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A review by obsidian_blue
The Reunion Dinner by Jesse Q. Sutanto
5.0
That was brilliant brilliantly done and I didn't see it coming. And that was bonkers in a good way on to the next story.
Full review: "The Reunion Dinner" follows a Chinese family on Chinese New Year. One of the aunties, Josephine Ying has wanted to host the big annual dinner for the family, and now that her brother/big Uncle is out of commission, she can do it. Everything is going perfectly, except her son Kevin is missing, and when he arrives, pops up with a woman he is engaged to and who has several connections to the family. Too bad she winds up dead and someone in Ying's family has to be the culprit.
Once again, nice send up of "cozy mysteries" here, but there's a darkness in the book that does not get fully realized until the very end when we get some nice reveals. I do think that Sutano did a great job with developing Josephine and her relationships with her husband, son, sister, and other relatives. I don't know how realistic it was though that she would not have heard of her son's fiancée. That part didn't read right when you realize her connections.
As I said though, the ending was really great and that's why I gave this 5 stars, but did not favorite it.
Full review: "The Reunion Dinner" follows a Chinese family on Chinese New Year. One of the aunties, Josephine Ying has wanted to host the big annual dinner for the family, and now that her brother/big Uncle is out of commission, she can do it. Everything is going perfectly, except her son Kevin is missing, and when he arrives, pops up with a woman he is engaged to and who has several connections to the family. Too bad she winds up dead and someone in Ying's family has to be the culprit.
Once again, nice send up of "cozy mysteries" here, but there's a darkness in the book that does not get fully realized until the very end when we get some nice reveals. I do think that Sutano did a great job with developing Josephine and her relationships with her husband, son, sister, and other relatives. I don't know how realistic it was though that she would not have heard of her son's fiancée. That part didn't read right when you realize her connections.
As I said though, the ending was really great and that's why I gave this 5 stars, but did not favorite it.