Review by Karl Verhoven

Chu is deliberately titled to distinguish it from Chew, as this isn’t a continuation of police detective Tony Chu’s police work, although he played a part in The First Course. Instead it’s a focus on his sister Saffron, a career criminal. She served a jail term for her crimes, but she has a food related power. If she sits beside someone eating the same food at the same time, she picks up what they know. In jail she ate next to criminals with all kinds of specialities, meaning she’s also become an expert and she intends to put those skills to good use.

We pick up with Saffron on a cruise accompanied by wastepail boyfriend Eddie, and her grandfather, once a feared criminal, but now confined to a wheelchair and largely incommunicative. However, Saffron and Eddie live in hope of discovering where the Nazi gold he stole sunk at sea. In the meantime, they’re fleecing fellow passengers.

While funny in places with food-related powers playing a part, Layman isn’t repeating Chew, but supplying a confidently plotted crime caper with ridiculous moments. Additionally, more so than in The First Course, Dan Boultwood supplies his own form of cartooning. It’s polished and confident, highlighting the personalities, exaggerating the action and filling the locations with background detail (and jokes). Also noteworthy is smart repeated use of a scene from a faked classic painting.

Following the refined formula, Layman sets up the perfect crime, then reveals why it’s not so perfect after all. In fact before the finer points are announced he reveals “Spoiler: has it been mentioned that everything tonight does not go perfectly?”, so raising the anticipation of chaos. Except that’s no more the main plot than escapades on the cruise ship.

Don’t be fooled by what seems a rapid ending that doesn’t entirely wrap everything up. Turn the page for more. This isn’t Chew, it’s Chu, and (She) Drunk History is a fun, entertaining and unpredictable page turner. The door has been left open for a continuation, but as yet it’s not happened.