Apr 26

Apr 26 Dial A for Aunties

2021 Best, Diverse Reads, Fiction, Five Star Books, Mystery, Summer Reads

Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

Thank you to Berkley for gifting me a review copy of Dial A for Aunties by Jess Q. Sutanto.

A word of warning, don’t drink hot tea while you’re reading this book, because it will burn when it comes out your nose as you snort-laugh at something completely unexpected and hilarious…and it may happen more than once.

Ok, now that you’ve been warned I can tell you that you absolutely need this book in your life. It is hilarious, and completely bananas. Take four meddling (but well-meaning) sisters, a daughter who just wants her own life but feels duty-bound to stay with her family, an accidental murder, the season’s biggest wedding, and throw in a pinch of romance—you’ve got a wild ride that you won’t want to put down until you reach the last page.

Think of this as a funnier, modern, Weekend at Bernie’s with an Indo-Chinese family who run a wedding business and are trying to pull off the event of the year while hiding the man they’ve accidentally killed. At every turn they make things worse for themselves and you’ll be covering your eyes, laughing hysterically, and yelling at the characters in equal measures.

I can’t stop talking about this book, it is so over-the-top and you definitely have to suspend reality for a while, but it was exactly the hilarious, feel-good romantic suspense / murder mystery I needed in my life. You can grab your own copy via the button below.

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Synopsis:

A hilariously quirky novel that is equal parts murder mystery, rom-com, and a celebration of mothers and daughters as well as a deep dive into Chinese-Indonesian culture, by debut author Jesse Q. Sutanto.

1 (accidental) murder
2 thousand wedding guests
3 (maybe) cursed generations
4 meddling Asian aunties to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business—“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?