The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot

By: Colin Cotterill

Narrated by: Clive Chafer

After 15 cunning, mischievous, heartbreaking, hilarious, eye-opening, and atmospheric installments, Colin Cotterill's award-winning Dr. Siri Paiboun series comes to a close. Make sure you don't miss this last chapter, a deliciously clever puzzle that illuminates the history of World War II in Southeast Asia.

Laos, 1981: When an unofficial mailman drops off a strange bilingual diary, Dr. Siri is intrigued. Half is in Lao, but the other half is in Japanese, which no one Siri knows can read; it appears to have been written during the Second World War. Most mysterious of all, it comes with a note stapled to it: Dr. Siri, we need your help most urgently. But who is “we”, and why have they left no return address?

To the chagrin of his wife and friends, who have to hear him read the diary out loud, Siri embarks on an investigation by examining the text. Though the journal was apparently written by a kamikaze pilot, it is surprisingly dull. Twenty pages in, no one has died, and the pilot never mentions any combat at all. Despite these shortcomings, Siri begins to obsess over the diary’s abrupt ending...and the riddle of why it found its way into his hands. Did the kamikaze pilot ever manage to get off the ground? To find out, he and Madame Daeng will have to hitch a ride south and uncover some of the darkest secrets of the Second World War.

©2020 Colin Cotterill (P)2020 Recorded Books

Wonderful Series

It expanded my view of our national stupidity.,Also took Laos off bucket list.haha ha

Another Great Story

This is another great story with familiar characters as well as new ones. A vivid imagination is required for the crafting of these stories. Keep writing!

Meet the malevolent spirits of Japanese lore!

historical-fiction, historical-research, historical-setting, historical-places-events, Southeast-Asia, spirits, devils, Japanese-lore, satire, senior-citizens, situational-humor, sly-humor, spiritism, supernatural, superstitions, suspense

Once again there are several mysteries to be solved in 1981. Chief Inspector Phosy is tasked with finding out just how a prominent man came to fall off a cliff and gets held hostage for two days along with two of his best men. Dr. Siri and Mme Daeng are off up country to follow a convoluted trail left in a personal journal written half in Japanese and half in Lao. Along the way they come to find out that it is about a Japanese Army pilot during and after WW2 and that it is actually allegorical in nature and reveals the world of Japanese malevolent spirits and devils. This has been a great series and I am sorry to see it end.
I bought the audio and Clive Chafer has been the very adaptable narrator throughout.

Complex

I found this one more difficult to follow than the others, especially toward the end. This one may need to be read rather than listened. The Japanese character/symbolism would have been easier to keep up with if I had the book to flip pages back and forth.

Beyond that, I don't see how this story might represent Paiboun's final adventure. I guess that's good?

An incredible series!

So entertaining, instructive and heart rending. My friend and I listened to the entire series together.

I love this series!

I’m so sad it’s over. I’ve loved these characters, stories, and lessons. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried.

Is the end of the Dr Paiboun series?

The Dr Siri Paiboun mystery series is a fun, quirky, crime series set in 1970s-80s Communist Laos. Siri (76) is the retired coroner of Laos. He, his wife and his friends make up a wonderful cast of characters.

A package is delivered to Siri with a mysterious note attached: "Dr Siri, We need your help most urgently”. Unfortunately, the note is not signed and there is no return address. Inside the package is a diary written half in Lao and half in Japanese - it, too, is not signed. Of course, Siri can read the half in Lao and he reads every word, attempting to parcel out what is going on.

Siri concludes that the diary was written during WWII, likely by a kamikaze pilot. When the diary comes to an abrupt ending, Siri’s curiosity takes over and he begins investigating the origins of the diary and how it came into his possession. As always, Cotterill does an excellent job of weaving facts about the history, culture and people of Laos into the story. Sadly, most of the usual cast of characters are either missing, or make very brief appearances in this book. Their absence takes away some of the fun of this story.

Apparently this is the final book in the series - from Amazon: After 15 cunning, mischievous, heartbreaking, hilarious, eye-opening, and atmospheric installments, Colin Cotterill's award-winning Dr. Siri Paiboun series comes to a close. Sadly, as this was not one of my favorites, I wish the series didn’t end with this installment. It doesn’t flow as well as the others and it seems to jump from one thing to the other. However, I have read and enjoyed the entire series - all on audiobooks. The narrator, Clive Chafer, does an excellent job. This is a series that is best read in order. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (the lowest I have ever rated a book in this series. Good, not great).

Not my favorite

I have enjoyed these stories, especially the early ones. Bit lately the life seems to have gone out of them, with characters and events more and more predictable. If you have not read any of these, I highly recommend starting with Coroners Lunch and other early volumes.

A disappointment

An inordinate amount of the book was devoted to reviewing the contents of the diary. The book dragged. I’m a huge fan of the series but this last installment did not measure up to the previous ones.

A poor end to a rich series

If you love the series, stop before this one. Honestly, it isn't as well written, is often confusing, and doesn't contain the characters or elements of the other books. Give it a pass unless you are a completionist, in which case, carry on.