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A review by 13iscute
Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu
2.0
2022 Reading Challenges
• ATY #9 3 books set on three different continents [Asia]
• Ladies First #19 The first book of a series written by a woman
• Popsugar #14 A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title
How I selected this book
I added this to my TBR a while ago after seeing it on a Book Riot list of mysteries with old lady sleuths. It is a good fit for my plan to read mysteries set on three different continents for ATY.
Plot summary
Aunty Lee and her step-son Mark host wine tasting dinners at Aunty Lee's restaurant in Singapore.
Likes
• The details of the Singapore setting and Aunty Lee's restaurant
• Aunty Lee's caring personality (she takes personal responsibility for anyone she feeds in her restaurant), and her relationship with her step-son Mark and his wife Selina.
Dislikes
• This wasn't great as far as mysteries go. It was a short book, but somehow almost nothing happened for the first half, then we start getting some fake clues, then the murderer is revealed out of nowhere with no real explanation of his motive.
Final thoughts
Yet another mystery series that I don't plan on seeking out the next book. Maybe mysteries are better when they stand alone?
• ATY #9 3 books set on three different continents [Asia]
• Ladies First #19 The first book of a series written by a woman
• Popsugar #14 A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title
How I selected this book
I added this to my TBR a while ago after seeing it on a Book Riot list of mysteries with old lady sleuths. It is a good fit for my plan to read mysteries set on three different continents for ATY.
Plot summary
Aunty Lee and her step-son Mark host wine tasting dinners at Aunty Lee's restaurant in Singapore.
Spoiler
At one dinner, two women, Laura Kwee and Marianne Peters, don't show up. Laura is soon identified as the body that washed up on shore of a nearby beach, and Marianne's body was found later. Marianne was a lesbian and in a secret relationship with Carla Saito, an American who comes to Singapore to look for her. Laura Kwee is homophobic and is involved in conversion therapy. So, there are some ideas that the murders might be related to this, but the murder turns out to be Harry, another guest at the dinners. Harry wasn't actually Harry, but had stolen his uncle's identity and murdered the two women just because he was a misogynistic jerk?Likes
• The details of the Singapore setting and Aunty Lee's restaurant
• Aunty Lee's caring personality (she takes personal responsibility for anyone she feeds in her restaurant), and her relationship with her step-son Mark and his wife Selina.
Dislikes
• This wasn't great as far as mysteries go. It was a short book, but somehow almost nothing happened for the first half, then we start getting some fake clues, then the murderer is revealed out of nowhere with no real explanation of his motive.
Final thoughts
Yet another mystery series that I don't plan on seeking out the next book. Maybe mysteries are better when they stand alone?