Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Starred review from January 1, 2023

In Sutanto's (Dial A for Aunties) latest, a lonely but resilient tea shop owner tries to solve a murder. Vera Wong's tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown may have lost most of its customers and her Gen-Z son rarely returns her texts, but she manages to thrive on her own. After finding a dead body in her tea shop and stealing a piece of evidence from the crime scene, Vera uses her detective skills to try to solve the murder. Using tea and home-cooked meals, Vera draws close her four suspects. Each of them has a secret that connects them to the victim and might tear their newfound family apart. Sutanto excels at creating lovably flawed characters, the mystery has plenty of twists to keep readers guessing, and Vera's case notes at the end of some chapters add humor to the deductive process. VERDICT A mystery with warmth, humor, and many descriptions of delicious teas and foods. Recommended for fans of Sutanto and of character-driven cozy mysteries.--Tristan Draper

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2023
Death shouldn't be funny or sweet or heartwarming, except maybe in a new cozy series starring Vera Wong, the widowed owner of San Francisco Chinatown's rather decrepit Vera Wang's World-Famous Teahouse. That titular typo is actually intentional, meant to suggest "a very famous person, even white people know her name." At 60, Vera's settled into specific routines: up at 4:30 am ("late mornings are only for toddlers and Europeans"), wash, walk, text her silent son, home, cold shower, breakfast, open shop downstairs, wait for (her very few) customers. Disruption arrives one morning when she discovers a corpse on the floor. The police arrive, refuse her amazing tea, barely investigate, and leave. Vera knows she's looking at foul play, no matter what the authorities insist. Of course, she'll solve the case by gathering (and feeding) the most likely suspects--an alleged reporter, a supposed podcaster, the dead man's wife, and his twin brother. Vera's next deadly installment hasn't yet been officially announced, but the success of Sutanto's best-selling Aunties series certainly points to more tales of murder.

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Starred review from February 20, 2023
At the start of this stellar mystery from Sutanto (Dial A for Aunties), 60-year-old, strong-willed widow Vera Wong discovers a body with a flash drive in its hand in her tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Vera contacts the police, but confident she can do a better job at pinpointing the murderer, she snatches the flash drive before their arrival. The authorities identify the victim as 29-year-old Marshall Chen and determine he died from an allergy attack. Convinced the death was no accident, Vera is thrilled to delve into detective work when a handful of people who knew Marshall come into her shop looking for information. The eclectic group includes Marshall’s widow, his twin brother, a reporter for Buzzfeed, and the host of a true crime podcast. Seeing them as potential suspects, Vera lures them with her distinctive teas and cooking, developing genuine friendships with each one, but also easily able to sniff out their lies. The engrossing plot, which is full of laugh out loud humor and heartfelt moments, builds to a satisfying conclusion that will leave readers eager for more Vera. Sutanto has outdone herself with this cozy with substance. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary.