REVIEW: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) (A Vera Wong Novel) by Jesse Q Sutanto

JayneB+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsChinese-American MCs / found family / immigrants / murder mystery / older characters / POC / POC author / social media2 Comments

Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…

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 trove: 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 all: 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.

CW – abuse

Dear Ms. Sutanto, 

I was hoping there would be a follow up to Vera Wong’s first murder mystery and here it is. Vera is her usual Chinese motherly self, urging her son and (hopefully) soon to be daughter-in-law to get married and give her grandbabies, dishing out the appropriate tea for anyone in need, and holding her own in her “who’s the best Chinese mother/business owner” contest with her next door neighbor while she longs for something to keep her busy. Soon Vera has it.

In the first book, Vera soon gathered together a group of potential suspects to a murder while also nosing into their lives, cooking them fantastic, authentic Chinese food, and one by one eliminating them as murderers. This time Vera gathers together a group of potential persons-of-interest with knowledge of a murder victim while also nosing into their lives, cooking them fantastic, authentic Chinese food, and one by one helping them overcome issues each is facing. Vera just likes to fix people.

A young woman reluctantly tells Vera about her missing friend and when Vera accidentally — okay, on purpose – looks in Selena’s (hopeful DIL who is also a police officer with the SFPD) briefcase and sees a photo in file about a probable suicide victim that matches that of the young woman’s friend, she knows something isn’t right. Vera might not be the best at social media (she’s learning!) but she can suss out the people who posed with the missing man or is listed as his agent. Things aren’t, as they say, adding up. 

Vera knows that no one is as good as a Chinese mother as sniffing out when someone is hiding something. When her social media videos about tea making – which also include Vera’s voice-overs about the missing man – go viral and her shop gets targeted again, she knows she’s onto something. Vague assurances to her son, (hopeful DIL) Selena, old friends, and new ones to stay out of trouble are, of course, ignored. This is Vera, after all. 

The truth of what is going on and how these online people are connected with the missing man spins out over the course of the book, though dark clouds begin to loom fairly early on. It’s clear that something sinister is and has happened. What else is clear to Vera is that the people involved with Xander Lin are lonely and/or in need of help. That is something Vera’s an expert on. Soon she’s got them rounded up, adopted as grand/children, and fed. Poking her nose in their business comes with the food but Vera is the person you want on your side, fixing your problems. And once again, Vera and Friends will crack the case, solve what needs solving, help those in need, and eat some fabulous sounding food. I want Vera to adopt me please. B+       

~Jayne   

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