The Paper Bark Tree Mystery

Neniu kovrilo — The Paper Bark Tree Mystery

Lingvo: English

(1 recenzo)

Su Lin is doing her dream job: assistant at Singapore's brand new detective agency. Until Bald Bernie decides a 'local girl' can't be trusted with private investigations, and replaces her with a new secretary - pretty, privileged, and white. So Su Lin's not the only person finding it hard to mourn Bernie after he's found dead in the filing room. And when her best friend's dad is accused, she gets up to some sleuthing work of her own in a bid to clear his name.

Su Lin finds out that Bernie may have been working undercover, trading stolen diamonds for explosives from enemy troops. Was he really the upright English citizen he claimed to be?

Meanwhile, a famous assassin commits his worst crime yet, and disappears into thin air. Rumours spread that he may be dangerously close to home.

Beneath the stifling, cloudless Singaporean summer, earthquakes of chaos and political …

Su Lin is doing her dream job: assistant at Singapore's brand new detective agency. Until Bald Bernie decides a 'local girl' can't be trusted with private investigations, and replaces her with a new secretary - pretty, privileged, and white. So Su Lin's not the only person finding it hard to mourn Bernie after he's found dead in the filing room. And when her best friend's dad is accused, she gets up to some sleuthing work of her own in a bid to clear his name.

Su Lin finds out that Bernie may have been working undercover, trading stolen diamonds for explosives from enemy troops. Was he really the upright English citizen he claimed to be?

Meanwhile, a famous assassin commits his worst crime yet, and disappears into thin air. Rumours spread that he may be dangerously close to home.

Beneath the stifling, cloudless Singaporean summer, earthquakes of chaos and political unrest are breaking out. When a tragic loss shakes Su Lin's personal world to its core, she becomes determined to find the truth. But in dark, hate-filled times, truth has a price - and Su Lin must decide how much she's willing to pay for it.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis The Paper Bark Tree Mystery de Ovidia Yu

Detailed historical fiction

3 steloj

The Paper Bark Tree Mystery is the third of Ovidia Yu's Crown Colony crime detection series set in the then British colony of Singapore during the period between the two world wars. I, of course, hadn't previously read the first two books and as a result I think I missed out on character development that had gone before. That said, I really liked Su Lin and appreciated the way in which readers see 1930s Singapore through her eyes. A polio survivor, she does struggle to walk or stand for longer periods of time and this disability means her talents are often overlooked by those around her. Su Lin is also overlooked by members of the colonial administration because of her native Singapore nationality. Yu explores Singapore's racial divides, making interesting points through Su Lin's observations. The island seems to be a melting pot of peoples from all across Asia, with …

The Paper Bark Tree Mystery is the third of Ovidia Yu's Crown Colony crime detection series set in the then British colony of Singapore during the period between the two world wars. I, of course, hadn't previously read the first two books and as a result I think I missed out on character development that had gone before. That said, I really liked Su Lin and appreciated the way in which readers see 1930s Singapore through her eyes. A polio survivor, she does struggle to walk or stand for longer periods of time and this disability means her talents are often overlooked by those around her. Su Lin is also overlooked by members of the colonial administration because of her native Singapore nationality. Yu explores Singapore's racial divides, making interesting points through Su Lin's observations. The island seems to be a melting pot of peoples from all across Asia, with the white Brits presuming to stand above everybody else.

The criminal mystery at the heart of this story unravels in quite a convoluted way with lots of potential suspects. Unfortunately it didn't always keep my attention which was a shame as this novel, in theory at least, should have strongly appealed to me. It's nicely detailed historical fiction which allowed me to learn about the time and place in which it is set. Occasional mentions of the potential for an imminent Second World War add a tense layer of foreboding - especially as my recent reading of How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee meant I was all too painfully aware of what will soon happen. Perhaps I should give the first Crown Colony book a try and work my way back to this one in order to fully appreciate it. The central narrative does satisfactorily stand alone, but I think I would benefit from a deeper understanding of the characters surrounding Su Lin, and I would happily read more of Ovidia Yu's writing so this would be a good excuse!