[1] Despite a total lack of training, an utter dearth of experience, and a complete absence of inclination, Dr. Siri Paiboun has just been appointed state coroner for the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

But when the wife of a Party leader is wheeled into the morgue and the bodies of tortured Vietnamese soldiers start bobbing to the surface of a Laotian lake, all eyes turn to the new coroner.

Faced with official cover-ups and an emerging international crisis, Siri will be forced to enlist old friends, tribal shamans, forensic deduction, spiritual acumen, and some good old-fashioned sleuthing before he can discover quite what's going on...

The Coroner's Lunch received starred reviews from Booklist[2] and Kirkus Reviews, who wrote, "This series kickoff is an embarrassment of riches: Holmesian sleuthing, political satire, and droll comic study of a prickly late bloomer.

"[3] Publishers Weekly noted that the book included a "minor detour into the implausible and a later, jarring change in viewpoint" but otherwise stated that "this debut mystery, with its convincing and highly interesting portrayal of an exotic locale, marks the author as someone to watch".