Aunty Lee's Delights Review: Cozy yet underwhelming
As a mystery lover and a lover of Singlish linguistics, I was delighted to find this gem of a book on my most recent library visit! Food-related mysteries seem to be quite the trend as of late, but as a lifelong fan of the legendary TV show Just Add Magic, I'm all for books like Aunty Lee's Delights! A Singaporean grandmother who is a chef and an amateur sleuth is one of the most wonderfully exciting things I've picked up recently. That's what I, Brighton Nelson, will be discussing in today's review!
To save the best for last, I'll start with the negatives. Sadly, this book has many more of them than I was hoping. I'm all for huge ensembles of static characters in novels, but those characters need to have enough soul to them to carry the book. Unfortunately, outside of Aunty Lee, I can only remember one defining trait about Nina and the head police officer—that's it. It's just sad that there aren't more fleshed-out characters, as cozy mysteries really need some half-decent characters to flesh out the vibes. Here, they feel as if they're just there to be culprits for the crime.
Regrettably, the crime investigation and the reveal aren't much better. I don't hate a twist just because I can predict it, but they still have to be done well. Here, it was simply underwhelming. It wasn't quite a twist-or-turn investigation with red herrings or much development—solely Aunty Lee talking to people and cooking. Vibes can carry a cozy story, but here, there's not enough vibes or substance to the plot. The investigation eventually devolves into a weak attempt at commentary on LGBTQ+ rights in Singapore. While that's a valuable perspective to explore on the page, and one I haven't seen before, its presence here is underbaked, as it's relegated to the final quarter of the book and only really shows itself through Aunty Lee's outsider perspective. Until then, the mystery doesn't really go anywhere.
Lastly, the dialogue did almost nothing for me, outside of Aunty Lee's insights. This is especially sad as a lover of Singaporean English. I'm not saying people need to street-talk every sentence and comically end every phrase with "lah", but this genuinely had none of that superb Singaporean flavor. As with any character in a good book, it's interesting to see different levels of formality and speech patterns among characters, and I really wanted to see how a Singaporean cozy mystery would approach this. But there just isn't much here. Every minor character doesn't need a drastically different personality for the dialogue to feel alive, but in Aunty Lee's Delights, it just never sparkles off the page.
While this book didn't work for me in many fundamental ways, being too slow and boring for most of its length, it did have some strong strengths. Yu's prose and depiction of Aunty Lee were really rad. I enjoyed that she had a bite to her and decided to pursue her passion over lazy upper-class living by cooking and sleuthing. The descriptions of cooking are probably my favorite part of this novel, leading to a scrumptious story full of yummy delights. However, books need more than solid prose and a good main character to cut it.
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 4/10
Letter Score - D
Aunty Lee's Delights had a wonderful premise that hooked me, but the lack of character development, declining momentum, and unmemorable dialogue overshadowed its cozy prose and feisty main character.
Interested in checking out some of my other reviews? Check them out below!
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