The two sisters drive to Westlake in Ba's Ford Runabout pickup and set up a stand. Gemma decides they will quadruple their prices. It's the Depression and few are buying flowers. Although they get harassed by the police about not having their permit, Gemma and May make fourteen dollars.
When they return home, Ma tells May that the Moy's who live in Pasadena on their own ranch and own a canning company by the Los Angeles River, are interested in her marrying their son, Wallace. He's now graduated from U.C.L.A. in some science program. May agrees to meet him.
The next day Gemma and May drive to their flower supplier, Angel Barajas. As they help him load up their truck, Angel tells them he will be switching to grow vegetables in the spring. At least they can eat the ones they don't sell. Meanwhile Gemma has the idea to sell chrysanthemum tea, but May isn't supportive of this idea.
Back in Chinatown, the two sisters are preparing the flowers for sale in the abandoned horse lot, when Gemma notices there are flies buzzing near the door to the stables. Gemma is determined to investigate, but May is hesitant. To their shock, they discover the body of Lulu Wong, a famous movie star from Chinatown. May was two years behind Lulu in school but they became best friends at age twelve while in a school play. Two year later, Lulu auditioned for a part and soon became famous. Her ma and younger sister lived with her in a nice home in Beverly Hills.
The murder couldn't have come at a worse time. Los Angeles wants to demolish Chinatown because it is seen as an area of the city that is dirty and sinister. The city has an order requiring the three major railroads build a union train station on Chinatown. But the railroad magnates are against it and are supporting the Chinese.
May and Gemma make their way to One Dragon Grocery to use Mr. Yam's telephone to contact the police. Detective Mallady arrives with a young officer, Officer Kidd. He decides that Lulu died in the last six to twelve hours and notes the cut on the side of her head. When Gemma wonders if she was poisoned like Dixie Doors, a beauty pageant winner from Glendale, Mallady is doubtful. His suggestion that Lulu was meeting a lover annoys Gemma who knows that "Lulu had been a dutiful and virtuous daughter.." when she had known her. Gemma notices what appears to be blood on her right sleeve of the cream pantsuit she was wearing. Mallady is not convinced this is a murder, suggesting that Lulu may have wandered in drunk and hit her head. To this Gemma informs Mallady that Lulu was a Buddhist who didn't drink. Gemma tells Mallady that she hopes he won't rest until he finds the killer.
Gemma takes "the Mule" into Westlake to sell their flowers as planned. When the jalopy breaks down, she encounters Dr. Frederick Winter who helps her get her vehicle repaired and recover from her dizzy spell. They discuss Lulu's death and he tells her that the medical examiner should "do a thorough examination, including toxicology reports."
Fearing that Lulu's murder will not be solved but used as the final blow to demolish Chinatown, Gemma and May set out to uncover the truth and in the process reveal many secrets.
Discussion
Stacey Lee has crafted an engaging historical murder mystery set in Chinatown, Los Angeles in 1932. The story centers around the murder of a young Chinese American actress, Lulu Wong who has quickly risen to fame in Hollywood by playing a villain. Fearful that her murder will be ignored because she is Chinese, Lulu's old friends, May and Gemma Chow are determined to solve it.
The story is told by May and her younger sister Gemma who have taken over their ailing father's flower business. Lulu's murder is set in 1932, prior to the destruction of Old Chinatown which began in 1933. Old Chinatown and City Market were the two main areas where Chinese Americans lived. The roads were unpaved, with few street lamps and overcrowded housing in Old Chinatown. Many of the children in Old Chinatown played in the playground near the old horse stables featured in Lee's story. But Chinese Americans faced serious racial discrimination and even violence. In Kill Her Twice, Lee refers several times to the Massacre of 1871 in which eighteen Chinese were lynched by a mob after a policeman and civilian were shot during a gang gunfight. It was one of the worst lynchings in American history.
By the 1930's, Chinese could not become American citizens, and they couldn't own land. They also were restricted in where they could live, if not by deeds, by discrimination. Despite this, the Chinese community flourished, running successful businesses, forming associations that helped families, and expanding. At its height, there were restaurants, temples, a Chinese opera, and even a telephone exchange. But as Chinatown expanded it was soon adjacent to where several rail lines met. The city of Los Angeles soon wanted the land Chinatown occupied for a train station that would service three train lines. Eventually most of Chinatown was razed, with the exception of the Garnier Building (also mentioned in the novel). As the Old Chinatown was destroyed, a New Chinatown was eventually created on vacant land owned by the Santa Fe Railway.
In Lee's novel, she imagines the conflict between the Chinese who want to save their homes and community and the businessmen and civic leaders of Los Angeles who want their land for Union Station. It is this conflict that forms the backdrop for Lulu Wong's murder. In Kill Her Twice, Lee has Otis Fox of Fox Cosmetics and head of the Take Back L.A. Committee as the leading advocate for the building of Union Station. He considers Chinatown a den of thieves and wants it demolished.
Gemma and May Wong want to solve Lulu's murder, not only because Lulu was a friend but because they also believe her murder will confirm Otis Fox's view of the Chinese community and fuel the determination to demolish Chinatown. It will also further feed racial discrimination against the Chinese in Los Angeles. They worry that all of these may leave the police unwilling to solve her murder.
May worries that Lulu's death will simply be written off because she's Chinese. May is reluctant to return to the horse lot where Lulu's body lies because . "I didn't want to see Lulu like that again, dehumanized. A victim. It was bad enough that someone had killed her...A second death would come in the form of scandal, her twisted body held up for viewing like some circus sideshow, her fame recast as a cautionary tale. They would kill her twice." Gemma believes that if Lulu's murder isn't quickly solved, people will believe that Chinatown murdered her. She also believes that Otis Fox will use is determined to solve Lulu's murder because "...looking out for Lulu Wong means looking out for Chinatown."
The two sisters work diligently and relentlessly over the week following Lulu's murder to uncover the truth. They boldly attend the Pannychis as flower vendors with the intent on determining whether Otis Fox is attempting to bribe Officer Mallady. Gemma sneaks into the Hall of Justice and manages to take the carbon paper from the autopsy report which ends up providing a significant and surprising clue about Lulu. (Will young readers know what a carbon paper is?) May and Gemma also decide to take the risky chance to audition as Chinese extras only to have May offered a job as an actress to fill in Lulu's part.
However, it's when Gemma and May are recruited by Clifford Joust, head of the grand jury investigating corruption in Los Angeles, to attend a soiree at Otis Fox's home to determine if he has a stolen painting. May's new status as an actress, make attending the soiree a possibility and offers the sisters a chance to investigate the Fox's more closely. If he has the painting, it is proof that he is involved in the corruption. The soiree not only confirms Fox's involvement in shady dealings but leads May directly to Lulu's killer.
Kill Her Twice has many twists and turns. Readers will find themselves suspecting different characters as the story develops as the Chow sisters ask who might have wanted Lulu dead. Lee has crafted two determined, intelligent but distinct heroines in Gemma and May Chow. While May seems to be the more dutiful daughter, it turns out she has her own ideas about her life. Determined not to be forced into a marriage, she suggests to Wallace Moy that they pretend date. She also accepts the offer of Lulu's part, mainly to help support their family as they face the inevitable move from Old Chinatown. Gemma takes the lead in the investigation, showing resourcefulness and courage.. The incident involving Gemma hiding in the coroner's office to obtain the carbon paper of the coroner's report was well done and the novel could have been much improved with more situations like this.
Although we never really meet Lulu in the novel, except in flashbacks, Lee writes in her Author's Note that the character was "loosely inspired by Anna May Wong (1905-1961), considered the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star. Her career was comprised of mostly "stereotypical and frequently villainous roles". Lee also chose to feature "the razing of Los Angele's Old Chinatown in the 1930's because it was the perfect example of the power of publicity to erase a community. Voteless and unable to own land, the Chinese were at the whim of booster literature from newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and tourism brochures, which depicted them favorably or unfavorably, depending on the city's developmental agenda." The Chinese had no say in what would happen to their community when the railroad heads and the city officials battled it out for Union Station.
Fans who enjoy historical murder mysteries will find Kill Her Twice an interesting read that succeeds in portraying this small slice of Chinese American history.
Book Details:
Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 2024
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 2024
390 pp.
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