The Tembusu Tree Mystery: A charming, twisty, mystery set in 1940s Singapore

Su Lin #10

by Ovidia Yu

Singapore, 1947. Su Lin and Le Froy start married life renting the top floor of a house near Cathay Cinema, where Su Lin is the manager. The Chen family tries to deal with workers striking in support of trade unions - but when two of the striking workers are found dead in the cinema when the lights go up, with no sign of how they were killed, it's revealed they were there to meet Uncle Chen.

-----

Praise for Ovidia

'The longest-running and sharpest exercise in decolonising fiction in Singapore's literary landscape. It is also, simply, really fun to read.' - Ong Sor Fern

'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

'A wonderful detective novel . . . a book that introduces one of the most likeable heroines in modern literature and should be on everyone's Must Read list' - The Scotsman

'Ovidia Yu's writing helped me peel back the layers to understand Singapore. The story and Chen Su Lin's initiative and tenacity, set against a backdrop of wartime Singapore, intrigued both the historian and the mystery lover in me' - Kara Owens CMG CVO, British High Commissioner to Singapore

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Asia

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2026

Reviews

[uyên]

i'm seated. the publisher employees are scared and asked me to leave because it's "not 2026 yet" but i'm simply too seated.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Tembusu, I feel that Ovidia Yu recovered from the somewhat disappointing Rose Apple Tree. The setting returns to Singapore and Ah Ma, Su Lin's grandmother, is dying. Yu does quite a good job of multilayer storytelling with this part of the book. It brings the reader back to the earlier mysteries in the series as well as demonstrating how Su Lin is adjusting for a sort of rite of passage of her own, all while maintaining the central quest for the killer(s) of two young men. Thus there is more complexity here than in the earlier novels. The dialog is stronger, and the descriptive passages adhere much better than in the very first works of the series.

What is missing is the perfect rounding of the story. In earlier volumes, the narrator, Su Lin, lets us know she is writing from the perspective of an 80 year old woman, looking back over her life. Somehow that hasn't been taken up in this volume. It should have been, making the building for the end of 80 year old plus Ah Ma more poignant. That's a minor quibble, however, because the pace works quite well in Tembusu, aside from some ragged bits perhaps pushed together too haphazardly towards the end.

All in all, Yu has created an appealing world in which Su Lin lives. All of which Tembusu hints is about to change, because of everything from the specter of air conditioning to the drive towards independence. I do hope there are more books to come. I want to see how Su Lin treats the Malayan Emergency and the departure of the British.

[Sivasothi N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 10th and apparently last of the Su Lin murder mysteries, which begin in prewar Singapore. It’s now postwar Singapore and the setting is at the Cathay cinema and the residences at the well known adjacent hill, Mount Sophia. MGS girls will like the 100 steps reference😆

Some very interesting names of people and places pepper the book and I wish Ovidia would explain her choices at the end, because she does loads of background research about Singapore, so these are not casual choices — will have to extract that at a meet the author session.

It’s possible to read this book on its own but the impact of the characters and the setting would be diminished, so begin with the first. Ovidia helpfully explains the local vernacular along the way, and I especially loved the volumes (?4–6) which take place during the war.

A Kindle pre-order which I tried to read slowly, but it chugs along quickly. The series is suitable for young readers too or folks who are trying to get back into reading.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mystery series…

I am very much enjoying this series. Yu’s characters are flawed, interesting and very human, and her plots are engaging. She writes with humor and compassion of the Singaporean culture, a fascinating melting pot of Asian peoples, religions, and history. Su Lin and LeFroy are compelling protagonists. I look forward to more “trees.”

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book.