The Tembusu Tree Mystery
The tenth novel in Ovidia Yu’s cosy mystery series, with her female sleuth Chen Su Lin, is set in 1947 Singapore in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation and withdrawal.
The novel opens with Su Lin preparing for the grand opening of a cinema, but the opening never happens, as someone involved in the opening is found murdered. Once Su Lin gets stuck into her investigating, she cannot let up, even if some would prefer her to stop. The body count increases. The novel is told from Su Lin’s perspective: she’s always on the go and forms opinions very quickly as she navigates all of Singaporean society, from the street food hawkers to rich philanthropists.
There are lots of twists as Su Lin’s suspicions turn one way, then another. The author also evokes the multilingual nature of Singaporean life both in Su Lin’s thoughts and in dialogue. However, when Su Lin then explains the phrase to the reader, the narrative flow is broken. In addition, none of the characters require these explanations either. Despite this, a pleasant read for a few evenings, and sufficient backstory is provided for the novel to be read as a standalone.
