"The reluctant national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun, is no respecter of persons, or Party; at the age of seventy-two he can afford to be independent. With the assistance of his helpers, Mr. Geung, a mentally challenged lab technician and Nurse Dtui, whose nickname means "Fatty", he continues to elucidate the causes of mysterious deaths and defy the incumbent Communist government bureaucracy." "In the course of this latest investigation, Dr. Siri, who has been dubbed "Super Spirit Doc', travels from his home base to Luang Prabang where he communes with the deposed king, who believes he lost his kingdom because his special channel to the occult closed. The king is resigned to his fate; it was predicted long ago. Dr. Siri also attends a conference of shamans called by the Communist government to deliver an ultimatum to the spirits: obey Party orders or get out."
"Something wild and evil has been let loose in the city of Vientiane. A series of mutilated corpses lands in Dr. Siri's morgue, but it is only when Nurse Dtui is menaced that the elderly coroner can discover the cause of these deaths and identify the creature, animal or spirit, that has been slaying the innocent."--BOOK JACKET.
