Lana Lee’s family owns a Chinese restaurant and Lana even runs it but, she doesn’t know how to cook any Chinese cuisine. So, in secret she signs up at the local Continuation Education program for some lessons. Of course, she finds murder instead of the secret to Asian Cuisine.

The characters are fun and diverse, like real life. I enjoy snark, and this book has some characters who can deal it out, but I just don’t think that is a smart idea when you are facing someone holding a weapon. Call me funny that way.

A decent mystery with good characters. All the ingredients for a winning cozy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien is the 7th book in A Noodle Shop Mystery series, and another exciting adventure. Lana Lee is the manager of her family's restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House located in Cleveland, Ohio. Lana decides to take Chinese cooking lessons from the cooking school. Lana is known for her terrible Chinese cooking, so she wants to prove her family wrong. When Lana finds the instructor dead, in a different town than Lana's boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau works in, she quickly becomes the prime suspect. I found this book to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. I love Lana's relationship with Adam, and her quirky family. Looking forward to the next book in the series. If you love fun cozy mysteries like I do, than I highly recommend this book/ and series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I first discovered this series because I was hungry. I was on my lunch break scrolling through Netgalley and saw the first book and was like lured in by the noodle ox on the cover and I have never been so glad to be hungry in all my life! I found such a fun series because I was hungry!

This has been such a fun little series to read and I am so happy to see that we are on the seventh book in the series! I am so happy people have loved it as much as I have. Lana Lee is a great amateur detective who has funky hair, a love for donuts, and doesn’t shy away from a murder or two. She sounds like someone I would totally hang out with which is one of the reasons I have enjoyed this series so much.

These are quick reads that I almost always finish within a day or two. They make for great beach reads or a great pick you grab at the airport between flights. I always feel satisfied after reading one of these books, not to mention hungry for Chinese food!

Summary
Lana Lee returns for another delectable cozy set in a Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio in Vivien Chien’s Fatal Fried Rice…

Lana Lee runs her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland’s Asia Village like nobody’s business. When it comes to actual cooking, however, she’s known to be about a step up from boiling rice. So Lana decides to go to culinary school on the sly―and prove that she has what it takes in the kitchen after all. But when course instructor Margo Chan turns up dead after class, Lana suddenly finds herself on the case, frying pan in hand.

Since she was the one who discovered the body, Lana must do double duty in finding the killer and clearing her name. Now, with or without the help of her boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau, Lana launches her own investigation into Margo’s life and mysterious death. Doing so leads her on a wild goose chase to and from the culinary school―and all the way back to the Ho-Lee noodle shop, where the guilty party may be closer than Lana thinks. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
In this book, Lana is taking a Chinese cooking class. Wait what?! Yes that’s exactly what I said to myself. I had to think back and try to recall if Lana had actually cooked in the restaurant before rather than just managing it. I feel like maybe she has but I honestly can’t recall. Though I do vaguely recall her saying to people that she’s not really a cook, but I could be wrong. I wish this were something I could recall because I spent half the book trying to remember if she was a bad cook or not. I wish it had been clearly brought up in other books, like ‘Lana is a terrible cook’, same as her funky hair and donut obsession were talked about. But whatever, it wasn’t a huge deal and I loved the irony of Lana managing her parents restaurant but having zero idea how to cook.

In my opinions this book could read as a standalone, as can most of the other Lana books, so if you are wondering if you can dive in here I think the answer is easily yes. The author does a great job explaining the background of the characters and Asian Village for new readers and old readers who might need a refresher. The author also lives in Cleveland and really brings the Asian Village to life. It feels like a fun place to visit and the characters and setting feel so authentic. It’s one of the things that is consistently strong in this series.

For me, this mystery and plot was just ok. Probably not the strongest in the series but still a worthy read. If this is your first Lana book, you will enjoy it but if you are a long time Lana fan you will know that some of the mysteries are better than the others and for me I enjoyed some of the others better. In this one, Lana is the prime suspect in the murder of her cooking class teacher and that was kind of a new twist from some of the previous books which really made this one stand out a bit more.

In the end though, this book met all my expectations—-great food, fun/familiar characters (Majong Matrons I am looking at you!), a cozy little mystery and a solid story. I always finish a new Lana book feeling content and looking forward to future books in the series! I can’t wait to read the next one in this series to see what Lana gets up to next!

Book Info and Rating
Format320 pages Mass Market Paperback

PublishedMarch 9, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

ISBN9781250782595 (ISBN10: 1250782597)

Free review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: cozy mystery, mystery, detective novel

Fatal Fried Rice is the seventh of Vivian Chien's Noodle House mystery series. I have not read the earlier books but quickly fell in love with the main characters. They were very well developed likable characters who have obviously been developed as the book progresses. While I found the plot a bit week in places it was such an enjoyable read I feel I can definitely recommend it as a light enjoyable read. A great book to relax with.
#FatalFriedRice#NetGalley

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I know it’s hard to believe but Lana Lee, manager of her family’s Ho-Lee Noodle Shop can’t cook much of anything, not even the Chinese food she eats and sells on a daily basis. Now she wants to change that and surprise her friends and family. She has signed up for a night class in Chinese cooking at the local community college. The first class went okay, the instructor demonstrated fried rice. In the next class, the students will get to make the recipe themselves. Lana is on her way home when she realizes she forgot to pick up the ingredient list for the upcoming class so she quickly turns around hoping to get back to the classroom before the instructor leaves. Well, the instructor is still there but she won’t be teaching any more classes. Someone has killed her and Lana being the one to find her ends up in ho water as a prime suspect.

Lana has helped solve cases before but they were in her boyfriend Detective Adm Trudeau’s jurisdiction. The detective on the case sure doesn’t want her help especially because he believes Lana is guilty. So having no choice she must investigate to clear her name. It’s no easy task but she can’t give up. Even when the killer may turn the tables on Lana. Will she be able to survive or will she be fatally fried.

_____

I can’t believe we are already 7 books into this series. Each time I open a book it is like catching up with old friends. All the characters are wonderful. Lana continues to grow. I enjoyed that she used a little restraint when she found the body but after that, she makes some risky choices including taking Kimmy Tran with her to snoop when her best friend and roommate Megan wasn’t available but it sure made for some funny moments. I do really like the closeness of the Lee family and their traditions like their Sunday dim sum dinners.

The mystery this time was a definite change because Adam wasn’t involved and Lana knew nothing about the victim. She was able to draw some information from her usual sources but she put on a lot of miles trying to track down clues. I hate lazy detectives and the one in charge of the murder was definitely lazy trying to make his case fit what had already decided. Ms. Chien plotted out a story that kept the protagonist on her toes and this reader guessing right up until the exciting reveal.

The author does a great job of setting every scene whether it be the noodle shop, Megan and Lana’s apartment, the bar where Megan works, or the community college. It is so easy to visualize every place Lana goes. The little subplot of Lana updating the decor of the restaurant is so funny. Her mother tells her to do whatever she wants but then pans all her ideas.

I totally enjoyed this story. Well-plotted and written with engaging characters. Fatal Fried Rice checks all my cozy boxes. I am so excited for book 8, Hot and Sour Suspects.

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivian Chien is the newest entry in a popular series of cozy mysteries, Noodle Shop Mysteries, featuring noodle shop manager, Lana Lee. Lana is in the uncomfortable position of not knowing how to cook Chinese food and so enrolls in a class at a community center in a nearby town. She enjoys the class thoroughly and after the class arranges with the instructor to also give her some private sessions. She leaves, happy with her evening when she realizes she did not get the grocery list for the next class, so returns. Sadly, she returns to fine, Margo, the instructor, lying dead on the floor, having been stabbed. She does the only thing available to her and screams, bringing the only other person in the building: the janitor. The police arrive and a very unpleasant detective makes her feel as if she is the prime suspect.

This was a fun mystery with a good premise for its base of operations and a decent supporting cast. Lana's boyfriend, Adam, is a police detective, in their town and seems to roll his eyes a lot at Lana, a typical cozy mystery move, but is otherwise supportive. One of her friends, Kimmie, provides the comic relief and does it well. He mother and non-English-speaking grandmother also help in that regard. The mystery was a good one with enough misdirection to keep it interesting. Reading it was a totally pleasant experience, which I hope to repeat in the future. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Fatal Fried Rice by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #fatalfriedrice

Fatal Fried Rice is the SEVENTH book in Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery Series.

This is my favorite cozy mystery series because it is fresh, youthful, and so much fun. These mysteries are also an own voices series, which makes them an especially wonderful bright spot in a genre that is often lacking in diversity.

In Fatal Fried Rice, our favorite amateur sleuth Lana Lee has a secret - even though she’s successfully run her family’s Chinese restaurant, the Ho-Lee Noodle House, for years… she still can’t cook at all! So, she decides to secretly take a Chinese cooking class at the local community college, in hopes of surprising her loved ones with some new-found culinary talents.

But Lana’s new hobby quickly turns deadly when she finds her teacher murdered after their first cooking class! Lana immediately becomes the prime suspect and it’s a race against time to find the real killer... before Lana is blamed for a murder she didn’t commit.

Chien’s writing always feels so endearing and genuine, and while she does stick to the traditional cozy formula, I tend to think her stories have more depth and heart than many others that I’ve read in the genre. I love her characters, with their unique personalities, backstories, and even motives! And Lana’s world is always one that I look forward to revisiting, time and time again.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again - the only downside to this series is how hungry it makes me! Definitely have some fried rice on standby before diving into this book! Personally, I can’t wait for Dim Sum Sundays IRL again once its safe to do so… but for now, I’m more than glad to live vicariously through Lana’s delicious food adventures.

If you love cozy mysteries but haven’t had a chance to check out the Noodle Shop Mystery series, there’s no better time than now. These books truly are the perfect feel-good read, and I already can’t wait for Chien’s next book - Hot and Sour Suspects!

In this fun romp through Cleveland, Lana Lee takes a cooking class in hopes of finding her missing culinary skills. What she finds, however, is the instructor’s dead body. Against everyone’s advice, she investigates. The writing is top notch. The plot is tight and multi-layered and filled with believable, slightly zany characters. It was an entertaining read with hilarious moments. I’m looking forward to future installments. I received this book free and chose to make a voluntary, unbiased review.

Another winner by Vivien Chien. I love this series so much and am always excited to see a new book. I love Lana and her family. This is a good cozy mystery for someone who likes the mystery aspect, but doesn't want gore or major thrills. These books are a fast read because the characters are so likable and you can't wait to find out how Lana is going to get herself out of whatever mess she's in. Which she always is! I really like this whole series and can't explain too much about this book without spoiling others, so just read them all!

This was a fun book in the Noodle Shop Mysteries. Unbelievably Lana our amateur sleuth takes Chinese cooking class.
Where she finds her teacher murdered. All of the reacquiring characters are there. Like the Mahjong Maidens who I love. And Lana's mommy speaks in the third person. The plot did feel a little different like it was not as thrilling as it could have been. But still an enjoyable read. Makes me want to order some chicken fried rice. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for this book. This was an honest review

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien is the 7th book in A Noodle Shop Mystery series. This story can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. Lana Lee is the manager of her families’ restaurant, Ho Lee Noodle House in a suburb outside Cleveland, Ohio. Lana cannot cook Chinese food as everyone knows, but her sister’s relentless teasing has her signing up for classes at the local adult learning center. Lana does not want anyone in her family to know nor Peter who cooks at the restaurant. Unfortunately, Lana’s instructor ends up murdered. Detective Bishop of the Parma Police Department immediately suspects Lana as well as the janitor who heard Lana scream and called 9-1-1. Fatal Fried Rice is easy to read with an interesting cast of characters. I especially like Lana’s mother. The death of the cooking instructor, Margo Han is a frustrating one for Lana. Margo is a private person which makes it hard for her to find helpful information. I like that Kimmy Tran gets in on the investigation. She is bolder than Megan and Lana. There suspect list is miniscule. I found the mystery to be extremely simple (a child could solve this one). I was not a fan of Detective Bishop who is a one-dimensional cliché cozy mystery detective (the nasty guy who has his mind made up). There is a lack of action that makes the pace of Fatal Fried Rice slow. There is an action-packed ending with a good wrap-up. Fatal Fried Rice takes us through Lana’s daily activities (going to work, walking Kikko, spending time with Adam and Megan, and eating fast food). I like the concept for this cozy mystery series, and it is unique. It feels that Lana is unhappy with her job and bored. Maybe it is time for Lana to discover what sort of work will make her happy. I did not enjoy Fatal Fried Rice as much as other books in the series. I felt it needed to be fleshed out with a more complex mystery. There needed to be more action as well which would have increased the pacing. I also did not appreciate the foul language which increased toward the end. I hope Hot and Sour Suspects will be more entertaining. Fatal Fried Rice is a lighthearted cozy mystery with a Chinese cooking class, a cute Kikko, firm friends, a distasteful detective, and a curious crime.

Lana Lee is a spunky amateur detective that you can’t help but root for! In this book, she decides to take cooking classes and stumbles across a dead body. So fun! I love that Lana works in an Asian restaurant yet can’t cook - this makes her relatable and human. She’s a lively and feisty character. The plot was solid and well done. I did guess the murderer before the end but the writing kept me hooked. I love this series and look forward to each book.

Lana Lee is the manager of her family’s Chinese restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle Shop. But she has a secret—she can’t cook. When she was growing up, she just wasn’t interested. And then she had to take over the restaurant, and she didn’t want to admit that she couldn’t cook. But now she’s ready to learn, so she signed up for a Chinese cooking class at a local community college, not too far from where she lives in Cleveland. She doesn’t tell her family because she wants it to be a surprise.

It turns out, Lana is the one who is surprised by what happens.

On the first night of class, Lana shows up, ready to learn. Her instructor, Margo Han, is kind, nonjudgmental, and an excellent teacher. She shows the class how to make Fried Rice, telling them to pay close attention to what she’s doing, as they will be making the same dish next week. All the students try the dish, and it’s delicious.

Lana is excited to finally learn how to cook, so excited she stays behind after class and asks Margo if maybe she’d be willing to give Lana some extra instruction. Margo says that she would, if her schedule lets her, and they agree to talk about it after the run of the cooking class. Then, after Lana leaves, she realizes that she forgot to grab one of the shopping lists for next week’s class and heads back to the classroom.

And that’s when Lana sees Margo, with a chef’s knife sticking out of her back.

Lana’s screams attract the attention of a maintenance man, who calls 911. The officer who responds gets Lana’s statement, but she has a bad feeling talking to the investigator. She feels like he is convinced she had something to do with it and will do anything to put her behind bars.

Lana has no choice but to start investigating the murder herself, both to find justice for Margo and her family and to clear her name. With the help of her friends and boyfriend, who is also a police officer but in a different city, Lana tries to find out what she can about Margo and who might have held a grudge against her. But as she asks questions around the school, she finds a couple of different women who seem a little too interested in her investigation. Could one of them be the killer? Or could it be someone else at the school, like the maintenance man or the other teacher she saw leaving just as she was heading back to the classroom? And will Lana be able to figure it out before she puts herself in danger of becoming the next victim?

Fatal Fried Rice is the seventh book in Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery Series, and each of these books have been absolutely charming. Lana is an engaging character, and her family’s restaurant makes a great home base for her investigations. These cozies are smart, inviting, and well plotted, and they’re just plain fun to read.

Like the other books in this series, I really enjoyed Fatal Fried Rice. Lana and her friends and family never fail to entertain or to figure out who is behind the crime. I love having a mystery series that I can always count on when I need something that will hold my interest without getting too dark or gory, and the Noodle Shop Mysteries always fit that bill. Thanks to Vivien Chien for being consistently smart and witty in these books!

Egalleys for Fatal Fried Rice were provided by St. Martin’s Press (St. Martin’s Paperbacks) through NetGalley, with many thanks.

After enduring her family's jokes pertaining to her lack of culinary talents, Lana decides to take a Chinese cooking class in secret to surprise her family. However as luck would have it, after the first class, Lana discovers the instructor's body and it is clear his death came at the hand of a killer. Lana immediately falls under suspicion, a position she is all too familiar with, as she discovered the body. Her plan to let the authorities quickly falls to the wayside when the overzealous lead detective starts building his investigation with Lana at the center. She receives help in her investigation from some familiar sources, including her friends, her roommate, and all too nosey Mahjong Matrons. Help also come from a most unusual member of the community, the outspoken Kimmy Tran. The one individual Lana doesn't take help from is from her boyfriend and this might just lead her in over her head.
Fatal Fried Rice is a swiftly paced, action packed mystery featuring Lana, the fearless amateur detective with a penchant for solving crimes and eating donuts. While the noddle house mystery series is a real treat and a great add to your spring reading list, the newest addition to the series can be enjoyed on its own. The mystery itself is on the longer side for cozies however the action moves quickly and the mystery will keep readers turning the pages steadily and guessing until the end. Lana's family's noodle house makes for a unique setting and the cast of regulars add an extra dose of zany humor and cozy charm to the narrative. I highly recommend Fatal Fried Rice for cozy mystery fans looking for the next new series to devour.

I have read all of the A Noodle Shop Mystery books by Vivien Chien. Fatal Fried Rice is another good addition to the series. The cover is so cool. Lana Lee is a great character, and I enjoy delving into her life and the mysteries that seem to follow her.

A Noodle Shop Mystery is an enjoyable series with fun characters and great stories and mysteries.

#FatalFriedRice #NetGalley

Lana is in charge of the family business which in this case is a restaurant. There is one problem though, she cannot cook chinese food. That is what the family is known for. Lana is wonderful. I loved the quirky characters with their strong sense of family. The world building is excellent. The story drew me in and intriqued me. I finished it in one afternoon. I really loved this book.

This was a fun book to read.
How embarrassing can it be? As the manager of the family Chinese restaurant signing up for a Chinese cooking class because you don’t know how to cook. Try to hide that fact and now the instructor gets murdered after the first class. No change that the family isn't going to find out. I love the feelings of the cultural differences of first generation emigrant and how it effects the second generation who are fully Americanized. The story is a page turner that keeps you wondering how Lana is going to get herself out of this mess without making the situation worse than it already is. The final conclusion was a surprise and I did not expect it all.

Lana Lee has stumbled into another murder and the police are treating her as a prime suspect. All she wanted to do was to learn Chinese cooking at the local community college. Somehow she never learned which seems strange when one considers that her family business is a noodle restaurant named the Ho-Lee Noodle House. When we first met Lana in Death by Dumpling she had returned home and had to work in the family business. Not what she had planned but she went to work. Now she manages the noodle house and it turns out she's good at it. Just don't ask her to cook a noodle or a dumpling. She's also good at solving the occasional murder. If she can't solve this one she may be wearing an orange jump suit for a couple of decades, at least.
Something she does have working for her? A close family and lots of friends who have her back. Even though she's told to keep out of the investigation, she gets help from The Mahjong Matrons and her friends, all are ready to help her catch the killer. The cast of characters is wonderful and varied, especially Lana's family. There's never a dull moment in these mysteries and I am already holding a spot for book #8, Hot and Sour Suspects coming out 8/24/2021.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Once again Lana Lee is trying to solve a mystery with her roommate, Megan, and best friend, Kimmie, in Fatal Fried Rice.

It’s embarrassing but family-owed Noodle House manager, Lana, can’t cook Chinese food. She sneaks off to a night class to learn on the sly. Of course, she finds the dead body of the instructor and is promptly the number one suspect. She and her friends must solve the crime to get Lana off the hook.

If you are not a proficent armchair detective, you will enjoy discovering the murderer. The mystery within Fatal Fried Rice is not very challenging. However, the humorous and complicated Taiwanese family dynamics make for an interesting few hours. 3 stars.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Vivien Chien's latest Noodle Shop mystery is a treat! Lana Lee has secretly signed up for a Chinese Cooking Class. Lana runs the family's Chinese restaurant, she knows how to cook Western food but is always teased for her attempts to cook Chinese food. Her class takes her to a community college and it is just her luck that she ends up finding her instructor murdered. The detective in charge focuses on Lana Lee as the primary suspect.

Lana undertakes to find the real killer. This time, she is able to tell her detective boyfriend about her sleuthing. I love the camaraderie and the way that Vivien Chien incorporates Chinese and Asian culture in these stories.