as this volume is in excellent condition, I shall pass this book on to Oxfam in Holmfirth where it may find a new reader who will find the activities of Dr Siri and his friends engaging.