Monday 23 May 2011

Book 52, Country 58 - Cambodia

A Model American by Elsie Burch Donald – first published 2007

In 1970 an American couple fly to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat.  On their return journey to Phnom Penh their plane runs out of fuel and they are forced to land in a clearing in the Cambodian jungle.  They and their companions – the American pilot, an English guide and a Frenchman who has spent most of his life in Cambodia – are rescued from dying of thirst by friendly local tribes people, who take them back to their village and provide them with food and accommodation.  They cannot leave until the rainy season, which is several months away, increases the flow in the river, which is used as a highway to the regional capital.    However the Vietnam War is in progress and the violence in beginning to spill over into Cambodia as the Khmer Rouge becomes more powerful.  The book is a bit lightweight but with enough details about the country to paint an impressionistic picture of life in rural Cambodia.   7/10

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Book 51, Country 57 - Laos

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill - first published 2004

Dr Siri Paiboun was hoping to retire but in 1976 after the Communists take over Laos, he is appointed state coroner.  Despite a lack of training for this role and almost no equipment, with the help of some friends in the government and police he manages to solve the murder of the wife of a party leader and that of 3 Vietnamese soldiers.  There is a supernatural element to the story – in his dreams Siri is visited by the spirits of various dead people, including the murder victims and when he visits a remote part of the country to perform an autopsy the local tribe are convinced that he is an 1000 year old shaman.  I got lost at one of two of the twists and turns in the story, partly because my knowledge of the history of Laos is non-existent but overall it was enjoyable and Dr Siri is a very likeable character.   This is the first in a series of crime novels featuring Dr Siri.  6/10

2nd May 2011