Aunty Lee's Delights
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Aunty Lee's Delights: A Singaporean Mystery is the first detective fiction book in Aunty Lee's Series by Ovidia Yu. It was first published in Singapore and later published in the United States by HarperCollins Publishers on 17 September 2013. It’s a Singaporean mystery that tells the story of a murder after honeymooning tourists find a body on Sentosa’s beach. It embodies the style of a classic cozy murder mystery. The book features Aunty Lee, who’s a sort of Singaporean Miss Marple.
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| Author | Ovidia Yu |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Laura Klynstra |
| Language | English |
| Series | Aunty Lee Series, #1 |
| Genre | Cozy, Mystery, Thriller |
| Published | 17 September 2013 |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (paperback, hardback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 978-0-06-222715-7 |
| Followed by | Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials: A Singaporean Mystery |
Background on Aunty Lee
Rosie Lee or Aunty as she wants to be called is an elderly Peranakan widow who decides not to become a “tai tai, an idle rich lady. Instead of living on her husband's money after his death, she starts a café and catering business (called Aunty Lee's Delights), on the resort island of Sentosa in Singapore. She is a well respected woman in society that cooks and serves Singapore food to locals and tourists. She’s feisty, a wonderful cook and has an insatiable curiosity that compels her to poke her nose into the affairs of others. Aunty Lee’s tactic is to lead with the offer of a specially cooked Peranakan dish or a tea brewed with medicinal herbs, and follow with inquisitive questions to sustain her insatiable curiosity. She embodies traditional culture, and uses her cooking instincts as a metaphor for understanding human interactions.
Plot Summary
When Aunty Lee hears about the body of a woman washing up on the beach of Sentosa, she becomes concerned. She becomes determined to find out who killed the woman, regardless of the fact that she has a wine tasting and dinner party to host for her stepson's wine business. The murder and disappearance brings together Aunty Lee’s spineless stepson, Mark, his scheming and social-climbing wife, Selina, her loyal assistant Nina, a gay couple that hides their love because it’s still illegal in Singapore, a single Aussie, and an elderly Australian tourist couple.
Aunty Lee links the body of the woman to a missing guest from her wine-tasting party. Her family and friends shake their heads in disbelief, but of course she's right. Soon the identity of the woman is revealed and she’s someone known within their circle. She’s actually employed by Auntie Lee’s stepson. During the wine tasting party an American woman shows up looking for the missing woman, who we later find out is the woman that was killed. Another body washes up on the beach of Sentosa, which leads to more unanswered questions and more puzzling mysteries to solve. How is everything connected? Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim are detectives that enter to add even more flavor to this mysterious and intriguing story. They both quickly learn that Aunty Lee’s curiosity and her keen ability to sniff out clues will help her figure out the murder motive and who the murderer really is.
While the plot revolves around the murder investigation, the story itself is more of a character study, focusing on the suspects and what they have to hide. While Aunty Lee and her employee /sidekick, Nina, are well drawn and likable, many of the other characters are almost satires of themselves from the gold digging stepdaughter-in-law, Selina, to the Australian expat Harry Sullivan. On the other hand, the more subtle descriptions of Singapore add much to the story, introducing the reader to a mysterious, tradition bound world where many different cultures meet and sometimes clash.
Characters
Rosie (Aunty Lee) - The Amateur Sleuth
Nina Balignasy- Aunty Lee’s Filipino Maid
Mark Lee- The Stepson
Selina Lee- The Cutthroat Stepdaughter-in-Law
Raja- The Police Commissioner
SSS Salim Mawar- Senior Staff Sergeant of the Neighborhood Police Post
Harry Sullivan- The Expat Australian
Frank and Lucy Cunningham- The Elderly Australian Tourist Couple
Laura Kwee- Mark and Selina’s Assistant
Marianne Peters- The Suicidal IT Consultant, Sister to Mycroft Peters and Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Peters
Carla Saito- The American Visitor
Cherril Lim-Peters- Former Flight Attendant Married to Mycroft Peters and Sister-in-Law to Marianne Peters
Mycroft Peters- High-Profile Lawyer, Brother to Marianne Peters and Husband to Cherril Peters
Professor Reginald Peters and Anne Peters- The Parents of Marianne and Mycroft Peters
Joseph Cunningham and Otto (Singaporean Partner) - The Gay Couple
Cultural Issues
While reading Aunty Lee’s Delights the reader is given the opportunity to learn more about Singaporean cooking from a few dishes and recipes, that are shared at the end of the book. The reader gets a better understanding of the centrality of food in the local culture. They also get an appreciation of the sometimes difficult position of foreign maids in Singaporean households, and a fresh perspective on Singapore’s gay laws. The end result is essentially Singaporean but wonderfully universal. Crime is crime no matter where it’s committed. What we see here is marriages that accommodate the stresses and strains of different personalities, loyalty within the family, prejudice that poison relationships, fear that drives people to actions they sometimes regret after the event, and love that sometimes transforms lives for the better. Aunty Lee’s Delights really is a delight which sets this novel apart and leaves the reader satiated.
About The Author
Ovidia Yu is one of Singapore’s best known and most acclaimed playwrights and novelist, specializing in elegant mysteries with a culinary twist. She has had more than thirty plays produced and is also the author of a number of mysteries that have been published in Singapore and India. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Iowa's International Writers Program and has been a writing fellow at the National University of Singapore. You can connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
Critical Reception
"Engaging . . . Fans of Alexandar McCall Smith’s No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series will find a lot to like." — Publishers Weekly[1]
"A delicious debut! AUNTY LEE’S DELIGHTS is no mere whodunnit---it sparkles with insight into the traditions and moral complexities of modern Singapore. Rosie Lee is a terrifically original heroine." — Louise Penny, author OF THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY[2]
Ovidia Yu’s Singaporean Sleuth Continues to Entertain – Book review.[3]
“This delightfully anachronistic series debut from playwright and occasional novelist Yu (Miss Moorthy Investigates, 2012, etc.) boasts buoyant prose and a colorful cast, led by the lovably unstoppable sleuth herself.” - Kirkus Reviews[4]
References
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu. Morrow, $14.99 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-222715-7". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
- ^ "Aunty Lee's Delights - Ovidia Yu - eBook". Harper Collins New Zealand. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
- ^ ASIA NEWS (2018-07-01), Ovidia Yu’s Singaporean sleuth continues to entertain – book review, retrieved 2018-08-06
- ^ AUNTY LEE'S DELIGHTS by Ovidia Yu | Kirkus Reviews.