Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto was the March pick for The Literally Dead Bookclub. I borrowed a copy from the library. Sutanto is also the author of Dial A For Aunties, The Obsession, The New Girl, and more.
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“A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.“
About The Book 📚
Title: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publication Date: March 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Cozy Mystery
Tropes: amateur sleuth (but don’t tell Vera I said that), nosy neighbour, specific interest (tea and food)
Pages: 339
Content Warnings: emotional abuse, profanity, murder
About The Author
“Jesse Q Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Jakarta and Singapore and sees both cities as her homes. She has a Masters degree from Oxford University, though she has yet to figure out a way of saying that without sounding obnoxious. She is currently living back in Jakarta on the same street as her parents and about seven hundred meddlesome aunties. When she’s not tearing out her hair over her latest WIP, she spends her time baking and playing FPS games. Oh, and also being a mom to her two kids.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19278992.Jesse_Q_Sutanto
My Review
“People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often.”
› In an interview, Sutanto admitted SHE is the visor-wearing person who knows exactly how many steps her daily walk is. hahaha Other parts of Vera’s character are inspired by Sutanto’s parents. I admit, I didn’t have high hopes for this book when I saw the cover. I don’t normally enjoy cozy mysteries, so I wasn’t looking forward to reading this book and I would have never picked it up were it not for The Literally Dead Bookclub. I’m SO GLAD this was chosen because now I want to read everything Sutanto writes. This story had me laughing out loud so many times. It was such a good time.
› Blurb:
“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.“
› Vera Wong believes in seizing the day by waking up at 4:30 am. Her son Tilbert is grown and moved out, but don’t worry, he receives many unsolicited text messages from Vera helping him with all kinds of problems. She also makes sure to keep him very inspired to find a wife.
“I am mother too. Actually, I am Chinese mother. You can’t get better than that. We raise the best children in the world, you just look at any hospital, all the surgeon are Chinese.” Vera beams with pride, as though she has personally been responsible for all the surgeons in every hospital.”
› Vera is the owner of Vera Wang’s World-Famous Tea Shop in San Francisco’s China Town. Sadly, other people don’t realize just how world famous this tea shop is, and so she doesn’t have many customers.
› She has the same daily routine. Wake up early, goes for a walk, takes a shower, texts her son a reminder to look for a wife, and opens the shop. One day, when she goes downstairs to open the shop she finds the body of a dead man. The police quickly conclude that this man, Marshall, died from natural causes. Knowing the police are not taking this murder seriously she decides to help them out and start her investigation. Vera knows the first rule is the suspect always returns to the scene of the crime…and it doesn’t take long for a few strangers to show up at the tea shop asking questions about Marshall.
Julia: Marshall’s widow. Has a two-year-old daughter named Emma.
Oliver: Marshall’s twin brother.
Rikki: claims to be a journalist.
Sana: claims to be a podcast host.
“Generations of Chinese mothers have perfected the art of sniffing out guilt, and Vera can practically see waves of guilt churning out of the young people gathered before her.”
› Vera inserts herself into their lives, bringing them together for a dinner where she makes fantastic food and announces one of them must be the killer, and she’s going to figure out who killed Marshall.
› Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is told in the third person from multiple perspectives. I laughed so many times and loved all of the details of the tea-making and the foods Vera cooked for the suspects. Wouldn’t it be great to have a recipe book written by Vera? Vera has won me over. I loved this story and I must purchase a copy to read whenever I need a pick-me-up. I truly hope Sutanto decides to write a series of books featuring Vera Wong.
› In the past I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.
› Final Thoughts
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is a light-hearted and memorable cozy mystery about found-family that reminded me of Knives Out. Harpo (Mindy Kaling & Oprah) has announced they are developing a tv show adaptation.
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