The Frangipani Tree Mystery

Crown Colony

By: Ovidia Yu

Narrated by: Crystal Yu

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

First in a delightfully charming crime series set in 1930s Singapore, introducing amateur sleuth Su Lin, a local girl stepping in as governess for the acting governor of Singapore.

1936 in the Crown Colony of Singapore, and the British abdication crisis and rising Japanese threat seem very far away. When the Irish nanny looking after acting governor Palin's daughter dies suddenly - and in mysterious circumstances - mission school-educated local girl Su Lin - an aspiring journalist trying to escape an arranged marriage - is invited to take her place.

But then another murder at the residence occurs, and it seems very likely that a killer is stalking the corridors of Government House. It now takes all Su Lin's traditional skills and intelligence to help British-born chief inspector Thomas LeFroy solve the murders - and escape with her own life.

©2019 Ovidia Yu (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Simply glorious. Every nook and cranny of 1930s Singapore is brought richly to life, without ever getting in the way of a classic puzzle plot. But what's a setting without a jewel? Chen Su Lin is a true gem. Her slyly witty voice and her admirable, sometimes heartbreaking, practicality make her the most beguiling narrator heroine I've met in a long while." (Catriona McPherson)

"Charming and fascinating with great authentic feel. Ovidia Yu's teenage Chinese sleuth gives us an insight into a very different culture and time. This book is exactly why I love historical novels." (Rhys Bowen)

Great mystery but difficult to listen to

I really enjoyed the story, but it took me a long time to get through this book because the audio had some issues. I had to listen in a quiet place, with nothing going on nearby. This is a problem as I usually listen while walking or driving.

The reader, Crystal Yu, has a very soft reading style most of the time, so you have to turn the volume way up. Then, when a character speaks loudly or shouts, she projects her voice really well, and the listener gets blown out of her chair (figuratively). I suspect that, if the sound editors had done a better job of balancing the volume levels, this issue could have been fixed.

Secondly, though I am used to speaking with people who have different kinds of accents, and I have no trouble understanding her, it is distracting to have English characters (from England in the mid-1930s) speak with the same east Asian accents and speach patterns as the characters who are native to Singapore. I realize that the book is written from the point of view of the main character, but it is very distracting to have so little difference between the vocalization of people from different cultures and geographic regions.

I loved the charming narrator

I was surprised that others did not enjoy the narration because I thought the reader added a great deal of charm, excitement and sense of place to the novel. Accents affect people differently but I never had any difficulty understanding what was being read and I thought the characters were well distinguished. The whole book just swept me away to a place I have never seen but was delighted to imagine. The main character Su Lin is smart, funny, modest and hard working. The story engaged me completely.

Great setting, painful narrator

Usually my favorite part about listening to murder mysteries set in countries other than my own is the narrator helps give a sense of place and I learn pronunciations that are much more accurate than anything I could do on my own. This narrator helps give a sense of place, but is not a professional audiobook reader. The pacing and volume are all over the place, the accents/voices by character aren’t consistent, and the author struggles with a lot of words. As the rest of the series is also read by the same narrator, I won’t be listening to any more, but I will look for the titles at my library as actual or ebooks.

Good start to a new series, but...

I see this narrator has the same surname as the author, so perhaps she’s a relative. It’s a shame, because her sense of the story is pretty good, but it’s almost impossible to understand her. Many many final consonants are dropped. The word outside is rendered as “ow sigh”, physical is “fiscal”, wheels is “wills”, told is “toe”. And the word benevolent is rendered as, I kid you not, “belevonent”.
I enjoyed the story and actually would like to know what happens next, but I’m not gonna be able to listen to another one of these unless the narrator changes.

Good story but quality of narration not consistent

I enjoyed the story but the narration required continued raising and lowering the volume. I also had trouble understanding the narrator at times.

Good story - unfortunately, poorly done narration

I enjoyed the story - good characters & sense of place & a good initial set up for a mystery series. The narration, however, made the audiobook difficult to follow. Honestly, this book was read, not narrated. There was no difference whatsoever made in my he dialogue voices so he hat throughout I kept having to reverse repeatedly to try and figure out who was supposedly talking. The narrator’s voice was great for Su Lin - lilting & Singaporean accented - but there was no change in tone when it was a man or another woman speaking, except for the voice of Dee-Dee, the 17 year old with the mind of a 7 year old, and that voice was so constantly whining without that it really grates on the nerves. It was all I could do to try & listen all the way through. I would strongly recommend reading this one yourself instead of attempting the audiobook, lest you give up on what looks to be a promising series simply because of the poor narration. I would love this book in the hands of Barbara Rosenblat, Lizette LeCar, or Christine Rendel. Actually, the more I think about it, the problem could be solved by better direction. Christine Yu has a lovely voice, she just needs to be directed to create more distinction between characters and that even the most difficult child in the world does not whine every single sound out of their mouth.

Miscasted performance

I particularly liked the authentic historical elements of old Singapore, and the plot itself was quite captivating.

Although I appreciate the narrator's attempt, I thought her performance was miscast because she was unable to convey the nuanced characteristics of Singapore and Malaysia adequately. There were several mispronounced names and words, which was confusing at times. I would like to hear the rest of the series, but this miscast makes me not want to purchase the audiobook.

Although this is an Asian story, the publishers should realise that casting any Asian talent is insufficient and inauthentic.

Story with great sense of place

I always enjoy a mystery set in an exotic locale, and this story delivered fun characters and a great sense of place.
I see some listeners didn’t like the narrator, but I thought she was very good. The accent takes a little getting used to, so maybe try a sample to be sure you can manage it, but having a reader who sounded exactly like the main character should enhanced the listening for me. I look forward to more books in this series.