Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murders - Mystery Review

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

Rating:  Loved It! (5 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description: Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady--ah, lady of a certain age--who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn't know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would 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 knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.

What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  The premise sounded interesting and I do love a cozy with quirky characters.

My Impression: I loved this book.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in and in the first few pages.  Vera is a force of nature in the absolute strongest sense of the word.  Her morning routine included waking up at 4:30AM and promptly texting her (adult) son, Tilly, because he should be awake already.  I felt much sympathy for Tilly for the first part of the book because Vera is quite convinced of just the way she thinks things should be and sees no reason to pull her punches.  

When a body is found in Vera's teashop her life suddenly expands.  First by her plunging into the investigation ( the part with the body outline still makes me giggle thinking about it) and then by the introduction of 4 characters and a little girl.  As the story went on I absolutely fell in love with Vera and the rest of her world (except for Winifred and her fake French bakery even if her pastries are good).  Vera could have easily been made to be ridiculous but the author infuses her with the perfect balance of drive and heart that I couldn't help but love her.  

This wasn't the most restful book as Vera frequently made me feel like I needed to get up and call my mother or bring my father groceries but I enjoyed it from beginning to end.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  I am looking forward to reading more from this author.  

Would I Recommend this Book?  Yes!  Even if you aren't the biggest mystery fan I think you'd enjoy this book.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *