"Slash and Burn"

Colin Cotterill is a London-born teacher, crime writer and cartoonist.

He applied the Page 69 Test to Slash and Burn, his latest novel, and reported the following:

I checked out page 69 of the Quercus hardback edition of Slash and Burn, number eight in the Siri Paiboun series. It contained a nice little mystery within a mystery. Photographs have been sent to the US embassy in Bangkok with no attached note and no sender ID. This could have led to an investigative cul-de-sac were it not for Siri and his team. They amaze the American interpreter by going over all the points that can be gleaned from photos.

‘It might help to identify the area,’ Phosy put in. ‘Vegetation.’

‘Different plants growing at different elevations,’ added Commander Lit.

‘If there are any locals in the pictures we might be able to identify their clothing,’ said Daeng. ‘At least we’d know what ethnic group we’re looking for.’

‘Even the pilot himself,’ Siri added. ‘After all these years he’d be wearing the clothes they provided. That could give us a clue.’

‘The weave of a sarong,’ said Daeng.

‘Just the style of putting together the bamboo hut,’ Phosy suggested. ‘Unique to different regions.’

My word, if you get that much value for money on just one page, imagine what a bargain the whole book would be.

Learn more about the book and author at Colin Cotterill's website.

--Marshal Zeringue