Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1936 Singapore, this exceptional series launch from Yu (the Aunty Lee mysteries) provides a fascinating look at the then-British Crown colony. Sir Henry Palin, Singapore's acting governor, asks British-born Chief Insp. Thomas Le Froy to investigate the suspicious death of his daughter's Irish nanny, Charity Byrne, at Government House on Frangipani Hill. Much to the dismay of recent mission school graduate Chen Su Lin, she's called upon to fill Charity's position. Better educated than most of her peers, Su Lin has higher aspirations-secretarial school maybe. She accepts it as a temporary assignment, privately adding the responsibility of being Le Froy's eyes and ears inside the house to her job description. Wise and savvy beyond her years, Su Lin craftily dodges the British family's prejudice and distrust while gathering evidence in what becomes a murder case, very nearly losing her life in the process. This cozy historical offers a rare commodity in the genre-a young, Asian, female amateur sleuth. Mystery fans are sure to embrace her. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An unlikely sleuth steps up in colonial Singapore to help catch a diabolical killer.It's 1936 when recent Mission School graduate Su Lin, who narrates in a fresh and slightly formal first person, is rescued from her Uncle Chen's plans for an arranged marriage by Miss Vanessa Palin, her teacher and mentor. Miss Nessa intends to place Su Lin as an "assistant and housekeeper" to Chief Inspector Le Froy, but the unexpected death of Charity Byrne, the nanny in the household of Miss Nessa's brother, Acting Governor Sir Henry Palin, changes the plan. Su Lin, sent to meet the grieving family, forms an immediate bond with Palin's daughter Dee-Dee, a "child-woman" who caught the fever at age 7 and never developed mentally beyond that age. Dee-Dee angrily confides her belief that her stepmother, Mary, killed the nanny, who fell from a balcony and broke her neck. Dee-Dee implores Su Lin to kill Mary before Mary murders her as well. Both Sir Henry and LeFroy duly take note, and Su Lin's bond with Dee-Dee prompts the Palins to engage her immediately. Sir Henry is disturbed enough to prompt Le Froy to investigate, and Su Lin's previous acquaintance with the inspector makes her a natural ally, a Watson to his Holmes. Her discovery that Charity was pregnant leads her to search for the father, a quest that's obviously but ambiguously akin to the hunt for a possible killer, who claims another surprising victim before being unmasked.Yu (Meddling and Murder, 2017, etc.) has concocted a delightful vintage whodunit bubbling with charm and an infectious curiosity about human nature. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Chen SuLin, an orphaned 16-year-old afflicted with polio, whose domineering grandmother wants to marry her off, aspires to be a newspaper reporter and an independent modern woman in the Crown Colony of Singapore in 1936. Instead, she agrees to be placed in the employ of police chief inspector Thomas LeFroy. While the arrangement is being negotiated by LeFroy and SuLin's mentor, Miss Vanessa Palin at the English mission school, LeFroy learns that the Irish nanny to Palin's mentally challenged 17-year old niece has fallen or been pushed from a balcony at Government House on Frangipani Hill, where the young woman's father is acting governor of the colony. LeFroy quickly assesses the situation and installs SuLin as a temporary governess to be his eyes and ears. Trusted by the local house staff and ignored by the English expats, SuLin is able to gather information in ways LeFroy cannot. Between them, they work out the real family dynamics at the blighted governor's mansion. SuLin's character and wry humor are presented strongly, commenting on the entrenched racism of the colonial era. She and LeFroy make a team worth watching in future installments of this new series from a popular Singaporean novelist and playwright.--Karen Muller Copyright 2018 Booklist
