Aunty Lee’s Deadly Specials

In Yu’s energetic second Singaporean mystery (after 2013’s Aunty Lee’s Delights), prosperous widow and self-professed busybody Rosie “Aunty” Lee, the owner of Aunty Lee’s Delights, gets hired to cater a party celebrating attorney Sharon Sung’s new partnership in Sung Law. Sharon’s mother, Mabel Sung, the firm’s proprietor, ask Aunty Lee to bring a chicken dish made from seeds that are poisonous unless specially prepared. Midway through the party, Mabel and her beloved son, Leonard, whose health has been comprised by drug addiction, are found dead next to each other. Though authorities attribute the deaths to a mother’s mercy killing and suicide, Aunty Lee’s Delights is closed pending a health investigation. Sensing foul play, Aunty Lee probes the Sungs’ family conflicts, financial woes, and possible connection to the illegal trafficking of human organs. Aunty Lee and her social circle are as vibrantly colorful as the locale, more than making up for a sometimes repetitive investigation. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary. (Oct.)