Vivien Chien’s Hot and Sour Suspects is a forgettable cozy—serviceable, but with nothing to make it stand out.
The story starts with Lana Lee hosting a speed dating event at her family’s restaurant. A great deal of time is spent on interactions between the characters. As with many cozies, there’s no conflict; instead, Lana is fairly close to a Mary Sue (she even feels ‘guilty’ when she realizes an acquaintance was more desperate for a date than she had realized, although I have no idea why that would make her feel guilty). The novel continues with that slow pace and saccharine tone all the way through the ending, as Lana struggles to solve the murder of a man her friend met at the speed dating event.
I’d feel like a bad person if I didn’t acknowledge that Chien does address the fact, in an afterword, that she wrote this book while being treated for cancer. I’m not familiar with Chien’s other work, so I can’t speak to the relative quality, but I think the extenuating circumstances deserve to be taken into consideration.
Recommended for die-hard readers of cozy mysteries and fans of Chien’s previous work.

Lana Lee is back and on a quest to save her friend from a murder charge she doesn't deserve. I love these characters and this series but felt that the background characters were lost because of the intensity of the investigation and it is those small interactions that really make these books for me, so I was missing them here.

Lana decides to host a speed dating event at Ho Lee Noodle House to bring in some extra revenue. The event seems to be a hit until her friend Rina shows up, hits it off with a guy only to have guy's ex-girlfriend show up, berate him and throw a drink on Rina. Despite Lana's misgivings because of this event, Rina goes home with the guy, who winds up inexplicably dead. Lana is determined to prove Rina didn't do it, although in her investigation she has some setbacks where she is really questioning Rina's innocence.

I adore this series and will continue to gobble up these books as fast as Ms. Chien can write them. In her afterward she reports she was dealing with some health challenges and I do hope she is on her way to a speedy recovery.

This is part of Noodle Shop Mystery series. We once again find Lana Lee and her friends trying to solve a murder. Enjoyable read.

Another excellent addition to the Noodle Shop Mysteries!
Vivien Chien does it again, creating a great story that pulls you in and has you guessing until the very last minute! Once the killer was revealed, all the clues kicked into place.

This was an excellent read, and now all I want to eat is Chinese food!

Megan has talked Lana into hosting a speed dating event at the noodle house. Lana is already planning on holding another event and maybe even making it a regular occurence. But when a friend matches up with an attendee who is later found murdered in his home with her there, the ladies find themselves trying to solve a murder rather than planning the next event.

As Lana, Megan and Kimmy team up to clear their friend, they find that Rina may not be quite who they thought she was. Perhaps she may even have been involved in the murder. While they struggle to believe this, they still have to keep digging and it could put more than a friendship on the line...it could even cost them their lives if they get too close to the killer.

Lana Lee is back and boy, have I missed her and her antics. Reading the author's notes at the back of the book, I didn't realize what she had been going through and I can't believe she still pulled this entry off after all she was dealing with. I hope she knows just how much we love her and I wish her a full and speedy recovery. Lana is Vivien and we need many more outings with Lana, Megan, Kimmy, the Mahjong Matrons and the gang. Cancer does indeed suck, so kick it's booty, VIvien!

"Life can be tough. You have to be tougher."

That line at the end of the epilogue really hit home with me after reading on and seeing the author's note to readers. She was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time of the writing and I have to think her words were as much for herself as readers. That made it all the more impressive that this mystery plot was a finely tuned and peopled by intriguing characters. This was my intro to the series and although I would have wished to have had a bit more insight into the dynamics that brought the friends together and their relationships, it worked well as a stand-alone. i had the wrong suspect pegged, I must admit, so it will keep you guessing. It'll also most likely keep you muttering at Lana to be a bit wiser. I mean, buying pepper spray is a good first step although, well, practicing with it a time or two would probably be a good idea before you need to use it.

I found it interesting that although the author didn't dwell on it, the subtle differences between cultures was touched upon. Lana is half Taiwanese, half English, living between the two worlds successfully, as she manages her family's Asian restaurant. She is pretty typical American in style and manner, however. Her boyfriend, true to cozy mystery form, it seems, is a police officer. He's the one in charge of investigating a murder in which her friend is a suspect. True to police custom, he's closed lipped about sharing information which, of course, frustrates Lana. She and best friend Megan set out to help and....well, that's all I'm saying.

There are countless red herrings and suspects, any and all of which seem plausible at times, even Lana's friend, much to her dismay. I hope to read more of Lana's adventures and get to know her friends and family better. Definitely an intriguing read.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC. I enjoyed my visit with Lana and her friends and family. As the author says via Lana, "...you have to take the moments you get and savor them for what they are."

I love the noodle shop series, but this one fell a little short for me. I would have like to have seen more action around the restaurant and the plaza. At this point in the series, the main characters are very well developed, though we are still getting to know Lena's sister Anna May. I would love to see Lena and Anna May hook up to solve a mystery- it would be quite entertaining!
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Paperbacks.

Another winner in the Noodle Shop Mystery series!

This time poor Lana doesn't discover the corpse but is dragged into the mystery by way of speed dating!

It's a lot of fun and I really love Lana as a character.