The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery)
2 journalers for this copy...
I found this fair-condition softcover at the Used Book Superstore in Burlington MA. I enjoyed the first two "Dr. Siri" books I read, The Coroner's Lunch and Thirty-Three Teeth, and was glad to find another. The series is about a 70-something doctor who finds himself appointed as the national coroner, and must do the best he can amid shortages of supplies - and lots of political pressure.
This volume picks up after the events of Slash and Burn. [While it isn't necessary to read the series in order (I haven't!), it does add some layers to the relationships (and avoids some spoilers) if you do.] Here, Siri is increasingly frustrated at the limitations of his ability to see spirits - he can sense and see them but he can't talk with them, making it difficult for him to work out what they're trying to ask. It's this that nudges him into a trip to meet "the used-to-be woman," who allegedly came back to life after being murdered and her body placed on the traditional funeral pyre; she now claims to have significant gifts in the spirit-contact line, and Siri hopes she can teach him something.
But of course there's a lot more going on than that, and the number of conspiracies, threats, secrets from the past, and concerns about the future keeps increasing as the tension ratchets up. (I admit I was glad I'd read some of the later books in the series, so I knew who was going to survive this one!)
A significant part of the book deals with Madame Daeng, phenomenal noodle-maker and Siri's beloved late-in-life wife, as she writes her memoirs at his suggestion. We learn just how deadly a fighter she was in her youth, which explains some of her badassery even as an arthritic older woman - but also shows just how tough life has been for the people in Laos and surrounding countries during the many wars, internal conflicts, and transfers of power. Indeed, there's a darker tone to this book than in many, although our beloved characters still manage to banter as cleverly as ever.
The series continues with Six and a Half Deadly Sins.
This volume picks up after the events of Slash and Burn. [While it isn't necessary to read the series in order (I haven't!), it does add some layers to the relationships (and avoids some spoilers) if you do.] Here, Siri is increasingly frustrated at the limitations of his ability to see spirits - he can sense and see them but he can't talk with them, making it difficult for him to work out what they're trying to ask. It's this that nudges him into a trip to meet "the used-to-be woman," who allegedly came back to life after being murdered and her body placed on the traditional funeral pyre; she now claims to have significant gifts in the spirit-contact line, and Siri hopes she can teach him something.
But of course there's a lot more going on than that, and the number of conspiracies, threats, secrets from the past, and concerns about the future keeps increasing as the tension ratchets up. (I admit I was glad I'd read some of the later books in the series, so I knew who was going to survive this one!)
A significant part of the book deals with Madame Daeng, phenomenal noodle-maker and Siri's beloved late-in-life wife, as she writes her memoirs at his suggestion. We learn just how deadly a fighter she was in her youth, which explains some of her badassery even as an arthritic older woman - but also shows just how tough life has been for the people in Laos and surrounding countries during the many wars, internal conflicts, and transfers of power. Indeed, there's a darker tone to this book than in many, although our beloved characters still manage to banter as cleverly as ever.
The series continues with Six and a Half Deadly Sins.
I'm sending this to BCer erishkigal, to fill a wish. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2019 The The Release Challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2019 The The Release Challenge. ***
Oh, this is too weird.....Less than 10 minutes ago, when I first opened this page my journal acknowledging receipt and thanking Gory was here… I opened another page to see how many I had read in this series ( and they’re not come all coming up), open this page again, and my previous journal is gone ! Wtaf??!!
While I have read a half dozen in the series, it hasn’t been in order, and that hasn’t impeded my enjoyment in the least😉 For example, well I have read 6 1/2 Deadly Sins, I haven’t read Slash and Burn. So if the series is new to you, next reader, no worries, you can start right here and enjoy the book as a stand-alone. I must warn you however that once finished, you are quite likely to go in search of others
Since Gory has already talked about the series and this particular tale , (and also because I’m still very much in ‘what the heck’ mode) I won’t add much besides the fact that I did very much enjoy it. I like these characters, I enjoy the mix of rational and spiritual, and the tale was well plotted and well told. There was one Deux ex Machina moment, or what seemed to be, but of course Cotterill would not do that to us and we did later learn the actual explanation 😊
While I have read a half dozen in the series, it hasn’t been in order, and that hasn’t impeded my enjoyment in the least😉 For example, well I have read 6 1/2 Deadly Sins, I haven’t read Slash and Burn. So if the series is new to you, next reader, no worries, you can start right here and enjoy the book as a stand-alone. I must warn you however that once finished, you are quite likely to go in search of others
Since Gory has already talked about the series and this particular tale , (and also because I’m still very much in ‘what the heck’ mode) I won’t add much besides the fact that I did very much enjoy it. I like these characters, I enjoy the mix of rational and spiritual, and the tale was well plotted and well told. There was one Deux ex Machina moment, or what seemed to be, but of course Cotterill would not do that to us and we did later learn the actual explanation 😊
