Thank you NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Death by Bubble Tea is a first in a new cozy mystery series, and debuts Yale and Celine two cousins who are our amateur sleuthing protagonists. After finding herself unemployed Yale is suddenly thrust into the role of tour guide to visiting cousin Celine while also being talked into running a food stall for her family’s dim sum restaurant at the inaugural weekend for the local Night Market. Things are going ok until Yale stumbles onto a body after the first night of the market and next to them is one of her food stall’s signature light blub drink glasses – suddenly the cops have the two cousins in their sights as suspects #1.

I truly enjoyed every moment I spent reading this. The plot moves are a great pace and the diverse cast of characters will grab your attention and hold on. I really enjoyed watching the cousins get to know each other over the course of their investigation. The strength of the familial bond is a strong theme is this story but it was done well so that it never felt overwhelming. My only struggle was that it was a slow start for me and until about 50% in was I fully invested in both the characters and story.

I am so happy to see more diverse offerings within the cozy mystery genre. The new series “L. A. Farmers Market” starts off with “Death by Bubble Tea”. Love the title! The book does not disappoint, it’s a solid mystery offering.
Yale Yee is down on her luck, just losing her bookstore job. She doesn’t want to go back to her father‘s (Ba) restaurant as either a waitress, hostess, or as a cook for various reasons. When her cousin blows into town from Hong Kong, they are recruited by Ba to set up a food stand at the LA farmers market. Not on the closest terms with her cousin Celine, they tend to find themselves in the middle of a murder. From there on, the two cousins are out to clear their names and solve the mystery.
A fun read, I can’t wait for the second book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital ARC of this book. This review can also be found on my Good Reads page.