Three young women from Laos died of sword wounds. Each had studied abroad in an Eastern Bloc country. Before he can complete his investigation, Dr. Siri is lured to Cambodia on an all-expenses-paid trip. Accused of spying for the Viet Cong, he is imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death. The Khmer Rouge are relentless, and this is touching for the fearless seventy-four-year-old national – and only – coroner of Laos.
Every month Siri tries to submit his resignation as Laos’ national coroner. At 73, he would like to retire from the morgue. But he doesn’t want to give up searching – he loves the mysteries that the bodies of the dead present to him. And these three deaths are just strange.
He’s about to find out who did it when an old friend, a Politburo comrade, Comrade Tsivilay, invites him to a party. Cambodia is celebrating May Day, the anniversary of the fifth year of the Khmer Rouge’s rule, and Sivalay and Siri are the Lao delegation to the event. Sivaly and Siry are realistic but loyal members of the Lao Communist Party. In power only three years after the overthrow of the king and the French, there are obviously growing problems in governing Laos, but overall Siri believes it is a better world. And they assume that it is the same in their sister state of Cambodia.
But when they meet the Lao ambassador to Cambodia, it is clear that he is scared. Siri, who just can’t leave things alone, has to keep digging. This is not going to turn out well.
Another great book by Colin Cotterill. It transports you to another time and place and the story is gripping. The ending seems a bit rushed both in terms of the mystery and the visit to Cambodia, but it’s still a five-star mystery. “Love Songs from a Shallow Grave is the seventh of 8 in the Dr. Siri series.