Book Recommendation: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice For Murders

I just finished listening to the audio version of this book by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I guess this is what folks refer to as a “cozy mystery.” I really don’t know what that means, but I will tell you that I liked it.

As someone who reads a lot of mysteries, this one kept coming up as a suggestion in my Goodreads feed. Before adding it to my “Want to Read” list, I always read some of the reviews. They were mixed, but the thing that sold me on it was that people said that it made them laugh out loud. So I took a chance on it and loved it.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…

Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.

As I prepared to write this blog, I found out that this book was one that the author’s editor had her rush to write it. They had her put all her other projects on hold and get this book out. According to one review, the book was “sloppily thrown together,” but I never thought that. Another review noticed that the author used a line (or a similar line) twice, which they found annoying. Uh, ok. I never noticed.

I was hooked from the first line of the book:

“Vera Wong was born a rat, but she should have been a rooster-that is according to the characteristics of the signs in the Chinese horoscope!“

I admit to having laughed out loud quite a few times while listening. There were also times where I really felt for some of the characters. Vera certainly is the main character, but the supporting characters were just as important to the story. While there was some predictability to some of the story arcs, I was surprised to find out who the murderer was. I never saw it coming.

I can see the Vera character being one that could easily be a protagonist that could carry a series of stories. Honestly, I hope that is the case. She’s a bit Columbo and a bit Sophia from the Golden Girls. It was a joy to read (listen to).