Kill Her Twice

Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee is a historical murder mystery set in Chinatown, Los Angeles, 1932. It is told through the dual POVs of two sisters, May and Gemma. Their friend Lulu Wong, a Hollywood actress, has been murdered and the police don't seem to care about finding her killer. May and Gemma, along with their younger sister, Peony, decide to investigate Lulu's death while running their family flower selling business and helping their pregnant mother. The characters are likeable, and the story is well plotted. The narrative is made more interesting by historical, cultural and political details. The racism faced by the Chinese community in L.A. is explored well and presents additional challenges to solving Lulu's murder. The story did slow down at times; however, the pacing issues did not diminish this enjoyable and thought-provoking YA mystery.

From the cover, which is a glamourous shot of the beautiful actress Lulu Wong and drew me right in, to the spunk and creativity and daring that May, Gemma, and a bit Peony, to solve the mystery of Lulu's horrible murder in Hollywood, this was a solid fun story to read. Yes, it was fiction, but it felt nicely real, especially with the hardships Gemma and May and their family were going through in these tumultuous times when Chinese people were looked down on and the places they lived in Chinatown were threatened to be torn down for a railway station. All that made me admire May and Gemma even more because they refused to give up, trying to find the murderer and keep their family and flower business together, making enough to keep a roof over their heads. They faced prejudice, for their race, and also gender which caused conflicts, but it was nicely balanced by good people who also wanted justice for Lulu. The looks into making movies of that time were interesting too. It was a nice and fun book to read!