Review: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Published by Berkley Books on March 2023
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 339
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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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.

I love Vera. I mean, honestly, she is wha made this book of me. Her POV was heartwarming and hilarious. Her character jumped through the page. Vera finds herself to be an amateur sleuth when she finds a dead man in her struggling cafe one morning. Given that her son is ungrateful and rarely texts her back, and that the police are inept and think it’s a freak accident, Vera has to take it upon her self to solve the murder. And she already has a list of suspects to start! 

I love Vera’s attitude. She is a fierce old lady who doesn’t take no for an answer. I laughed out loud a lot of times as Vera pushes her way into the investigation and into each one of the suspect’s hearts. She is menacing in a nosy aunt sort of way, and I love how each character responded to her, and then eventually came to the conclusion we all had – there’s not stopping Vera!

The murder mystery was okay. I thought the ending wrapped everything up nicely and I really hope that somehow, there’s a second Vera book! But the mystery itself wasn’t what propelled me through the story and the big reveal was more okay than earth-shattering. 

Overall, a delightful book and one that I would happily recommend. I really do hope Vera comes back for another mystery. The possibilities are endless.