I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this book the mystery was very interesting, and the characters are very likable. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

The Noodle Shop mysteries are one of my absolute favorite cozy mystery series. Lana, Adam, Megan, and Peter are a great group to follow as they inevitably get caught up in murder scenarios. I love the ambiance of Ho-Lee Noodles and Asia Village. I really like how real the characters are. A perfect series to binge!

I absolutely love a good cozy mystery series, and the Noodleshop Mysteries are just so darn good! I sat and read all of the books in the series in less than two weeks, that's how much I loved them! I absolutely adore Lana and I love how all of the characters interact with each other. This is such a cute series and I will be sure to recommend it to my customers!

I am really enjoying this series. Lana Lee is fun as the manager of her family's noodle house who always ends up solving murders. In this installment, she takes an Asian cooking class at the local learning center (outside Cleveland), when she finds her instructor dead after a class. The police think she and the janitor killed the instructor, despite them having no motive. So she sets off to investigate to clear her name.

Lana is joyfully quirky without being comical or silly. She is surrounded by her family and a host of interesting characters at Asian Village, where the noodle house is located. I started this series with the sixth book (this is the seventh) and I plan to go back and read the previous books. This is one series you can hop into in the middle without missing out on too much.

Vivian Chien's plots are twisty without being absurd. I usually crack it about 3/4 of the way through, but this one was a little trickier. Even if you do figure it out, it's a fun ride to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the electronic review copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 stars

Full review to come on Instagram and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I love this series and this is a great addition. It’s like visiting old friends. I love the characters and the writing style. It was a quick, light, fun read and I would definitely recommend this book and the entire series to anyone who likes cozies.

Fatal Fried Rice was another great addition to the Noodle Shop Mystery series. I read this one a while ago and just realized that I never posted a review, so I read it again in anticipation of the next book in the series. It was great to meet up again with Lana and her friends and family from Asia Village and the Ho-Lee Noodle House. Lana decides it is time to learn how to cook Chinese food and does not want her family to know. But there is no keeping the secret when she discovers her class instructor murdered.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a cozy mystery, and this is the 7th book in A Noodle Shop Mystery series. I have not read the first six books in this series. I have to say I was pulled into this book from the beginning, so I do not think you have to read the first six books in this series before reading this book. I loved the mystery in this book. The characters where fun and very well done. I loved this book, and I did not want to put it down once I picked it up. This is a book with food, but it is more about the mystery which is what I want to a cozy mystery book. I will have to check out some of the other books in this book series. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) or author (Vivien Chien) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I loved the idea of fatal fried rice, the cover drew me in and I'm glad I read this. It was a great mystery read with interesting characters.

Preface: this is one of my favorite cozy mystery series (if not THE favorite), so I'm coming at this review from that POV, comparing it to the others as a fan of the series.

When Lana's sister teases her for managing a Chinese restaurant, but not knowing how to make Chinese food, she decides to take a course a the local community college. But on the night of the first class, she realizes she forgot something, returns to the classroom, only to find her teacher face down in the fried rice wok. So once again, Lana finds herself knee-deep in another murder mystery, especially since she is the primary suspect, according to the investigating detective.

This book was particularly good because I think it showed a lot of the characters' emotional ranges: we saw different sides of Megan, Kimmy Tran, Anna May, for example. Each became more human and really came into their own in this book, at least in subtle ways, IMO. I have also warmed up to Lana and Adam's relationship more. I'm still being "sold" on the whole idea, but this book is getting me there. It showed a more tender side of Adam and I enjoyed that, rather than the all-business side we usually get.

The central mystery was really good too. There's plenty of suspects and motives all around to keep readers on their toes, so it never got boring and I did not have things figured out until they were revealed. There were plenty of twists and turns in there to keep things moving!

Overall, it's a great addition to a great series. If you're not reading the Noodle Shop mystery series, you're really missing out, as a fan of cozy mysteries. It's got heart, mystery, a genuine laughs.

This is such a fun cozy series. Full of interesting characters and a well written storyline, it's simply too delightful not to enjoy. If you enjoy smart protagonists, likable characters and a well written book this series is for you.

Vivien Chien us one of my favorite new writers! I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Ms. Chien writes a solid story and I really enjoy the rapport between the characters. Her sense of humor shines through!

This is the 7th book in one of my favorite cozy mystery series! This book was another fun addition to this series. One of the reasons that I love this series so much is the characters. Lana always finds herself in the middle of things (like yet another murder investigation) and her friends and family always end up helping her out. I particularly am a fan of her best friend/roommate who always encourages Lana to investigate even when she doesn't want to. This book was particularly fun because the majority of the book was set at the local community college where Lana was taking cooking classes. I just thought that it made the mystery and book feel fresh. These books always make me hungry while reading them and this book was no exception. I really can't say too much more - at seven books in I don't want to spoil anything that has happened in previous books. This is just a series that you should definitely pick up - you don't have to read them in order. It will just enhance your overall reading experience if you do start at the beginning. Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries, those who enjoy books that feature food, and those readers who enjoy just fun reads definitely need to give this series a try. Recommended!

Bottom Line: Another fun addition to one of my favorite cozy mystery series!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. Honest thoughts are my own.

Chien has wisely chosen to expand her Cleveland setting by sending Lana to Chinese cooking classes. As reader's of this series know, Lana is an excellent manager for the family restaurant. But she can not cook beyond making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She decides to correct this by going to Chinese cooking classes at a local night school. Of course her first class is a disaster, made especially bad by finding another dead body. This time it is the class instructor. Of course Lana feels the need to investigate. Now that her relationship with Detective Trudeau is on solid footing, she feels ready to proceed without as much angst. I am a seasoned mystery reader, and thus the perpetrator seemed fairly obvious. However finding who did it is not where the fun is. It is found in Lana's interviews with the many possible suspects. This is a very quick read, and does well as a stand alone. Minimum violence and a quick paced plot make this suitable for YA through senior readers.

Recommended

Full disclosure: I receive this ARC in exchange for and unbiased review.

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien is the seventh book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series. Lana is doing well as manager of her family's noodle shop. Cooking is the one area that alludes her. She decides to take an Asian cooking course and surprise her family. On the first night while returning to get her ingredient list, she finds the body of her cooking instructor instead. Even worse she becomes the main suspect in the case. I have read this series from the beginning, and it is one of my favorites. This book would not be as good without the previous ones. The mystery kept me going back and forth between suspects. I do adore Lana and her friend Kimmy. I look forward to the next book.

The Noodle Shop mystery series is my all-time favorite cozy mystery series. I love every single addition from the characters to the mystery. I enjoy Chien's writing style and her ability to create fully fleshed-out characters. Plus, this series will make you laugh out loud on occasion and that is a win for me.

FATAL FRIED RICE by Vivien Chien
The Seventh Noodle Shop Mystery

Lana Lee may manage the Ho-Lee Noodle House, but that doesn't mean she can cook Chinese food. Wanting to prove herself, Lana quietly enrolls in a Chinese cooking class hoping to impress her family and boyfriend. Bonding over similar family issues, Margo Han, the instructor, even agrees to provide Lana with extra one on one classes once the course concludes. Lana is riding high, until she returns to pick up the ingredient list she forgot. Instead of a list of supplies, she finds Margo lying on the floor, dead. The detective in charge finds her suspicious, not helpful, so once again Lana is taking out her trusty notebook and starting her own investigation.

The seventh Noodle Shop Mystery still has me laughing with and rooting for Lana Lee. I love how she tries to improve herself...even if she is primarily doing it to get back at her sister. Kimmy is a trip and I definitely have a soft spot for Lana's grandmother.

The actual mystery in FATAL FRIED RICE is unique in that it's not one Lana would usually get involved with. She just met the victim the night of the murder and if it wasn't for her innate curiosity and the fact that the detective in charge seems determined to believe she's a viable suspect, this could have been one murder she didn't investigate. I appreciate Lana's method to find a killer and got quite a kick at how she avoided shopping with her mother and grandmother. While I was suspicious of all of the new characters this complicated mystery had me surprised by the penultimate reveal.

FATAL FRIED RICE serves up a delightfully delicious mystery steeped in flavors any foodie or crime fiction lover will enjoy.

Lana Lee is such a likable heroine and this was a cute, quick mystery to read. Even though she runs the family Chinese restaurant in the busy Asia Village shopping area, she doesn't actually know how to cook. She decides to take a community ed class in a different part of town, so no one will be the wiser. But when the instructor, Margo Han turns up as a body, naturally Lana discovers it when she heads back to the classroom for handout and is a top suspect. Although her boyfriend is a detective, he has no pull in that jurisdiction, so Lana scopes out most the clues on her own, along with help from her friends Megan and Kimmy.

🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦 🅣🅘🅜🅔⁣
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Just in case I haven’t gushed about A Noodle Shop Mystery series enough, I’m coming at ya with yet another raving review.⁣
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In book 7, 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒆, Lana Lee is secretly taking a Chinese cooking class, and of course, she finds herself right in the middle of another murder mystery - this one is full of secrets, cooking shenanigans, and community college drama - and I loved every single bite!⁣
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If you are a fan of cozy mysteries and haven’t checked out this series I highly recommend running to your nearest bookstore and picking it up, because this is my favorite cozy series and never disappoints. If seven books intimidating do not fret, this as well as all the others can be read as a stand-alone - but I guarantee once you read one, you’ll want to read them all.⁣
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As always our amateur (well, not so amateur now) sleuth Lana and her friends Megan, Kimmy, Peter, and Adam are a delight - especially the Mahjong Matrons, I want them to take me in as a surrogate granddaughter.

I love everything about this series by Ms Chien. Lana is smart as a whip, her adversaries are always unpredictable (which keeps me Omina back for more, and ohmygod I wish I could cook Chinese food as good as Peter. I eagerly anticipate being able to read Lana’s next adventure. Well done, Ms Chien!