Horror, He Wrote: The Ladies Under The Bridge

by Tan Jit Seng

216 pages, Paperback

Published July 22, 2024

Reviews

[hans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty and quite satirically plotted to me, loving the backdrop as it was set locally in the land of Perak during the year of 1979. I followed the wandering ghost of Chang Pai Lian (White Lotus) in her venture to seek a revenge for the murder of her twin sister; Chang Hong Lian (Red Lotus) who was killed by her lover under the bridge of Taiping Botanical Garden. Knowing on all the truth behind the tragedy, White Lotus made a deal with a failure author who was in the verge of killing himself; Ernest Graves, in ghostwriting him a novel manuscript about the tale of Red Lotus and the story of how she killed herself due to grief so the murderer, Adrian Holmes; a wellknown author that she used to ghostwrite his novels would be convicted.

A mess of supernatural and murder investigation tangled in one’s evil intention and hidden agenda; of greed, guilt and jealousy with a tale of infidelity and love triangle in between. The characters were crafty and I enjoyed reading their backstories and motivations towards the incident esp for Inspector Abdul Rahman and Marguerite Daisy. Quite slowburn on the progress with its repetitive rants on grief and vengence yet loving the writing style and how twisty the incident has brought all the characters into a mythical tense of action with bomoh, psychic medium and a glimpse to the dark horrific levels of hell in the afterlife. Both tragic and dramatic, bit thrilled even with its long stretched ending, a crazy unexpected for Ernest (felt really bad for how, in the first place, he wanted to end his life due to those bad and cruel reviews on his latest book) or perhaps just a partner-in-crime treat that he deserved.

A recommendation for a local read if you’re into murder mystery and horror fantasy genre. A light quick read (roughly just 200 pages) even with those hectic bizarrely supernatural dumps but intriguingly enjoyable and amusing overall.

(Thank you Times Reads for sending me a copy to review!)

[Ema · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ernest Maxwell Graves, a struggling crime writer, is contemplating ending his life due to an undignified failure in writing literature. His latest novel, "Sex and Pontianak," was also a lack of success and was ridiculed by reviewers. However, his misery takes a chilling turn when a beautiful Chinese ghost appears before him. Her name is Chang Pai Lian, named after the white lotus.

Pai Lian offers Ernest a compelling interest in the murder of her twin sister, Chang Hong Lian, who was infamously dubbed the Red Lotus by the press. Her sister was murdered, and the identity of the murderer remains a mystery. Following this tragedy, Pai Lian took her own life. Both sisters died under the bridge at Taiping Botanical Garden.

She claimed that her sister had been murdered, similar to the book she was ghostwriting. She wanted to expose the wrongdoings and make a deal to be Ernest's ghostwriter to tell the true story.

Interesting premise. Aside from the confusing timeline and perspectives, the author delivers a fun, mystical fantasy with plenty of funny punchlines that are easy to read. It was not a straightforward case, though, and it involved supernatural elements.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. All views are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satirical horror-mystery where some of the elements landed, but quite a lot missed as well. Good reading if you're already immersed in Southeast Asian drama-style humor, but otherwise could be confusing. I did enjoy it though!