Cozy Mystery Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties | Jesse Q. Sutanto | Aunties #3

A new mystery featuring the meddlesome aunties is headed to bookstores from the bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. 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, The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties.

About the Book | The Good, the Bad, and the 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…

Review | The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

I can’t get enough of Jesse Q. Sutanto’s writing! Her first psychological thriller I’m Not Done with You Yet made my list of favorite books of 2023 (I’m giddily looking forward to reading her second psychological thriller soon!). Her writing is so diverse—she has best selling romance books, young adult books, cozy mysteries, and now psychological thrillers. What can’t she do??

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties is actually the third book featuring these fun and meddlesome aunties solving murder (and bringing the mayhem) to Meddy Chan’s life. These books can be read in any order, so don’t hesitate to jump in here (though you won’t be able to resist going back to the others after reading it). In the latest mystery, Meddy is venturing off on her honeymoon with her new husband, Nathan Chan. They have already made their way through Europe and are heading to Jakarta to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Meddy’s extended family.

They should have guessed that something would go awry when it comes to Meddy’s family, but how could they know they’d wind up in the middle of a gangster war? Three crime lords going by the absurd aliases Julia Child, Kristofer Kolumbes, and Abraham Lincoln are constantly tangled up in some scheme or another. It turns out that Abraham Lincoln has been in love with Aunt Enjelin Chan for years, and shows up to the Chan residence with extravagant gifts in an attempt to win her back.

Unfortunately the gifts get a bit mixed up with the ones Meddy and Nathan are handing out to the kids. One of the gifts that got mixed up happened to be the title deed to a piece of property promised to Julia Child, a powerful figure in the Ruo Fao Group. Meddy and the aunties do what they can to clear up the mix up by tracking down which child received the deed, and the pressure is on when Meddy’s husband Nathan is imprisoned. They are up against the clock to locate the deed or they risk incurring the wrath of one of the most dangerous crime lords in Indonesia.

Before long, Meddy and the aunties find themselves way too embedded in the battle between the crime lords. The title deed ends up in the possession of someone who is the friend of another Chan. It turns out she is also the granddaughter of Kristofer Kolumbes, another dangerous crime lord! Meddy and the aunties are deep in the chaos of these three crime lords and doing everything in the power to find the deed, return it, and keep their family safe.

This is the end of the Aunties series, and it’s bittersweet! I have loved getting to read about the mayhem these aunties get up to. Meddy has continued to have a lovely character arc and it felt like each book chronicled the right part of her story. I won’t spoil what happens but I will say that the ending of the series was a perfect note. I will miss Meddy and the aunties, but I also left knowing they are going to have so much joy in their lives after we part ways.

This book continued to bring the laughs! The mystery is good and for how outlandish it was at first, it had a very sweet conclusion that I didn’t expect. The author’s note at the end from Sutanto was heartfelt and perfect. Don’t miss out on this series! It may be at it’s conclusion but these books will live on any time you need a pick-me-up!

Audiobook Review

Humorous books need the right narrator matched to the style of humor in the book for the audio format to work, and Penguin Random House nailed it casting Risa Mei. The jokes were delivered just the right way, the tone was kept upbeat throughout, and the varying names and non-English words used throughout were well-done.

Thank you to Berkley and Penguin Random House for my copy. Opinions are my own.