Against all his expectations, Dr Siri Paiboun has rather enjoyed his first five months in office.Now, as hot-season nights close in, Siri is spirited away from Laos' steamy capital on a Matter of National Security.Arriving in Luang Prabang, he's a busy man, examining carbonized corpses, dining with the deposed king, attending a shamans' conference and being rescued by the ghost of an elephant.Not that Siri's complaining ...Luang Prabang is in mountains and a good fifteen degrees cooler. Meanwhile, back at Vientiane headquarters, it's hot.Bloody hot - savaged bodies are piling up in Siri's absence.Is it the missing black bear from the circus, or could it be a weretiger?Siri's trusty assistant Nurse Dtui goes snooping but, unlike her boss, the spirits aren't looking out for her...And just what creature, if any, has thirty-three teeth?