Siri Paiboun is suddenly a busy man. Five months into his new role as National Coroner of Laos, he has been called to the capital on a 'matter of national security'. Soon enough, he's examining carbonized corpses and meeting the deposed king. Meanwhile, back at his woefully inadequate morgue, savagely mauled bodies are piling up and Siri's assistant decides to investigate. But whatever kind of animal has thirty-three teeth?