Black Water Sister, by Zen Cho

After her family falls on hard times, Harvard educated Jess finds herself back in Malaysia living with her parents in the Penang home of her uncle and aunt. There she encounters the ghost of her recently deceased grandmother, who cannot pass to her next life until she sorts out a few things. Unfortunately she wants to use Jess’s body to do the sorting, which brings her into conflict with the fifth richest man in Malaysia and a particularly violent goddess. Jess has her own issues to deal with, such as finding a job and concealing her sexuality from her family, so she really doesn’t need the hassle of vengeful gangsters and clashing religions. Can she appease the gods, lay her grandmother’s ghost to rest and stay alive without upsetting her parents? Well no. This is a wild ride of a novel, combining the supernatural and genuine suspense with a cultural and generational divide to give a fascinating insight into modern and historic Malaysia. The vivid language and sometimes brutal action animate an unusual coming-of-age story with an appealing heroine.