The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (Crown Colony #2) by Ovidia Yu

Reading this book is like visiting Singapore.   It's set in 1937 and it has plenty of British colonists there.  The cultures and values are different.  The British try the different drugs, visit whore houses and drink a lot.  They have a party in the city that has stopped to let the young folks marry.  When the prospective groom is found dead, the police get involved.  Su Lin is working for the inspector and she's hoping she can find a big story so she can become a journalist...

Little/Brown sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

He looks like he was murdered and covered in blood but it's not blood, it's betel juice.  When the analysis is done, they find he was poisoned.  There aren't many clues.  Su Lin goes looking for them.

The prospective bride has lost all the men she's loved, even the ones she was married to.  This man died before they hitched the knot but she thinks she's cursed.  They look at her, at the man who is her admirer, and other members of the party to see who could have done it.

It's long investigation and more die before they narrow it down to the killer.  I was surprised by who it was and loved the ironic twist at the end.  Karma came after the killer...