Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

This light novel from Jesse Q. Sutanto carries a number of important ideas. Raised in southeast Asia, Jesse got her creative writing degree from Oxford (yes, the one in England) and so has the bona fides to bring these cultures together in her books. You'll notice that even the characters in the book come from different cultures with unique foods and customs, but all seem to share the fear of and respect for the formidable "aunties" whether or not they are actually related. 

Here is a plot summary from the publisher, which is pretty accurate. " 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 college-aged 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?"--"

Library Journal praises, " Sutanto excels at creating lovably flawed characters, the mystery has plenty of twists to keep readers guessing, and Vera's case notes at the end of some chapters add humor to the deductive process.... A mystery with warmth, humor, and many descriptions of delicious teas and foods." Publishers Weekly calls it a "stellar mystery" and concludes their review by saying, "The engrossing plot, which is full of laugh out loud humor and heartfelt moments, builds to a satisfying conclusion that will leave readers eager for more Vera. Sutanto has outdone herself with this cozy with substance." Booklist opens their review with this assertion, "Death shouldn't be funny or sweet or heartwarming, except maybe in a new cozy series starring Vera Wong, the widowed owner of San Francisco Chinatown's rather decrepit Vera Wang's World-Famous Teahouse." They go on to add some details of the plot: "when she discovers a corpse on the floor. The police arrive, refuse her amazing tea, barely investigate, and leave. Vera knows she's looking at foul play, no matter what the authorities insist. Of course, she'll solve the case by gathering (and feeding) the most likely suspects--an alleged reporter, a supposed podcaster, the dead man's wife, and his twin brother. Vera's next deadly installment hasn't yet been officially announced, but the success of Sutanto's best-selling Aunties series certainly points to more tales of murder."

It took me a while to warm up to Vera, but I stuck with it because my friend Anne Z. had given me the book. I am glad I did as it is both a good mystery and a warm-hearted story of unexpected friendships.

 

Under the Whispering Door

I picked this up thinking it would be a light read, fantasy about a tea shop that is a way station for the dead on their way to whatever is beyond. But as author TJ Klune says in the opening Author's Note, "This story explore life and love as well as loss and grief. " And it did, indeed, do that, bringing me to tears when I finished it, even though it had a "happy" ending of sorts. 

The premise is that Wallace Price, a thoroughly not nice man and a shark of a lawyer, dies suddenly of a heart attack. The next thing he remembers is sitting at his funeral and seeing only his ex-wife and his ex-partners in the law firm in attendance. And nobody has anything good to say about him. The a young woman he does not recognize, comes up and tells him that she is his Reaper and has been sent to accompany him to meet his assigned Ferryman. Wallace doesn't want to accept he is dead, but is nevertheless whisked away to a distant place he doesn't recognize, a small town in the wooded hills. His Reaper, Mei, takes him to a weirdly built tea shop outside town called Charon's Crossing Tea and Treats, where he meets his Ferryman, Hugo. He also meets Hugo's dead grandfather, Nelson, and Hugo's departed dog, Apollo, who just keep hanging around the tea shop as ghosts to look after Hugo. We can conclude from various clues that Hugo is black and gay, while Mei is of Asian descent. Wallace steadfastly clings to his desire to return to his life for a while but eventually begins to recognize how devoid of meaning it was. When the deadline for his passing through the door on the top floor of the tea house grows nearer, Wallace tries to make up for many things he now wishes had been different and to help others who are struggling with loss. 

Publishers Weekly says, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." Library Journal also offers a positive review, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." And Booklist calls it "is a sweet tale of grief and second chances, and a ghost story about not giving up on even the most lost of souls."

Sweet Tea Revenge

Not hard to guess from the title that this is from Laura Childs' "Tea Shop Mystery" series (#14 to be precise). These are engaging reads for several reasons: they are well written with interesting characters; I love the setting descriptions of Charleston, SC; plots and story trajectory are somewhat predictable but nevertheless sufficiently challenging; they are full of luscious descriptions of teas and food; the recipes for the teas and food follow the text plus a lot of other interesting tea resources.
Delaine Dish, owner of the Cotton Duck boutique and friend of Theo"s, is finally getting married--to a very wealthy man-- and Theodosia is to be the maid of honor. But then the groom turns up dead and Delaine pleads with Theo to find out who killed her future husband.  It could be the long-estranged step-son who has suddenly re-insinuated himself into his step-father's life and law practice, or perhaps the vicious ex-girlfriend, or maybe even Dougan's law partner. In her inimitable fashion, Theo manages to investigate all the leads, help the police, and still keep the Indigo tea shop perking along with help from baker extraordinaire, Haley and tea-master, Drayton.

Tea Shop Mysteries

When I am in the mood for light reading, I often look for another book in Laura Child's Tea Shop Mysteries, which are set in Charleston, SC. Not only do I enjoy the mysteries themselves, but I love the descriptions of the architecture in Charleston, the atmospheric descriptions of the South, the characters, the elaborate descriptions of teas, and the recipes that are included at the end. For my recent trip to Maine, I downloaded Devonshire Scream and Shades of Earl Grey.
In Devonshire Scream (17th in the series, which includes, of course, a recipe for Devonshire cream), a trunk show of high-end estate jewelry is brutally interrupted when a large truck smashes through the front of the store, Heart's Desire, and several masked individuals jump out and smash the glass cases, taking everything in sight. In the process, the niece of the store owner is impaled by a piece of glass and dies. Theodosia agrees to help shop owner and good friend Brooke Crockett find the people who destroyed her business and killed her niece. The FBI is brought in because the thieves are suspected of several  robberies in other states, and Detective Tidwell is on the case locally. But Theodosia has resources none of them have with her inquisitive mind, deep knowledge of Charleston and its people, and her intrepid tea master and fellow sleuth, Drayton. Theodosia's plan to lay a trap at the upcoming Heritage Society event, which will feature a real Faberge egg, almost backfires when tea shop chef Haley is kidnapped, but all comes right in the end.

Theodosia's adopted rescue dog is named Earl Grey, and he is her companion and running partner. Theo and Earl Grey jog around Charleston at night, where she is sure to find possible suspects for the crimes in which she becomes embroiled. This time around, in the 3rd installment of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Shades of Earl Grey, what initially appears to be an accidental death of the groom at an engagement party for Theo's friend Delaine's niece, quickly becomes something more sinister--at least in Theodosia's mind--when the pricey family heirloom engagement ring goes missing. Then a sapphire necklace is stolen from the Heritage Society and Theodosia is hot on the trail of the thief/ murderer.

Ming Tea Murder

I really love this "Tea Shop Mystery" series by Laura Childs. They are like English cozies set in modern day Charleston, S. Carolina. Childs does such a wonderful job of creating the atmosphere of the city, which operates in many ways like a village with gossip and deceit and...of course, murder most foul. This time  the murder occurs at the museum where Theodosia's boyfriend Max is the Publicity Director. It is an invitation only gala to celebrate the museum's purchase of a genuine Chinese tea house from Shanghai, which was purchased in large part through the donations of one particular board member, Roger Webster. He is also the murder victim. In between trying to solve the murder and run her tea shop, Theo is also running in a 5K with her mixed breed dog, Earl Grey, taking over the chairwoman's duties a big Halloween party in the historic district to help out the victim's widow, Charlotte, and setting up a booth at the charity craft market to help out the local service dog organization. Oh, yes and tea shop is hosting several themed "tea's" to celebrate the Halloween holidays and a funeral luncheon.
To complicate matters even more, Max gets fired from his job--the sleazy museum director needs a scapegoat, apparently. On the other hand, perhaps those who seem to be in Max's camp aren't exactly to be trusted either.
Lots of tasty meals are served up at Indigo Tea Shop, all accompanied by tasty tea's, with recipes offered at the end of the book. These books are such a treat on so many levels, and there are a hefty number of them to choose from...this is the 16th in the series! See also my posts on Blood Orange Brewing and Oolong Dead.

Blood Orange Brewing

A totally fluffy book in Laura Childs' "Tea Shop Mysteries" series, as an antidote to reading The Goldfinch. I had read one other book in the series and love the descriptions of the city of Charleston, SC--the architecture and social customs in particular--as well as her lavish descriptions of tea and food. There are always several scrumptious sounding recipes included in the book, much like Diane Mott Davidson's books about caterer Goldy Schulz. In addition to running the Indigo Tea Shop, Theodosia Browning is also an amateur sleuth. She agrees to casually look into things when the husband of Pookie Wilkes is murdered at a candlelight concert to raise money for the Heritage Foundation. Theo stumbles into a secret room in the house where the murder happens, discovers the murder weapon came from the inventory of the Heritage Society, and show up on the scene of a second murder just minutes after the murderer has fled. Apparently someone thinks Theo is getting too close and they dognap her beloved Earl Grey, which only drives Theo to greater efforts to figure out what is going on. The bad guys are caught, Earl Grey is rescued, and lives return to normal.

Oolong Dead

What a totally cosy little mystery, except set in Savannah instead of some quaint English village! This is #10 in Laura Childs' "Tea Shop Mystery Series"http://www.laurachilds.com/teashop.php and Theodosia Browning (yeah, I did think the name was a bit over the top) is suddenly thrown from her steeplechaser when he shies from a jump. The problem turns out to be a dead body--the body of someone Theodosia has had words with, and also the sister of her ex-fiance. Not only is Theo thrown from her horse, but she is also thrown for a loop when the local homicide detective subtly asks for her help in looking into who might have wanted newly promoted TV anchor Abby Davis dead. There are plenty of suspects, the has-been anchor man beat out by Abby, the jilted husband...To top it off, the next day Abby's brother Jory shows up and says the family wants Theo to investigate as well. Theo runs the Indigo Tea Shop in Savannah, hence the name of the series, and apparently has a knack for solving crimes. If this book is any indicator, the series is a total romp and I will look for more when I am in the mood for something light. Plus they have yummy recipes in the back. And this has aroused a powerful urge in me to visit Savannah!.