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I SHOT THE BUDDHA
by Colin Cotterill
Soho Crime, August 2016
352 pages
$26.00
ISBN: 1616957220


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I should have been taking copious notes while I read this book. The story line is probably as convoluted as anything Cotterill has written. This is not a bad thing, it just makes it difficult to give a coherent plot summary without either leaving out enormous chunks or giving away much too much information. I'm not going to even attempt it beyond this: While trying to spirit the Supreme Patriarch into Thailand, Siri and his wife also have to track down a serial killer. Cotterill adds sub-plots galore, and ties up all the truly major loose ends by the final chapter. He is exceptionally good at writing relevant sub-plots, although at times they can seem very unrelated to the major story.

The setting is Laos and Thailand, familiar territory to Cotterill's fans. There are the usual vivid descriptions of the flora and fauna, as well as graphic discussions of the political landscape that plays an important role in the story. The differences between the two countries are striking. Siri's sense of humor saves some of this from becoming overwhelmingly dark. It also saves his posterior at least once or twice.

Some of the other recurring characters show up in I SHOT THE BUDDHA. Inspector Phosy helps look for the monk missing from Siri's house. This search rapidly becomes more complex and political than anyone expected. Civilai Songsawat is going to check out a report that the next Buddha now lives in Pak Xan. Another errand that is not nearly as mundane as it seems on the surface.

The supernatural and/or mystical elements of Buddhism are becoming more organically intrinsic, both to Siri and to the novels. In I SHOT THE BUDDHA, Siri's life in the otherworld becomes a large part of the denouement. This seems perfectly fitting, given the nature of the rest of the story. I think it might not have seemed so plausible if Cotterill had tried it very early in the series, when Siri had been less used to and comfortable with this part of his life. Then, after all the mythical and mystical elements of the story play out, to discover how mundane the motives behind everything truly are was rather a disappointment. This is a very minor point of discontent in an otherwise well-written and readable novel.

§ I have been reading and reviewing mystery fiction for over a quarter of a century and read broadly within just about all genres and sub-genres. I have been a preliminary judge for the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Contest for at least 25 years. I live in Northern lower Michigan with my spousal unit, one large cat, and 2 fairly small dogs. My Sherlockian (BSI) nom-de-plume is VR; my license plate is BSI VR

Reviewed by PJ Coldren, July 2016

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