I love finding a book that successfully combines light and dark humor. The last book/series I read that did that was the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano, and I have now found another: the “aunties” books by Jesse Q. Sutanto. i just finished the first and liked it enough that I immediately went to my library website and checked out #2 in the series to start on tomorrow morning with breakfast.

In Dial A for Aunties, Meddelin Chan is the third-generation American 20-something from a mixed-race Indonesian/Chinese family of women who all live in close proximity in Glendale, California, and work together in the family wedding business. Big Aunt does the cakes and food, Second Aunt the makeup and hair, Third Aunt (Meddy’s Ma) the flowers, and Fourth Aunt is the entertainment, a singer at the after-wedding reception, while Meddy herself is the wedding photographer. While she loves photography and does enjoy certain aspects of her job, she didn’t really plan for her future to consist of living and working with the aunties (“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!“); but she is a dutiful (and guilt-ridden) daughter, and when her (mostly male) cousins all decamped to other cities or states after college, she swore she wouldn’t likewise desert the aunties.

This led to major heartbreak for Meddy, though, because Nathan, her college love and, she believes, the love of her life, was offered a prestigious job in New York City and, rather than disappoint the aunts or hold him back from choosing success on the other side of the country, Meddy breaks up with him so he is free to pursue his dream while she can keep her promises to the family.

The story begins a few years after the breakup. Meddy has dated a few guys in the meantime, but her heart isn’t in it, and her Ma and aunties have begun to despair of ever having grandbabies. So Ma signs up for online dating posing as Meddy, cultivates a relationship with the rich and handsome Jason, and then springs a date on Meddy that’s “blind” for her but not for Jason, as he feels they have really gotten to know one another online and through texts! Meddy reluctantly agrees to the date, which is to take place the night before the family does their thing at a huge society wedding on a resort island off the coast of California. The evening ends up going horribly wrong, leaving Meddy in a panic, needing the aunties to bail her out of trouble in the midst of preparing for their big job.

I don’t want to say much more than this, because the pleasure of this book is in discovering the mishaps as they occur and trying to figure out how the clueless yet ingenious aunties will fix them. The publishers did a disservice to the reader in outlining too much of the story on Goodreads, so don’t read it if you prefer to be surprised, as I do. It’s well worth the wait! Let’s just say it’s an exciting wedding weekend, and there’s a reason for the title being reminiscent of “Dial M for Murder.” I laughed out loud or shrieked in disbelief several times.