Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I absolutely loved the first book so of course I need to pick up the second book!

My Impression:  I don't know if I want to have a Vera in my life or if I absolutely don't!  I both adore her and am terrified her but I always enjoy time spent in Vera's world.  Her absolute confidence in herself and her meddling ways are so fun and I think I would be okay with it if I could have a helping of whatever delicious meal she's cooking up.  

Things have settled down from the previous adventure but Vera is getting a bit restless.  Soon though she stumbles into another murder investigation and into the world of social media.  Vera's investigation into the death of a young influencer brings her into contact with the man's social circle and they are pulled into Vera's world whether they like it or not.  I loved the reactions of the characters from the previous books as they realize what's happenings and it's always entertaining to watch someone encounter Vera for the first time.   

While I enjoyed this both for the fantastic found family aspect and for the mystery itself it wasn't quite as wonderful as the first book.  There's some repetitiveness that drug the plot down a bit.  I got that all the characters were hiding something but there's a lot of handwringing with no progress in revealing those secrets for a bit too long.   Despite the slower moving plot I do love the found family aspect of this book and I can't help but enjoy anytime Vera is on the page.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course!  While I don't think this was quite as magical as the first book I did really enjoy it and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Would I Recommend this Book? I would - though if you haven't read the first book you do really need to pick that one up before starting this one.

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