annieb123's Review of The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

by Jesse Q Sutanto

What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Chinese New Year, already the biggest celebration of the Lunar calendar, gets even more festive when a former beau of Second Aunt’s shows up at the Chan residence bearing extravagant gifts—he’s determined to rekindle his romance with Second Aunt and the gifts are his way of announcing his courtship.

His grand gesture goes awry however, when it’s discovered that not all the gifts were meant for Second Aunt and the Chans—one particular gift was intended for a business rival to cement their alliance and included by accident. Of course the Aunties agree that it’s only right to return the gift—after all, anyone would forgive an honest mistake, right? But what should have been a simple retrieval turns disastrous and suddenly Meddy and the Aunties are helpless pawns in a decades-long war between Jakarta’s most powerful business factions. The fighting turns personal, however, when Nathan and the Aunties are endangered and it’s up to Meddy to come up with a plan to save them all. Determined to rescue her loved ones, Meddy embarks on an impossible mission—but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is truly impossible…

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties is the Nonstop Readerthird series cozy mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Released 26th March 2024 by Berkley, it's 304 pages and is available in all formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a light and engaging cozy with a fun cast of eccentric and endearing characters. Although the mystery and resolution are self-contained in this volume, the returning characters have developed over the course of the series and there will be minor spoilers if read out of order. Additionally, this is the series ender, and all the book are so funny and well written, that readers should pick up all three in order.

The mystery is competently constructed, and a funny/scary comedy of errors, however by far the star of the book is the author's ability with characterization. The characters live and breathe and their motivations and behaviors are funny and believable.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 23 minutes and is capably narrated by series narrator Risa Mei. She has a clear neutral alto voice and does a good job delineating the characters. Her pronunciation is precise and clear. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars. Recommended for fans of very light humorous cozy mysteries. It would make a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or a binge/buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

6 July, 2024: Started reading

6 July, 2024: Finished reading

6 July, 2024: Reviewed