Aunty Lee's Delights

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I spent two short, wonderful holidays in Singapore, and my fond memories of the city revolve largely around its magnificent and diverse food scene. Aunty Lee’s Delights is a worthy mystery tribute to one of the world’s finest cities for eating.

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Aunty Lee is thoroughly kaypoh, which is Singaporean for “nosy.” Although her food business is successful, the death of her much-loved husband has left her with too much time on her hands. When a body washes up on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa the same night a woman fails to show up for a wine-and-food tasting at Aunty Lee’s cafe, she can’t help but get involved.

What worked well in this mystery? The diverse characters (Malay Singaporeans, Chinese Singaporeans, Indian Singaporeans, a Filipina maid, an Australian expat, a Japanese-American tourist…) are all rounded and human. Aunty Lee is enjoyable as a busybody late-middle-aged heroine, and I liked her relationship with the maid Nina. A scene in which Aunty Lee dreams about her late husband is particularly touching.

Aunty Lee’s Delights is also a very gentle mystery – I believe it would fall into the category of “cozies,” although I’m not a mystery expert. I prefer mysteries which don’t depend on gore, torture, incest, etc. It was an unexpected pleasure that this mystery featured gay characters portrayed as any other type of characters. While the book did reference Singapore’s legal intolerance of homosexuality and homophobia was a plot element, I was relieved and pleased that “Secret gay underworld!” or “Twisted homosexual sex plot!” was not the resolution to the mystery. The purpose of the story is not just to solve the mystery, but also to resolve the unhappiness of the suspects who prove innocent, and I liked seeing multiple positive endings (although not any romances).

One problem is that the book felt crowded. I wished either for fewer characters or more pages. There are, for instance, three members of the Singapore police force in the novel, when just one would have sufficed for plot purposes and allowed for more thorough development. The setting was interesting but not as detailed as I would have liked it to be. Although the food sounded delicious, Aunty Lee’s use of it sometimes felt a bit like the blatant plot device it was. (Would Singaporean police officers really consume food and drink handed to them by people involved in murder investigations, even tangentially?) The mystery is also relatively straightforward once it is resolved, so people who look for Poirot-style “The old man is secretly the butler in disguise!” plots will be disappointed.

I understand comparisons made to Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which I adore. While Aunty Lee isn’t quite as wonderful as Precious and the novel isn’t quite as strong as the first few McCall Smith novels, I enjoyed it very much, and I recommend it to fans of mysteries, unusual settings, and unconventional heroines. Oh, and fans of Singaporean food!

Grade: B+

Book Type: Mystery

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date: 12/11/13

Publication Date: 2013/09

Review Tags: AoC PoC Singapore

Recent Comments …

  1. excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.

I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.

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