Just Jennifer

Aunty Lee’s Delights by Ovidia Yu (William Morrow, September 2013)

This twist on the traditional English cozy takes readers to Singapore where they will meet Rosie Lee, a rich widow who has built a culinary empire at Aunty Lee’s Delights, a restaurant where she hopes to nourish both the bodies and souls of locals and tourists with her spicy fare.  Trying to help her step-son Mark build his wine importing business, she has created a series of wine dinners which attract an eclectic group of people.  One of the guests who often assists at the dinners, Laura Kwee, doesn’t show up one evening, making Aunty Lee concerned there might be a connection between the young woman not showing up and the body of a young woman that washed up on the beach that morning.  A young American woman arrives that evening at Aunty Lee’s looking for Laura Kwee’s friend Marianne who has also seemingly disappeared, making Aunty Lee even more certain that Laura Kwee, and perhaps Marianne, have become victims of foul play.  Once involved with the police, Aunty Lee finds that as part of the community, she wants to help the police locate the two young women and sole a murder---or at least make sure the investigators and the victims’ families are well-fed.

Singapore, with its combination of British and Chinese tradition and culture makes the perfect setting for a cozy mystery.  Filled with quirky characters---led by Aunty Lee, and an exotic setting, this first mystery by playwright Ovidia Yu is a delight for all the senses.