Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

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.

 

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?

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352 pages

Average rating: 7.51

83 RATINGS

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8 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

WitchyKiki
Nov 12, 2023
10/10 stars
This has got to be the best book Ive read this year.

Thats it, thats the review.
sisterak
Nov 10, 2023
7/10 stars
Vera Wong is a hilarious and likable character, only the book focuses too much on the other characters.
Kmr_quietstorm
Oct 19, 2023
8/10 stars
"She's very proud of her crime scene; it must surely be the most pleasant crime scene the cops have ever been to."

Vera Wong is a sixty year old owner of a tea shop who prides herself in being productive, hospitable, and up-to-date on the social media trends of the younger generations. After she discovers a dead body at her tea shop, Vera sets out to find the killer. Along the way, she becomes the matriarch of a found family composed of the deceased's acquaintances.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is a pleasurable, uplifting novel.
Anonymous
Oct 15, 2023
8/10 stars
Vera Wong discovers a dead man in her tea shop and feels it is up to her to solve the whodunnit.

Strangely enough, this gave me Other Birds vibes; take away the magic, place it in San Francisco, and make it a murder mystery. The piecemeal patchwork group of friends turned family gave it a touch of whimsy that bordered on fateful. The protagonist's voice was quippy and "hip" for her age. An overall very entertaining read.
Rainpatr
Sep 29, 2023
9/10 stars
Adorable tale of murder or maybe not murder in an authentic Chinatown tea shop.

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