Holidays have been more bitter than sweet for night market stall owner Yale Yee since the untimely death of her mother. She’s quietly relieved when the Asian American Restaurant Owners Association of her area decides to hold their next dinner meeting on Thanksgiving, giving her a chance to stay busy in a crowd instead of dwelling on her memories. While not yet a member of the organization herself, she’s happy to help her beloved restaurateur dad get everything set up at Ho’s, the Taiwanese restaurant selected for the occasion. Ho’s also happens to belong to Yale’s lifelong frenemy, Nik Ho, and his much less aggravating—to her, at least—mother.

While Yale feels most comfortable helping in the kitchen, her cousin and roommate, Celine, is thrilled to help decorate the premises. She uses her keen eye as a social media influencer to compose the most delightfully Instagramable scenes. Despite some squabbling over memberships and leadership positions, the assembled restaurant owners soon settle down to enjoy a companionable hot pot meal—until association president Jeffrey Vue attempts to plug in another appliance and is fatally electrocuted in the process.

Detective Greyson Strauss—who the Yee cousins had a run-in with earlier in the year—is called to the scene and immediately suspects foul play. Yale has a hard time believing that anyone would want to kill the affable-if-somewhat-controlling Jeffrey. But as association politics come to the forefront and kindly Mrs. Ho becomes prime suspect, Yale must set aside her own disbelief and figure out who could possibly resort to such drastic measures to get rid of their fellow restaurateur.

Complicating matters is the arrival of Celine’s parents, who want her to come back with them to Hong Kong. Celine chafes at being merely the mascot for her parents’ various hospitality endeavors and feels like she’s finally carving out an independent life for herself while visiting with Yale. Will Yale be able to help her cousin with this dilemma even as they strive to clear Mrs. Ho’s name and bring the real killer to justice?

This second installment of the LA Night Market Mystery series is even more charming than the first! I adore Celine and Yale’s relationship and love how they bring out the best in each other. It was also nice to see Yale start to take steps toward reconciling herself to her mother’s death and the role she thinks she played in it. It’s a little weird that she’s willing to throw out so many of her good memories with the bad, but I’m glad that she’s starting to make real and healthy progress.

There was a tasty chai recipe included at the back of this volume, along with this recipe for scallion pancakes and dipping sauce:

Scallion Pancakes

(serves four)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

¾ cup water plus 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons sesame oil

5 scallions, chopped

Sesame seeds, toasted (as desired)

Oil to cook with (I used avocado oil)

Instructions

Cover a cutting board with clear plastic wrap.

Combine the flour and the ¾ cup water to form a dough.

Whisk together the 2 tablespoons water and the sesame oil in a small bowl.

Separate the dough into 4 balls. While holding a ball in the palm of your hand, brush it with the oil mixture to coat the ball evenly.

Flatten the ball into a disk on the cutting board.

Flatten the disk into a pancake approximately 6 inches in diameter, and sprinkle on scallions and sesame seeds.

Fold the dough onto itself so the scallions and sesame seeds are on the inside.

Flatten the dough into a pancake again. Repeat for all the dough balls.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to a skillet over medium heat. Cook the pancakes for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Dipping Sauce (Optional)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Pinch of chili pepper flakes

Instructions

Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper flakes until well combined.

Serve in a small bowl with the pancakes.

There are several dishes that my husband is entrusted with preparing instead of me on a day-to-day basis, and one of them is pancakes. I’m notoriously terrible at making them and was mortified to discover that this propensity extends to scallion pancakes as well.

This recipe is quite simple to follow, but I don’t think I flattened my pancakes thinly enough for frying. I also probably kept them on the skillet for too long, as the scallions of my last two were far closer to charred than was optimally delicious.

I’m excellent at making dipping sauces, though, and this one came out perfectly! The sauce adds a burst of salty, sour, and spicy flavor to the mild pancakes. I highly recommend making it as a flavorful accompaniment.

Next week, we travel to my neck of the woods to whip up a wonderful seafood salad while sorting through a socialite family’s potentially murderous secrets. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Murder with Earl Grey Tea by Karen Rose Smith