When a dead body is found in her teashop, main character Vera becomes hellbent on finding the killer at all costs because after all "nobody sniffs out wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands." The plot was ok. But, this wasn't about the story it was all about Vera. Young-at-heart Vera is funny, formidable, interfering, straight-talking and such a brilliant character. As Riki says she is the kind of person who says whatever the hell she wants at any given time and "a strapping young lad like him is no match for the utter force that is Vera Wong". I was racing through the pages to see what she was going to do or say next. One of my favourite quotes was "if you are not killer....I should introduce you to my son" said to one of her suspects. And, not only is Vera a great character but she's supported by a great cast of characters or "suspects" too. This was a unique, easy, funny and throughly entertaining read that I'd totally recommend.

Ooof. Okay. I really want to love these books more than I do and I just get hurt every time.

'Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers' starts off great. Vera is a powerhouse character who finds a dead man in the middle of her failing tea shop one morning. Believing it a murder, she decides to play amateur detective.

As a murder mystery, this book is not great - and it's largely due to the sheer number of perspectives. You see things from the POV of five different characters and for most of them, the prose is made up not of action or clues that could give them a motive to the murder (there's allusions but they're not particularly satisfying) but their thoughts, feelings and history. It's kind of infuriating to read and I was skimming by the time I got halfway through. The mystery didn't feel complex enough to justify more than 350 pages (there was SO MUCH PREAMBLE before we actually got to find out the solution) and I really didn't care about the in-depth back stories of most of these characters. Vera is great and I sort of wish we'd just been able to stay with her and watch her play detective in a far more complicated mystery.

Also - if you genuinely use the word 'stahp' in your prose, that's an immediate ick from me.

I felt a bit cheated by the ending. I didn't see the twist coming - in fact, I didn't see it so badly, it made me wonder if it wasn't quite set up correctly - and it has its benefits but...I just spent 300 pages reading about four characters who ended up being pretty irrelevant to the final conclusion and could have been written so much more suspicious. I felt like I'd wasted my time here.

There are better mysteries, in my opinion. This has some pretty lofty comparison to Knives Out and Richard Osman - and the thing those have over this is a streamlined narrator. Vera could have been Benoit Blanc, if only we'd actually just stuck with her. I'm not even sure the title's particularly apt - she only gets to do actual sleuthing for a small proportion of the book and she doesn't actually give any advice?? Like?? None of this makes sense, I need to stop writing before I bump it down a star.

This book has everything to please. A crime? Check? Tea? Check? Cool characters? Check. Original and well written story? Check.

What an absolute joy this was! I enjoyed every single page of it and never wanted it to finish. Vera is such a wonderful character and we all need someone like her in our lives (I’m sure she should have been 75ish and not 60 though). I laughed out loud many times, and I loved the relationship between Vera and little Emma. The plot was great and everything worked out neatly in the end. What I especially liked was that all the characters (apart from the dead one) learned a lot about themselves and became better people by the end of the story. A really delightful book that I’ll definitely be reading again. There just has to be a sequel, please! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

How can you resist a book with such a quirky title. I didn't know what to expect from the story but wow! it gave me everything. This book is a complex mix of a mystery story, a romance, a feel good story and so much more. Full of humour and characters that you cannot fail to love. I found it a light, fast-paced read. The mystery element had plenty of twists and surprises. Highly recommended.

I dont think I've ever loved a protagonist as much as I love Vera Wong. A sixty year old widow who runs a tea shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, Vera is shocked (and secretly overjoyed) to be involved in a murder investigation when a dead body is found lying on the floor of her tea shop.
Vera as a character is hilarious. Such a busy body, her interjections and "help" as she likes to call it are just hindering the police. So many times I laughed out loud while reading the book, but at the same time I was so touched by the connections Vera makes and the person that she is.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club series, The Marlow Murder series and any book with an endearing character who lives on in your hear long after the book has finished.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a feel good murder mystery centering around a bored old woman and unexpectedly finds a group of people to call family. This book is ridiculous at times which is expected and this is another book you need to lookout for Jesse's latest book as it has humour, comfort and an unexpected murderer.

This book is fun, unexpected and really wholesome. The found family which are basically the suspects behind the murder of Marshall and its really so comforting and how they slowly heal from the wounds that have been festering inside. It was like the closure they desperately needed and found people they can rely on.

Vera is just like those nosy aunties and is always up to everyone's business. She does have the potential to be a detective and it's kind of sad actually that she's just a lonely old woman seeking a constant company to talk and care for.

I like the ending. It was very well wrapped up. I absolutely didn't expect who the murderer turned out to be. The pace of the story is just nice and wasn't so thrilling which is actually lovely for a change.

All in all, this was a good read and reading a book by this author is always such a delight. I highly recommend you to read this story with a promising premise and interesting characters.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this book up, I just knew that the title was fascinating to me, and I wasn't wrong.

Vera Wong is an intriguing character, though sometimes I did think that she was much older than she was meant to be. The book says she's 60 and then gives her some of the characteristics of a 70-80+-year-old, which, as someone who is nearly 50 can tell you, makes us feel older!

Discovering a dead body in her 'world famous' tea shop sends the lonely woman on a journey she will never forget and introduces us to such a vast array of characters I have already recommended this book to friends

By far my favourite relationship that comes out of this book is between Vera and Emma. The way that Vera just barges into the home of our murder victim and starts to make herself a place in their little family initially is "okay...do people do this" and then becomes "this is the best thing that ever happened to any of them".

Having been ignored for years by her high-flying lawyer son, Tilly, in searching for a murderer amongst her new friends, she finds herself a group of people who actually need her help and want to spend time with her.

This book made me laugh, and cry in turn. The development of relationships was beautifully written and I loved the way that all the characters became better for being in each others' lives.

A definite must-read for cosy mystery fans.

A quirky and enjoyable read that I read over a couple of days. Vera is a likeable character. She’s reached sixty so has no problem saying what she means and seems to get away with it. She’s feisty and full of fire and makes a great lead character. Overall o found the novel to be enjoyable though a little slow going in places. Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and the author for the chance to review.

Such a fun brilliant engaging book.
Vera is the Chinese Grandma we all should want.
She’s nosy, funny, kind, self deprecating, brutally honest and such a good cook.
The book was a real good yarn, I loved the characters and I’ve never been more happy to dislike a murdered man. Each character in the book had real depth and feelings. The way they all linked in together was compelling and finding out the murderer at the end made such sense. There was lots of joy in this book and I really enjoyed it.
Thankyou netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in return for a fair review,

Jesse Sutanto's writing is very enjoyable. Her characters are totally believable, and I appreciate the humour and understanding of the human condition which goes into every novel.

Vera Wong is a delight, a widowed Chinese lady whose son has little time for her, running a business which has seen better days. Vera has a strict routine which sees her through her days, until one morning she finds a dead body on the floor of her tea shop. Thoroughly unimpressed with the police response, Vera decides to investigate!

With a wonderful cast of supporting characters that get swept up in Vera's wake we move forward with her investigation.

Oh my heart. Now let’s talk Vera. When you first meet her, you may hate her. She may annoy you with her brunt and upfront ways. She’s so non nonsense and will not take bull of anyone. She has her own regimented way of doing things and all the ‘Young people’ are lazy, undisciplined and sleeping their lives away. She is a woman who gets up early and seizes the day. She drives for perfection. How could you possibly like a character like her? Well let me tell you, she will capture your heart and you will find that you will die for Vera!

Which is much the same experience as the characters in this book had. When Marshall Chen unceremoniously dies in her ‘world famous’ tea shop, dissatisfied with the lack lustre response from the police, Vera is convinced she can do a better job herself. So she embarks on a mission in amateur sleuthing and begins to assemble all the possible suspects.

We have Oliver, the twin brother, Emma and Julia (daughter and spouse of the victim), Riki and Sana. All of these characters are unexpectedly thrown together and forced to face Vera. Who is a true force to be reckoned with. But they find her upfront nature rather refreshing and all seem to begin finding holes in their lives which Vera quickly inhabits. Whether she’s barging round to their house and offering them a plethora of lovingly home cooked food whilst she grills them about whether they murdered Marshall or not, or seems to be sticking her nose in everywhere to get to the bottom of things.

By this point I’ve totally fallen in love with Vera and want to head off to her tea shop myself.

I loved all the characters and their interweaving stories too. The book flew by and near the end, I didn’t want it to finish. Now I’m fervently hoping for another one in this series as I haven’t had enough Vera in my life yet.

4.5/5 stars! This book was hilarious. I don't know how the author managed to combine a murder mystery with so much humor, but they did an excellent job. I chuckled my way through Vera stealing away a key piece of evidence and chortled through her detective tactics. A truly enjoyable and silly mystery novel.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I can’t tell you how much I loved this book. Which I guess makes reviewing it tricky but I’ll try…

Vera Wong is getting on in years*, feeling abandoned by her only child, and struggling to keep her tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown going without customers. So when a dead body turns up in her shop, she grabs the opportunity to liven up her life by investigating. Along the way she meets a ragtag bunch of strangers - who all happen to be the main suspects in the death - and, as is the way with cosy crime, everything works out neatly in the end.

That summary, however, seems to diminish the real emotional impact of this book. Each character was believably flawed, makes stupid decisions, yet I was cheering them all on throughout. Altogether a delightful read, sure to be enjoyed by fans of Richard Osman’s Murder Club series.

* v annoying though that both Vera and other characters kept referring to her as an frail old woman: she was only 60!!

Deliciously Eccentric..
Vera Wong, tea expert extraordinaire and tea shop owner, likes her life in order so when she discovers a deceased male on her premises one morning she knows that she needs to take charge. She starts by preparing an outline of the body for the police - well, of course she does - then she makes tea, although not before procuring a, perhaps, vital piece of evidence. After all, Vera knows full well that the police are probably not up to the job of investigating what she considers to be a murder. As Vera delights in her new self imposed role as chief investigator she collects ‘suspects’ who are soon to become her new family. Utterly delightful from start to finish with a deliciously eccentric protagonist in Vera, a colourful, well drawn supporting cast of characters and a fun and frothy plot laced with humour and empathy.

Since I LOVED Dial A for Aunties and Four Aunties and Wedding, I was super excited to have the chance to read this, and what fun it was.

I truly think that Jesse’s superpower is creating characters who are simultaneously incredibly annoying yet somehow unbelievably lovable. From the moment Vera is introduced, you’re rooting for her. She’s this hilarious, smart, kind of arrogant, chaotically confident woman who entirely derails a police investigation and makes a family along the way.

As a huge fan of the found family trope, this was right up my street. The supporting cast of characters is diverse and each is fully formed, with their own goals and desires and personalities.

I flew through this book and enjoyed it from start to finish. My one gripe was how everyone, including Vera herself, referred to Vera as a little old lady when she’s only 60 years old! I was picturing her as about 80 and had to keep reminding myself that she’s actually a couple of years younger than my dad - maybe being an old lady is a state of mind. 😂

I’d recommend this to any cosy crime fan!

I’ve never read from this author before but I loved the sound of the synopsis of this one. I really like when books have characters from totally different age groups and Vera was so sassy and likeable that it was hard not to be immersed in the story. A great cozy mystery which would definitely encourage me to read from this author again.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really found the authors previous books funny if not a little silly and bonkers but I liked the characters and the slight crazy rich Asian feeling to her writing. I had high hopes with the book given am massive cosy crime fan, I could read Agatha Christie all day every day again and again, and I love the Asian tiger mum type characters. This book am afraid to say let me down Vera is a good character with lots of heart but she is too much. As is this story it’s as daft as Dial A but lacks something for me. I did enjoy the Poirot style ending and some of the quirky wit but I did found myself skipping parts to get to the end quickly. If you can put aside the utterly outrageous parts you will enjoy this but for me it just didn’t work. And while the crazy rich Asian feel was there it’s was very much a poor comparison, the humour was daft rather than subtle clever satire.
Good effort but I like more from cosy crime.
Sure fans of the author will love it
It is a easy quick read if you are looking for a sweet Boa Bun with a sweet jasmine tea for your brain this is for you

Vera Wong, Chinese mother and owner of a teahouse which only has one customer.

She comes down one morning to find something very unexpected indeed. And four new customers turn up separately...

An absolutely superb tale of different generations, races, and class - and a corpse!

I loved, loved, loved this story! I couldn’t put it down! I’ve never read a murder mystery that was so funny and heartwarming, whilst still retaining the investigative edge. I fell in love with Vera, and sincerely hope the author is already writing a follow up to this book, as i genuinely felt this was the best book I’ve read in quite a while. 10/10 I’d wholeheartedly recommend to everyone