Great, I really enjoy the Dr, Siri Paiboun series and learning about what Laos was like.

When big contenders such as the United States boycott the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow, the door is opened for Laos to send a team of athletes including boxers, sprinters, a race walker, and a team of seven marksmen. They don't expect to get much further than the opening ceremonies, but they've got heart. They've also got a would-be assassin amongst them. Dr. Siri Paiboun and his ragtag team of compatriots must unmask a potential killer, preserve the life of the likely future president of Laos, and keep themselves out of trouble, all while cheering their athletes on at the games. Quirky characters, a great plot, and historical detail make for another gold-medal winner in this lovable series.

This pleasant mystery series appeals to me not so much for the mystery (which usually isn't very complex) or for its unusual characters. Rather, it's the settings, the glance into a culture of which I know very little. The Rat-Catcher's Olympics focuses on Laos' first-ever participation in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, games that were boycotted by many major countries in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. It brought back memories for me of that time in world history, although the book necessarily doesn't dwell on it. There are perhaps too many generalizations that I understood but that would be totally out of context for younger generations who were unfamiliar with life in the Soviet Union (such as references to long food queues), and there' are a few unexplained anomalies, such as how Dr. Siri and members of his group manage to get themselves to various Moscow locations without their interpreter. Back in Laos, there are also some unexplained sleight of hand and too-quick resolution of some very challenging situations. Nonetheless, this is a good read for those who are curious about a little-known culture.