Review: AUNTY LEE'S DELIGHTS, Ovidia Yu

•  this edition published by William Morrow 2013
  
  
  
• ISBN 978-0-06-222715-7
• 257 pages
• source: my local library

• #1 in the Aunty Lee series
  

Synopsis

This delectable and witty mystery introduces Rosie "Aunty" Lee, feisty widow, amateur sleuth, and proprietor of Singapore's best-loved home-cooking restaurant

After losing her husband, Rosie Lee could have become one of Singapore's "tai tai," an idle rich lady. Instead she is building a culinary empire from her restaurant, Aunty Lee's Delights, where spicy Singaporean meals are graciously served to locals and tourists alike. But when a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected.

The murder and disappearance throws together Aunty Lee's henpecked stepson, Mark, his social-climbing wife, Selina, a gay couple whose love is still illegal in Singapore, and an elderly Australian tourist couple whose visit may mask a deeper purpose. Investigating the murder are Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim, who quickly discover that Aunty Lee's sharp nose for intrigue can sniff out clues that elude law enforcers.

Wise, witty, and charming, Aunty Lee's Delights is a spicy mystery about love, friendship, and food in Singapore, where money flows freely and people of many religions and ethnicities coexist peacefully, but where tensions lurk just below the surface, sometimes with deadly consequences.

My take

This was my second venture into the Aunty Lee series, an enjoyable, not overly complex cosy. It gives good background for the later novel that I had already read. Apart from the murder mystery there is interesting commentary on life in Singapore. In style it reminded me just a little of Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. 

My book group have suggested I also try the Crown Colony series.

Listings from Fantastic Fiction

Singaporean Mystery
   1. Aunty Lee's Delights (2013)
   2. Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials (2014)
   3. Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge (2016)
   4. Meddling and Murder (2017)

Crown Colony
   1. The Frangipani Tree Mystery (2017)
   2. The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (2018)
   3. The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (2019)
   4. The Mimosa Tree Mystery (2020)
   5. The Cannonball Tree Mystery (2021)

My rating: 4.2

I've also read

4.4, MEDDLING AND MURDER #4  in the Aunty Lee series

Review: MEDDLING & MURDER, Ovidia Yu

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 847 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: One More Chapter (April 28, 2017)
• Publication Date: April 28, 2017
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01MQFCSVL

Synopsis (Amazon)

A delightfully warm and witty mystery from one of Singapore's best-known and most acclaimed writers, perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY.

Aunty Lee is on the case!

There is nothing Rosie ‘Aunty’ Lee, amateur sleuth and proprietor of Singapore’s best-loved restaurant, loves more than solving other people’s problems. So when Beth Kwuan, an ambitious businesswoman, tells Aunty Lee her maid has disappeared, Aunty Lee is happy to let her own maid, Nina, help.

Only as the weeks go by, little clues make Aunty Lee worry. And as she digs into what is really going on behind the closed doors of Beth’s grand house, she starts to wonder—did Beth’s maid just run away, or did she meet a darker fate?

Now the race is on for Aunty Lee to get to the bottom of the mystery…and save Nina before it’s too late!

My Take

Although this is #4 in the Aunty Lee mystery series, I really didn't feel that I had missed much from not reading earlier titles. I would categorise the novel as a cozy, but there are also embedded some quite serious comments on the development of Singapore, and the impact of things like immigration of groups from China and India. There were references to earlier books in the series.

In style it reminded me a little of the Inspector Singh novels by Shamini Flint - also a Singaporean author. Although of course while Inspector Singh is a policeman, usually on an "official case", Aunty Lee is a "noseyparker".

Anyway, a fairly quiet sort of read, although some serious events do occur.


My rating: 4.4

About the author
Ovidia Yu is one of Singapore's best-known and most acclaimed writers. As well as award winning short stories and a children's book, she has had over thirty plays performed and is author of the Aunty Lee books, featuring a crime solving Tai Tai, and the Colonial Crime series set in Colonial Singapore.