Lee’s latest Kill Her Twice is a tour de force. It’s a story about sisters, about villains on the screen, and delivers a historical fiction investigation. Yet another winner from Stacey Lee! Keep reading this book review of Kill Her Twice for my full thoughts.
Summary
Los Angeles, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically anyone, especially to the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu whose body they discover one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills mansion where she moved once her fame skyrocketed.
The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the LAPD—known for being corrupt to the core—doesn’t seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to the possibility of a police cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.
Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat a Chinese girl fairly—no matter how famous and wealthy—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a coldblooded murderer.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Telling the story of May and Gemma, Kill Her Twice is a story about choices, decisions, and community. All the fortune that could change in a moment. This historical fiction setting allows Lee to flourish. We witness the racism, the prejudice and perceptions they have of the Chinese people. Not only that, but also the potential and power of representation. We aren’t sure if there will be justice. If it can fight against the corruption, the racism and oppression, and the people with hidden agendas.
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This felt like watching a murder mystery. May and Gemma make compelling detectives. The ways May feels responsible for her family. It’s intriguing to see sisters witness each other from different perspectives. At the beginning this was a tad confusing, but it gets easier quickly. Then it becomes about seeing May’s opinions of Gemma’s recklessness and Gemma’s view of her sister’s rigidity. Kill Her Twice is part historical fiction investigation and part story about sisters. Find Kill Her Twice on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.