Vera is such an addicting character and I really enjoyed everything about this book. The characters were all fun and quirky and I just loved it start to finish! All in all it was an entertaining read and I look forward to more from this author!

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN. Everyone needs a Vera Wong in their life. She is such a character, and keeps everyone in the book and the reader on their toes. I'm absolutely in love with her and need this to turn into a series, or at least give her cameos in other books. The side characters/main suspects were really interesting. Backtracking through the night of the victims death with everyone was a great way to piece the story together. I didn't think I could love anything as much as the aunties books, but this came close.

This book! Five stars and just an absolute blast. Vera Wong is the owner of a tea shop and spends her days walking, working and keeping up on Gen Z slang. When a man is found murdered in her tea shop she realizes the police don’t want her help but that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to go about her business solving the murder herself.
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She somehow becomes friends with everyone she suspects and this ragtag group form a family. This book is heart warming, part cozy mystery and downright hilarious. I listened to this one and the narration is perfection! This one is out today!

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads @prhaudio and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

For context, while the premise of Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers sounded promising, after Dial A for Aunties has a lukewarm response my expectations for Sutanto’s latest mystery were pretty low. However, this surprised me with how much heart it actually contained.

Vera Wong is a very opinionated tea shop owner, who is secretly a little lonely. But when a man is found dead inside her tea shop, she decides to devote her time in figuring out who the killer is. Along the way, she discovers numerous suspects that she winds up supporting along the way.

This may have been the most humorous book I’ve read so far this year! Vera’s charm is easily infectious and the characters she meets feel interesting in how they relate to the case.

This is both an interesting mystery and a very human story. I’m interested in reading Sutanto’s other books now!

When little old lady Vera Wong discovers a dead body in her tea shop, she calls the cops - and swipes a flash drive from the body. Why? Because Vera knows she will do a better job at solving the murder than the professionals - she just has to figure out which one of her customers is the killer.

Jesse Q. Sutanto is turning into a must buy for me! This was so fun! And yes, I’m calling a murder fun. Vera Wong (not to be confused with Vera Wang) was an interesting character, and I enjoyed the relationships she formed while solving the murder. The audiobook was great!

Vera is determined to figure out who murdered a man in her shop. The police don’t seem to appreciate her help (meddling) so she takes matters into her own hands. She develops a list of suspects and sets her sights on getting to know each suspect better in order to determine if they are the murderer.
Vera is smart, sassy, blunt, and loving all at the same time. I laughed out loud several times during this book. On Vera’s quest to find the murderer she finds so much more. This book is the very definition of a fun read and I would LOVE if the author wrote more books about Vera and her crew.
This book is perfect for anyone who likes a little mystery, lots of humor, a sprinkle of sass, and a great group of characters.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💫 (4.5)

Thank you to @netgalley , @berkleypub and @PRHAudio for the gifted copy of this book.

I loved this book so much I cried. A beautiful picture of growing old fixed in a mystery wrapped in a tea shop. I love the willful misunderstanding of. Vera and her need to be seen and useful, as well as he people around her that see through the bustle and care for the sad little busybody.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange for honest feedback. This was a cute mystery, Vera Wong's a unique detective.

I really enjoy books by Jesse Sutanto. This one did not disappoint! A fun, light-hearted mystery that focuses on the relationships between the characters.

This was my first cozy, silly mystery from Jesse Q. Sutanto and it won't be my last! I'm not usually drawn to books with older main characters but this one was on my priority list for some reason. I knew I wanted to read DIAL A FOR AUNTIES but there were some mixed reviews - it seems like the style and absurdity of the story may not be for everyone. I'm glad I started with VERA WONG to ease in because I think Sutanto's books are definitely for me!

This book centers around Vera Wong, an older Chinese woman who owns a tea shop in San Francisco. One day a dead body appears in her shop and she decides the cops aren't doing anything right, so she launches her own investigation. Within the first 24 hours, she has four suspects (the people who showed up in her shop soon after the body was found): his wife Julia, his twin brother Oliver, an artist named Sana, and a programmer named Riki. All of these characters were charming in their own ways and they each had a POV in the book (plus Vera). I liked reading from each of their perspectives because they all had varying levels of guilt relating to Marshall's death. The story is set up to make you wonder if one of them is the murderer and why. It was a little jarring at first having five perspectives but I warmed up to it.

Vera was also someone I needed to warm up to. She was definitely annoying and overbearing for the first half of the book but she grew on me. I loved the found family element between these five characters and Julia's daughter Emma. The relationship between Vera and Emma was so sweet - I loved watching everyone grow and lean on each other. Another thing I loved? Vera's cooking! I was so hungry reading this and it made me so happy that she finally had people back in her life that she could cook for and enjoy meals with. Everything sounded delicious. 

I kept pausing this book and putting it down in favor of other books during my vacations and readathons, but I finished the final half of the story in a couple of sittings. I wasn't in love with it right off the bat because, as I mentioned, the characters and story took some getting used to.

Overall, this is a heartwarming cozy mystery with unique characters and an interesting ending (I predicted part of the mystery but missed a few of the connections to fully solve it). I would definitely recommend it!

Really enjoyed this one. I cackled multiple times and was excited to sit down and listen to it. At one point around 75% it felt like it was dragging, so a bit of editing there would have made this a perfect 5 stars. STRONGLY recommend the audio, expertly read by Eunice Wong.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers was such a fun read! It was heartwarming, laugh out loud funny and charming wrapped in a well thought out mystery. Vera Wong's tea shop has seen better days. She is a 60 year old widow with an adult son who is too busy to take much time out for her. And only one regular customer. One morning, she comes downstairs from her living quarters into the shop and discovers a dead body. In anticipation of the police, she makes tea and prepares for their arrival. Vera is sure the man was murdered but the police aren't so certain. Vera comes to the conclusion that she can do a better job in finding the killer than the police.

Vera befriends her suspects as only Vera can, over tea and a little mothering, which they all seem to be in need of. The mystery is told from the point of view of several different characters, including Vera, a format that works very well for this novel. All of the characters (except the victim) are relatable, none of whom I wanted to be guilty but whom all had motives. Vera is really the heart of the novel, which, of course, will come as no surprise. I forgive author Jesse Q. Sutanto for putting off the next Aunties book to write this one. It's my favorite of hers yet.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery! It's full of humor and quirky characters . Vera is a amateur sleuth always watching whats going on and trying to figure out the mystery of the murder. The book was a fun and quick read that kept my laughing. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

I needed a fun read, and this is it. Widow Vera is an extremely organized owner of a tea house in decline, but her collection of ingredients to make personal teas is unparalleled, even if they aren't used too much--she has one customer. She wakes at 4:30am to walk every day, makes tea for her neighbor, and googles the newest phrases to know what the younger generation mean. Like any good Chinese American mom, she guilt trips her son regularly. The scope of her activities expands when she discovers a dead body in her shop. She is unimpressed with the police investigation, and sets out to solve the crime. She befriends the suspects, and cooks for them--so many recipes! Perfect for relaxing and laughing.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the digital arc.

Detective Vera Wong at your service!⁣
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OK, so maybe she’s not officially a detective, but if I just happened to have a murder mystery one day that needed solving… I would definitely want Vera on the case!⁣
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This book was delightfully dark but balanced perfectly with gut busting laughs and heartwarming humor.⁣
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When bored and lonely teashop owner Vera Wong finds a dead man on the floor of her shop one morning, she sets out to find who killed him and why. Soon, she’s got a houseful of suspects she’s invited over for a dinner party, and I’ve never wanted to be a murder suspect more in my life! ⁣
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I thought Dial A for Aunties was the funniest mystery I’d ever read - but hold my tea. ⁣
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Vera is the epitome of meddlesome, but you can’t help falling in love with her determination and moxie as she charms her way into the hearts of unsuspecting potential murderers … and into our hearts as well.⁣
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An absolute joy to read, with a clever mystery, a charming nosy amateur sleuth, found family, and just buckets of hilarious hijinks and side-splitting shenanigans!⁣
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Forever fan here of Jesse Sutanto and this one's even more fantastic on audio... Eunice Wong's narration is perfection!

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice to Murderers was a great cozy mystery. I very much enjoyed the multiple perspectives, but especially Vera. She comes across the page vibrantly as she deals with being a somewhat-recent widow, her estranged relationship with her son, her "world famous" tea shop, and the body that somehow landed right in the middle of her shop.

Book club review!

Deciding on our May book was fun, and lucky enough, the book itself was also just as fun!

The story follows Vera Wong, a widowed owner of a tea shop in San Francisco Chinatown. Business has been slow, she doesn’t have the closest relationship with her only son, Tilly (her motherly nagging seems to bother Tilly), and has a lonely routine she seems to stick to each day. However, things suddenly change once a body is discovered in her shop and she takes it upon herself to deduce what happened since the police aren’t taking the investigation seriously. What transpires are new friends, sneaky suspicions, a whole lot of laughs, and delicious food.

The most common words used to describe this book by the group would probably be adorable and heartwarming. Firstly, Vera is a force to be reckoned with, but such a great character. She embodied big grandma energy and was just a hoot! Some of us found ourselves doing things in our regular lives and wondering “what would Vera say if she knew I was doing this?”.

As for the mystery itself, it was done well enough to where it did have people guessing and wondering who committed the crime and how it was all going to play out. Although, some wished there for a bit more suspense throughout the entire story instead of just revealing a bulk of it towards the end. While mystery and detective work done by Vera was fun to follow along, like with a lot of cozy mysteries, it definitely had its far fetched moments and you have to suspend disbelief. But when you learned who the killer was, it all made so much sense!

One thing though that everyone loved about this book was the found family aspect. What was once a bunch of strangers at the story of this adventures turned into such a wonderful group of people— even when a handful may have been suspects. It was especially sweet seeing Vera have these people to dote on because she genuinely seemed like such a great and caring person, constantly spoiling everyone with delicious food!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and if cozy mysteries are your thing, you’ll probably like this one!

There is so much heart in this novel. This is more than a cozy murder mystery as Vera slowly wins over the hearts of the suspects and they become friends. Each of them is struggling in some way and Vera has a way of getting people to open up. She even wins the heart of Julia’s demanding 2 y/o daughter Emma, who has never warmed to anyone before! I loved watching Vera interact with all of the characters who were all very well described.

A delightful murder mystery full of colorful characters and found family feels. I absolutely adored Vera, our tea shop owning heroine who is determined to solve the murder of the dead body found in her store even though the police declared it an accident. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is a must-read.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery! It's full of humour and quirky characters — Vera is a perfect amateur sleuth that kept me laughing the whole way through. Jesse Q Sutanto has a way with creating stories and this book is no different!