A vibrant read set in Singapore, filled with food, crime, and nosy aunties. The characterisations and plot are simple yet effective. Pure, joyful entertainment. I had picked this up on a whim at a book fair and now I'm looking forward to more Aunty Lee mysteries in my life. ( )

Although this is #4 in the Aunty Lee mystery series, I really didn't feel that I had missed much from not reading earlier titles. I would categorise the novel as a cozy, but there are also embedded some quite serious comments on the development of Singapore, and the impact of things like immigration of groups from China and India. There were references to earlier books in the series.

In style it reminded me a little of the Inspector Singh novels by Shamini Flint - also a Singaporean author. Although of course while Inspector Singh is a policeman, usually on an "official case", Aunty Lee is a "noseyparker".

Anyway, a fairly quiet sort of read, although some serious events do occur. ( )

This is the fourth Aunty Lee murder mystery novel and it is darker than the previous ones. The murder actually is not discovered until quite late in the story, although there is plenty of warning that it is likely: the victim is “missing” for most of the early part of the book. The body is discovered much later in the story, almost at the end.

There’s a sense of foreboding from the beginning, the sense that something bad is about to happen. There’s also a group of unsavoury characters, some of which are more unpleasant than bad. Some of these are recurring from earlier books. Aunty’s maid, Nina, is in a quandary about her relationship with Inspector Salim Mawar. To compound that, she is shipped off to work for one of the unsavoury characters where she is essentially terrorized, until Aunty Lee brings her back home.

The unique social structure of Singapore plays a part in the story (as it has in the previous ones), for example “foreign domestic workers” are relegated to a low status with few “rights”. A new theme introduced in this book is the bad consequences coming from the influx of mainland Chinese into Singapore.

This book is more noir than cozy. What started as a Singapore version of Alexander McCall Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency series has morphed into something darker. I enjoyed the earlier books more than this one, but it is a good read on its own.

Also, I see signs that this is the last of the series. The author is releasing a historical fiction story later in the year which is said to be the first of a new series. I am looking forward to reading it. ( )