Su Lin

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.

Singapore is agog with the news of King Edward VIII's abdication to marry American heiress Wallis Simpson. Chen Su Lin, now Chief Inspector Le Froy's secretarial assistant in Singapore's newly formed detective unit, still dreams of becoming a journalist and hopes to cover the story when the Hon Victor Glossop announces he is marrying an American widow of his own, Mrs Nicole Covington, in the colony. But things go horribly wrong when Victor Glossop is found dead, his body covered in bizarre symbols and soaked in betel nut juice.

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. 

Mirza, a secretive neighbour of the Chens in Japanese Occupied Singapore, is a known collaborator and blackmailer. So when he is murdered in his garden, clutching a branch of mimosa, the suspects include local acquaintances, Japanese officials - and his own daughters. Su Lin's Uncle Chen is among those rounded up by the Japanese as reprisal. Hideki Tagawa, a former spy expelled by Police Officer Le Froy and a power in the new regime, offers Su Lin her uncle's life in exchange for using her fluency in languages and knowledge of locals to find the real killer.

Has Su Lin summoned a tree demon who is now killing on her behalf? The overpoweringly fragrant flowers, snakelike vines, and deadly fruit of the cannonball tree are enough to keep most people away. But when a piece of expensive photographic equipment is found nearby, on closer inspection Su Lin...

The Allies have defeated Germany in Europe, but Japan refuses to surrender the East. In Singapore, amid rumors that the Japanese occupiers are preparing to wipe out the population of the island rather than surrender, a young aide is found murdered beneath the termite mushroom tree in Hideki...

The War may be over, but Su Lin's troubles are returning—along with the British—to Singapore . . . When two of Uncle Chen's associates come visiting Chen Mansion on the third day of Chinese New Year—an unlucky date in the Chinese calendar—Su Lin doesn't let them in. Not just because of...

The next book in the Mystery Tree series, exploring Singapore after the Japanese retreat and in the aftermath of WWII. Singapore 1949 When all the angsana trees on the island bloom at the same time, it's a glorious, fragrant display that lasts only one day. The next morning, Su Lin comes across...

'Til death do us part . . . Singapore, 1947. Newlyweds Su Lin and Le Froy are in the Cameron Highlands, an idyllic pocket of countryside on the tropical Malay Peninsula. But this is no honeymoon . . . Le Froy is on a protection assignment for powerful businessman Max Moreno and his wife Elfrieda...

It's 1947 in Singapore, and Su Lin is rolling out the red carpet for a new chapter in her life. Now happily settled in her marriage to Chief Inspector Le Froy, and having stepped away from her formidable grandmother Ah Ma's thriving business, she is the proud manager of the new Imperial Cinema...