Jesse Q. Sutanto’s book Dial A for Aunties is not your average murder mystery novel. If you are looking for your next terrifying whodunnit thriller, then it’s best to continue looking—Dial A for Aunties is not that book. It is, however, a hilariously entertaining and completely absurd murder mystery slash rom com. At its heart, though, Dial A for Aunties is about family, sacrifice, and communicating across languages, cultures, and generations.

[rest of review included in link below]

Meddy desperately wants to break free from the confines set by her family.

As the last of her generation to stick around, she always heard about the disappointment associated with her cousins leaving. So she chose a college close to home and when she graduated, she joined the new family business. Where she's been ever since.

But on the weekend of one of their biggest weddings, she begrudgingly agrees to go on a blind date with the owner of the new resort where the wedding will take place—and accidentally kills the man. With the help of her three aunts and her mother, they plan to dispose of the body, but everything goes completely upside down with it's delivered to the wedding by mistake. Throw in some very unusual wedding day drama, some unhappy local officials, and a brewing storm and you have the recipe for a hilarious madcap disaster!

Oh, how I loved this book!

Meddy is a wonderful narrator! A woman stuck between her own hopes and dreams and the expectations of family, with the added complication of her being a first generation American in a family of immigrant women whose own parents moved from China to Indonesia.

Meddy admits that her Mandarin and Indonesian are terrible. But otherwise she's done pretty much all she can to keep her mother and her three aunts happy. And if that means sticking around in a job that's very much less than exciting, that's what she'll do.

But she's been single since college and her mother really wants her to settle down. Which is how she finds herself on a blind date with a man her mother has been chatting to (as Meddy) on a dating app. And things do not go well!

Meddy's aunts are fabulous! Though she is the narrator, each of the aunts and her mother all come through as splendidly built characters with huge personalities! And they each comprise one component of the family wedding business: the oldest of them is the pastry chef, next in line does hair and makeup, Meddy's mother is the florist, and the youngest is the singer. And then Meddy is the photographer. And things have gone really well for their business. But Meddy isn't happy. And hasn't been for some time.

Until now, her biggest issue has been trying to find a way to broach the topic of leaving the business...

Dial A For Aunties is a great read! It's all about family, relationships, and the weight of culture and expectations. And it comes in a lighthearted and funny package that had me laughing out loud and desperate to find out what would happen next!

This is definitely going to be one of my favorite reads this year :)

A rom-com, cozy mystery, slapstick hybrid, 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘈 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 by Jesse Q Sutanto provides an antidote to a difficult day or a lift for a bad mood with its quick pacing, sweet love story, and hilarious bad-to-worse predicament of Meddy, the main character.

Unlike her cousins who went as far east as possible, Meddy has stayed in California, living with her mother and joining the family wedding business, its slogan: Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans! And the Chans’ biggest wedding ever, between the scions of two billionaire families to be held on an island resort, offers them an unprecedented opportunity.

However, the night before the wedding, Meddy accidentally kills her blind date. Rattled and with no cell phone charge, she drives home and enlists the help of her mother and three aunts, all with big personalities. They devise the perfect plan, but it goes awry when the body, hidden in a cooler in Big Aunt’s freezer, gets sent to the resort with the other supplies.

Meddy tries to juggle her responsibilities as a wedding photographer, manage her family, and keep the body hidden, and as if that wasn’t hard enough, she learns the owner of the resort is her college boyfriend whom she never stopped loving.

Granted, the plot moves from one absurdity to another, and it is necessary to suspend disbelief to completely enjoy the book, but if you do that, it is an extremely fun read, and Sutanto includes some surprising obstacles and a satisfying conclusion.

Im fairly certain that I haven't ever read a comedic thriller before but Sutanto took that description and elevated it.

This book was a comedic joy. I personally loved the preface that was given. We as readers were informed from the authors Own Voice experience and how best to read this novel. This definitely enhanced the experience for me.

In this book we follow Meddy both in the past and present as she navigates her familial life.

And then she accidentally kills someone and we get to see what he family is really like. Spoiler....they're a joyous riot!

Thank you Berkley for the advanced copy of this read. I LOVED IT!

This was a laugh out loud read, I found myself reading passages to others to share the giggles. As unrealistic as it all is, it’s so fun that it didn’t matter to me. I loved the relationship between the characters and the aunties.

This book is such a fun ride! I love a book that I can handsell to fans of almost any genre -- this one works for fans of mysteries, romances, and general fiction that makes you laugh out loud. Can't wait to see what Jesse Sutanto writes next!

Dial A For Aunties was a wild and fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it 😁 You know how some books aren’t so serious but still make your heart jump with all the fun you had while reading it? Well, this book was that! It always amazes me to read stories about cultures that are different than mine but still same. This story represents Indonesian-Chinese culture and it was so much fun to see the similarities between it and Indian culture; right from wedding traditions to behaviour of Aunties, and how protective they are of their children.

Meddelin Chan aka Meddy is a photographer who works with her mom and aunts in their wedding business. She has four aunts and all of them, along with her mom, keeps medaling in her life (just like you expect from an Asian aunty 😬). Her mother arranges a blind date for Meddy after disguising herself as Meddy on a dating website! But Meddy ends up accidentally killing that blind date! Next day they have to attend an extravagant wedding and now Meddy and her aunt have to decide what to do with the body. And let me tell you won’t believe the number of places that dead body traveled in the book 😂

Seriously, it had been a while since I read a book that was so much fun! I laughed out, I wondered, I sympathised, I cringed! And the best thing is everything is in proper proportion- the humour, the romance, the mystery- except drama that is full on and I live for drama (we are Bollywood people after all) 😅 This was not a hardcore mystery and yet I was excited to see what dramatic event will turn out next. I am still grinning typing this review 🙊

And the romance! It was not capturing the center spot in the story and that made it really sweet. And find yourself someone who treats you like Nathan 🥺

The main theme of the story was of course family. The way whenever there is something wrong, you family are there to back you up, to support you in your darkest time. You would think that Meddy’s mom scolded her or was angry after she revealed she killed a guy, but well, she and the aunties were actually proud of her that she alone brought the body to her home. Well these are Asian Aunties after all, always taking pride in their children 😂

So trust me, if you want something light and fun, and yet entertaining, go for this book, add it to your TBR!

Thank you @berkleyrance for a copy of this book. Let’s start with this was an over the top over exaggerated Asian soap opera. Once you have this mindset,...enjoy the ride. This was a fun mix between Crazy Rich Asians and Finaly Donovan is Killing it. I loved all of the aunties and how they remind me of all the aunties that I have in Hong Kong and how close my mom are to them despite being so far apart. The aunties really stole the show and the love story between Meddy and Nathan took a back seat which I didn’t mind at all.

3.75 stars

Thanks to NetGalley & Berkley Pub for the digital arc of this title. All opinions are my own.

One sentence review: Dial A for Aunties is a humorous, wild ride for people who like their humor with a bit of a dark tinge.

I'm not quite sure how to classify Dial A for Aunties with regards to genre. What I can tell you is that it is a really funny, over the top story about a woman, a dead body, her mother and three aunts, a lavish wedding and finally an ex-boyfriend she's never quite gotten over.

This book really does read a lot like a comedy you'd see on the screen (so it is not so surprising that it is being adapted just for these purposes for Netflix). The book is pretty quick placed and really funny in parts. I loved the Asian representation and learning about the traditions that take place in Indo Chinese weddings. There are also some really great characters. The four aunties really are the best. I was really taken by the sense of family and love you get from the book.

Where the book was a bit of a miss for me was in the middle of the book where some moral ambiguity really started to bother me. At this point the humor got a little less funny for me and the story lagged a bit. I really wanted someone to step up and take responsibility for their actions. In the latter part of the book I do feel like this is somewhat addressed and the story picked back up for me.

So overall I'd recommend this book. It is a really funny story with some great characters and cultural representation. I think it would make a great beach read. I'd just go in expecting there to be a kind of cavalier attitude towards death.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a hilarious over-the-top joy ride that follows Medellin “Meddy” Chan as she, her mother and 3 Aunties frantically try to deal with a dead body while overseeing an over-the-top lavish Chinese-Indonesian wedding that could put their family-owned wedding business on the map—IF they can successfully pull it off. Layer on the meddling but loving ways of Chinese-Indonesian mothers and aunties, a lost love Meddy never got over, and a ridiculously fun plot that puts them in positions you think they will never get out of and you end up with a truly laugh-out-loud page turning adventure.

The highlight of this book for me was the scene stealing Aunties. The author does a wonderful job of humorizing language barriers without resorting to tired stereotypes and I could not stop laughing during certain passages as they hit home with similar conversations I have had with my own extended family.

As many reviewers have described, this book is like “Weekend at Bernie’s” meets “Crazy Rich Asians”. Its more Com than Rom but what was there was sweet and and I liked how the book worked through Meddy’s personal growth as she strives to find her own voice outside her family.

If you dial ‘C’ for my advice, I will tell you to suspend your disbelief, make yourself comfortable and enjoy a few hours of fun and laughter.

Thank you @jesseqsutanto @letstalkbookspromo @berkelypublishing and @NetGalley for the eARC of this book. Opinions are my own.

Super fun and quirky book. Just one disaster after another until it felt like if it could go wrong, it would. The kind of family that will literally help you move a body.

With the tiniest amount of suspension of disbelief, you will fall into this zany, madcap tale of a loud and loving family hiding a dead body in plain sight. Hilarious!

Meddelin Chan's mom calls her aunties when Meddelin accidentally ends up killing her blind date. They agree to help her get rid of the body, but accidentally put the body in the cake cooler. The bad news is that the cake cooler is on its way to a wedding that Meddelin, her mom, and her aunties are working!

This isn't a genre I usually read and it's rare for me to really like a romance book...BUT this one was so entertaining and a nice break from my usual reads! It's a romance mixed with a murder mystery plus it was funny and fast-paced, what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, a movie!! I'm sure this will be picked up soon and I'll be the first one to go watch the adaptation.

I really enjoyed everything about this book, the Chinese-Indonesian representation, family dynamic, the aunties, the flashbacks, the murder, it all flowed so well together! If you're looking for a really fun book to read this summer, this is definitely it!!!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Oh my, this is satire at its finest. Jesse Q. Sutanto sure knows how to bring the funny.

Meddelin Chan is part of her family’s wedding business. She photographs the event from start to finish and with Indonesian – Chinese weddings that entails a lot. “Big Aunt” makes the luscious cakes, “Aunt 2” is in charge of hair and make-up. Meddie’s mother takes care of all the flowers and “Aunt 4” sings, providing entertainment. Together all five of them try to hide a body but wait, I am getting ahead of myself.

Meddy’s mother is so worried about her daughter’s love life that with some help from her meddlesome aunts she sets Meddy up on a dating site and pretends to be her. Meddy finds out when she learns she has a blind date with a man her mother feels is perfect. Sadly the date doesn’t go well and Meddelin accidentally kills the man and could have killed herself. But she survives and makes it home with the date in the trunk of the car. With a huge wedding the next day they try to keep the body on ice until after the event but due to circumstances beyond their control that darn body ends up at the wedding site. What ensues is a wild ride of a story I could not put down. Heck, Meddy’s college boyfriend even enters the scene and plays an integral part.

Okay, you need to suspend reality while reading this story but you will catch yourself laughing out loud and immersed in a wonderful escape.

Meddy is the dutiful daughter and “Ma” and her Aunties are an absolute hoot! The Chans are a close family and there is so much love there. The Auntie’s get a little snippy with each other but they truly support each other even when it comes to getting rid of a dead body. These characters practically jump off the page. The dialogue which includes a little bickering just sings. I laughed so hard when Meddy and her aunties had to explain to Ma the text messages she had received from the man she set her daughter up with.

The story had a few Weekend At Bernie’s movie moments too as we moved to the wedding part of the story. That poor dead body turned up in some surprising places.

But the story isn’t all laughs. We get a nice look at the traditions and stress of an Indo-Chinese wedding. I really felt for the bride as certain things came to light.

I loved the twist that brought Meddy’s college boyfriend, Nathan Chan back into the story and the little flashbacks to their previous relationship. Don’t worry Chan is like Smith in the Indo-Chinese world so they are not related.

I absolutely loved everything about this story and I was thrilled to read it is going to be adapted into a movie on NetFlix. It was such a wonderful escape I have to give it my highest – deserves more than 5 stars – Paradise Rating. Dial A for Aunties is a fantastic story full of delightfully quirky characters that I wish I could meet in person. Crazy chaos overtakes these pages and will have readers grinning ear to ear. Fun and entertaining. A must-read!

*Note: The book does include explicit language.

It’s not fair to the author that I'm not big on cozies and this was closer to cozy than thriller— however I didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. It leaped genres (it was funny but there's a dead body and meddling older Asian people and a long lost love?)and it was too slapstick for my liking (traipsing about that island with a cooler full of dead man while working a wedding… ugh) but I did enjoy the aunties. it was cute, just not my speed.

Dial A for Aunties needs to be the book you read for 2021. This reminded me of an Asian version of the movie, Weekend at Bernie's. This book was part mayhem, hijinks, love story and family obligations all rolled into one. Meddelin (Meddy) Chan's mom and aunties are the stars of this book. Those ladies reminded me so much of my mom and her sisters.

I did not want this book to end. Page after page was one more outrageous catastrophe after another. Meddy's mother wanted her to date. So Mama Chan decided to set up a dating profile for Meddy and arranged a date! Meddy went on this date! Now if my mother even tried some mess like this there would have been no date period! The date was awful and Meddy accidentally kills him. If this isn't horrible enough, she goes home and tells her mother. Her mother then calls the aunties. Lord, when Big Auntie, Second Auntie and Fourth Auntie arrive the shenanigans ensue. Not to mention they operate a wedding business together. Weddings and dead bodies do not mix but oh is it funny.

I definitely need a series with Meddy, her mother and all her aunties. This was such a fun book!!!!! I need more ASAP.

From the blurb: “What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!”

When Meddy accidentally kills her blind date, her mom calls her three aunties to help bury the body. Hiding the body in one of Big Aunties’ coolers seems like the perfect solution - until it ends up being set to the wedding that the family is working - baking the cake, doing the flowers, fixing hair and makeup, being the wedding singer, and the photographer. On top of the dead body and wedding on the year situation, the love of Meddy’s life/the one that got away/Meddy’s college ex-boyfriend owns the hotel!

I LOVED THIS! Go read this right now! I listened to the audiobook and I would 10/10 recommend it - but I’m totally going to buy a copy for my bookshelf. It has been picked up by Netflix, and I can’t wait to watch Meddy and her Aunties on the TV! This was fun, and it was funny. Go read it!

Thanks to @NetGalley and Berkley for my ARC!

Wait so what genre is this book?! Is it a comedy/thriller/mystery/romance?

What a fun book! While it maybe dragged a little it was so outlandish and dramatic and even funny that it was overall really good.

AND I read it was picked up by Netflix. 🤩

A blind date goes wrong but the aunties come to the rescue while trying to manage a big wedding business and an old flame. Yes. It was dramatic haha but it was super fun!

Ty for this ARC. It actually came out Tuesday, so go get yours!

Dial A for Aunties is ridiculous in the best way. After accidentally killing her date, Meddy Chan turns to her mom and aunts to decide what to do. They are going to get rid of the body. The next day the family is working their biggest wedding yet. The Chans have to make sure nobody finds the body while also doing their jobs. Meddy also runs into the ex she never got over. Throughout Dial A for Aunties I was stressed out about the Chans getting caught while also laughing out loud with all the ridiculous situations they end up in. This book is entertaining but also taught me about the Chinese-Indo culture. Meddy is always afraid of disappointing her family and is always doing what is best for them. The aunties have different personalities. I enjoyed seeing how they used their personalities for their jobs in the wedding business as well as when fighting with their sisters. Dial A for Aunties is not to be taken too seriously but is hilarious. I recommend Dial A for Aunties to anyone looking for an entertaining read.

Thank you Berkley Romance for Dial A for Aunties.

Dial A for Aunties by @jesseqsutanto was the most fun book that I have read in a long time and as I laughed my way through it, I kept thinking that it has to become a movie. Everyone needs some Aunties in their life. It is the story of Meddy, a woman on a horrible blind date instigated by her mom when Meddy ends up accidentally killing her date. With her mom and meddling aunts involved in helping her get rid of the body while simultaneously trying to pull off a 1000 person wedding weekend, hilarity ensues. This book was like Weekend at Bernie’s mixed with Crazy Rich Asians and I could not stop giggling. It was bonkers with so many twists and I had to completely suspend reality in the best possible way. It was pure chaos with comical misunderstandings and genius one line quips that made me snort. I honestly wish I could go back and read it again for the first time because I need more of this pure joy in my life. Pub day is today and I cannot emphasize this enough - read this book.