I literally had to take notes with this one. My lines turned into triangles that turned into Ven diagrams. Which woman was which. Which man was which. Who was related to whom? Who was dating whom? Who were siblings, and who were like siblings. Very chaotic without the murderer being obvious too soon – mostly because I couldn’t keep everyone straight.

Set during a Chinese New Year celebration, Lana Lee finds herself entangled in a murder investigation after a member of the lion dance team is found dead. Adding to that the discovery of an ominous red envelope and rumors of a curse all add layers of interest to the plot.

Vivien Chien weaves cultural elements into the narrative, creating a vivid and immersive setting. The characters are familiar, well-developed, and relatable. There is humor sprinkled throughout, providing a nice balance to the suspense, and making for an enjoyable read.

Fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy the plot twists and Chinese cultural elements. Overall, Peking Duck and Cover is a delightful addition to the series and perfect for those who enjoy a good mystery with a little bit more.

Cozy mysteries are place of comfort for me. This is the 10th book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series & the 2nd in the series that I've read. Lana Lee is busy preparing for the Chines New Year celebration at Asia Village. She's helping with coordinating the event & all is going well until one of lion dancers is found backstage with a bullethole in her heart & a red envelope filled with 4 #1 bills, a Chinese omen of death. Lana & her friends are drawn in the salvage the celebration and identify the killer.

I enjoy the inclusion of Chinese culture & traditions in this series & always learn something along the way. The family relationships and how they impact Lana's decisions is interesting. I enjoy the recurring characters & their relationships. The tension in the mystery was a nice touch, and the reveal was well done. I like how Lana's thoughts & feelings about herself evolve over the course of this book. Also, the descriptions of food had me craving a yummy bowl of noodles. I plan to to return to this series and spend more time with Lana & her crew.

Thanks to NetGalley & Minotaur Books for the chance to read & review this title. All opinions are mine & freely given.

There is no denying that this is one of the most exciting cozy mystery series to me. The mystery is well plotted and the characters are interesting, but they add some useful humor at times. This is a must-read!

It's Chinese New Year and Lana Lee has been extremely busy managing Ho-Lee Noodle House and organizing a celebration to take place at Asian Village. The head event planner, Ian Sung, has decided there will be music, a lion dance performance and a raffle. Lana, as his second in command, is eager for the day of the event, but also a little annoyed with Ian, who often leaves Lana with most of the less interesting part of the project, as well as constantly pestering her about the schedule.

Lana is more grounded and confident in this novel, especially after her experience at the food conference and her relationship with Anna May (both in the previous book in this series), so when calamity strikes, and one of the lion dancers is shot dead, she's thinking about investigating, and except for her mother, others in her life support her in her efforts.

She unearths a mess of relationships, resentments, and secrets surrounding the dead woman, her brother, and various past and current partners. That someone threatened Lana as she got closer to the solution shocked her, but also was extra motivation to find the actual killer through clues and her conversations with everyone surrounding the dead woman.

I really enjoy this series, and Vivien Chien's writing, which does a great job of making me love Lana, telling us what we need to know about the other characters, and also reveals clues in such a way that we have fun following along with Lana, but also allows us to solve the murder with her. Lana continues to be a fun character, and I love her investigative team of Megan and Kimmy, and Kikkoman, or Kikko, continues to be a cutie.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Lana Lee is back in action managing her parents' Asian restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio & helping to organize the Chinese New Year celebration in their little Asian Village. The night will be filled with music, giveaways, fireworks, and live entertainment. Lana has reviewed the plans several times to be sure that it all goes off without a hitch, otherwise she know she will never hear the end of it from Ian, who is the Asia Village manager.
Unfortunately, the evening ends with a bang and not from the fireworks. Lana finds a member of the Lion troupe now dead, with the omen of death (Lunar tradition) in their pocket, a red envelope holding four one-dollar bills inside of it..
Everyone in the Village is horrified at the bad luck to start the New Year & they expect Lana to figure out who killed Rhonda and of course more importantly, why.

Peking Duck and Cover is the tenth book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series. They combine family, Chinese food, and crime-solving, and of course humor thrown in here and there.
Many thanks to NetGalley as well as the Publisher for this ARC! I can't wait to continue reading more by Vivien Chien.

First of all I love the cover of this book. It really draws you in!
I love all of the characters from Asia Village - especially sleuth Lana Lee.
I recommend reading this series in order but if you can't I would still recommend reading this book as a stand alone.
The mystery is light and the characters are likeable.

I enjoy this series. If you’ve previously read books in this series you will enjoy this one as well. The cast of characters are fun and entertaining. The mystery was interesting as well. Lana continues with her antics and adventures. This book is light and fun. I look forward to any future installments.

PEKING DUCK AND COVER by Vivien Chien
The Tenth Noodle Shop Mystery

It's almost time for the Lunar New Year and Asia Village is gearing up for a big festival. As manager of the Ho-Lee Noodle House Lana Lee is helping to organize the event. The all day party will feature food and drinks from the Village eateries and conclude with a Lion Dance and fire crackers. Although following all New Year superstitions to a T Lana feels a vague sense of unease, especially after seeing tension among the Lion dancers. The festival ends with a bang-unfortunately, not just the bang of firecrackers. One of the dancers has been shot and once again Lana is out to find a killer and justice for a victim.

One of the fascinating things about the tenth Noodle Shop Mystery was learning some of the New Year's superstitions. I never knew about not using knives! Sharing these details immerses me even more in the culture, adding layers onto the mystery. Plus, it's just fun! Seeing the extended Lee clan enjoying time together is great and I enjoy seeing Adam become even more a part of the family.

Lana, Megan, and Kimmie make a formidable investigative team and I enjoyed their pursuit of the truth. As usual I enjoy meeting up with the Mahjong Matrons and love how they help Lana. In fact I enjoy seeing many of the shopkeepers and seeing how they all relate. I only wish I could actually visit Asia Village and pick up a doughnut before enjoying Peter's cooking.

Lunar New Year traditions and family drama along with good food and plenty of humor make PEKING DUCK AND COVER a delectable mystery.

I’m sadly behind on my reviewing (which I rarely do) because I recently had surgery. So forgive me as I hustle to catch up! Saying that, Chien’s Noodle Shop series is one of my absolute favourites. Lana Lee is one of the most refreshing & relatable cozy heroines & this was a perfect cheer up. Her bff Megan is always a bright spot & her cop bf Adam is a good love interest.

Another murder has unfortunately come to Asia Village, so all the familiar characters are involved plus a few new ones. Chien has created such an entertaining community of people, it’s always a joy to read about them again. And with the holiday as well, you’ll get to read about the Lee family. As always, theres the right amount of motives & suspects to keep Lana guessing until the killer is revealed. I really love that she has people like Megan & Kimmy who don’t tell Lana to stop sleuthing but rather help her.

I love the series, it’s one of the best cozies out there. Warning, you will get very hungry, hearing about all the delicious food!

🍜

Read if you like:
* Deep Dish series by Mindy Quigley
* Bake Shop series by Ellie Alexander
* Record Shop series by Olivia Blacke

Lana Lee is nervous about the Chinese New Year celebration in Asia Village – she’s the one running it and wants all to go smoothly. Her hopes are quickly dashed when one of the participants is murdered during the celebration. The police, including her boyfriend, are investigating, but Lana has solved a few murders in the past and quickly starts helping the police. But she needs to be careful she doesn’t become the next victim.

“Peking Duck and Cover” is the nicely done tenth book in Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery series. I really like this series – not only the characters who have grown throughout the series but the restaurant setting (which reminds me of a Chinese restaurant that I used to frequent until COVID shut it permanently down). Each book brings something special to the plate (pun not intended) – in this book I really enjoyed reading about the Chinese New Year celebrations and superstitions. The mystery is well done with just the right amount of suspects – just like Lana I was trying to figure out who the killer was until the very end. And the part where she did figure it out was nicely done with just the right amount of suspense. All in all a great book to read!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

The Noodle Shop mysteries are getting better and better with each new story. Peking Duck and Cover is set during the Lunar New Year celebration in the Cleveland area. I am a sucker for all of the local references to my city. Vivien Chien crafts a solid mystery and while I did pick up on the who-dun-it aspect, this kept my attention focused.

As always, I recommend you supply yourself with your favorite Chinese food dishes while you settle down to this cozy mystery.

Im officially obsessed with Lana and the Noodle Shop!! I am such a sucker for a cozy mystery and this was giving all the right vibes. Rhonda and the dance troupe were hysterical, Kimmy and Megan add such funny and needed banter to the conversation. I cant wait to read the rest of the noodle shop series, maybe order some dimsum to eat whilst I read. While I did find some of the elements predictable, I still enjoyed the eclectic characters!

Another great cozy mystery from Vivien Chien. I love how Lana always gets roped into helping plan/run every event that happens in Asia Village and despite her initial protests always gets roped into investigating; although I am not sure she actually minds that part. I wasn't able to guess who the killer was before the reveal.

Looking forward to reading Gone to Hot Pot next, just have to go and get me a copy. :)

Happy Chinese New Year! In Peking Duck and Cover, it’s that time of year again for Chinese restaurant manager, Lana Lee. She is coordinating an Asian Village, her restaurant’s outdoor mall, party complete with a dance troop and fireworks. Little does she suspect, though regular series readers will be anticipating, that a murder will occur during the festivities. It’s Lana, her roommate/best friend Megan, and Lana’s detective boyfriend Adam who must bust the killer. However, there are plenty of suspects so it will be a challenge. Can you beat them to finding the murderer?

I always enjoy spending time with Lana and her family and friends. They are multifaceted and just fun to be around. This time the mystery was more of a challenge than usual. I barely beat Lana to the reveal after being sidelined a bit by a very believable red herring. Overall, I found Peking Duck and Cover to be a fun and enjoyable cozy mystery with a great mystery to puzzle out. 4 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance review copy.

Ian, property manager for Asia Village shopping center, once again involves Lana Lee in a case when a performer is found dead during a holiday event at the plaza.

Before we dive in, would anyone else like to see a full-length Mahjongg Matrons or Megan spin-off? There are a couple good short stories out there, but I really think they could hold their own in a longer work. The realness of all the characters is one of the things that makes this series so enjoyable. They don't just exist as satellites to Lana. They have histories and interests and are interesting on their own.

Lana still struggles with finding her place, and making her peace with the way her life has diverged from what she intended, but she seems to be finding contentment, and appreciates her friends and family more than ever.

Why you should read this book: Lana is growing as a person, a business owner, and a detective. The plot was a good cozy plot, and Lana uncovered clues in a more logical fashion than in previous books. There was also less of her jumping to conclusions based on a single piece of evidence.

Why you might not want to read it: Ian is especially annoying in this one, and honestly, Lana needs to set some boundaries with him. Still, it's a minor quibble, and it doesn't take away much from enjoying the book.

I received an advance copy from Minotaur Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

4 out of 5 stars. Recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Peking Duck and Cover is the tenth book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series. This time, the mystery takes place during the Chinese New Year. It is in this setting that Lana gets to organize an event and to investigate a murder. As with previous books, Lana is a wonderful main character. Vivien Chien's writing is really pleasant and colorful, she makes me want to visit Asia Village! The storyline is solid and gripping, and the mystery is nicely built. I highly recommend Peking Duck and Cover to both newcomers to the series and readers who are already familiar with it. Make yourself a nice cup of tea and sink into Peking Duck and Cover. Good time guaranteed!

We are back in Asia Village with Lana Lee and her crew and she is head of event planning for the Chinese new year celebration. Lana has planned a fantastic evening with live music, dancers, giveaways, and to top off the end of the celebration with a huge firework show! All is going well until one of the dancers ends up dead. Ian, the village manager, and several other business owners are looking to Lana to do her thing and solve this murder. Lana enlists the help of her hunky investigator boyfriend, Adam and her two friends Megan and Kimmy to help her with the case.

This was such a fun read. I love that everyone has accepted that Lane Lee is good at solving these mysteries and are willing to just let her do her thing!

Lana Lee has a lot on her plate. She is the manager of her family’s restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House. She is dating a local police detective. And she’s helping to organize the Lunar New Year celebration for Asia Village. She’s helped to get the restaurants on board for the food and drinks, she’s set up the raffle and gotten donations for the prizes (including a generous donation from Ho-Lee Noodle House), and she’s hired the lion dancers for the entertainment.

The Chinese New Year celebration starts out a success, with everyone in Asia Village coming together to enjoy everything Lana had worked so hard to put together. There is plenty of food and drink, and then there are fireworks. But the lion dancers don’t get a chance to go on, as the woman who was supposed to be the head of the lion has been shot.

It was Lana’s friend Kimmy that introduced her to the dancers. Kimmy knew them from her second job, working as a server at the Black Garter, a gentleman’s club. Rhonda was a dancer there, trying to save up money to open her own dance studio with another woman who worked there. Rhonda has been dancing as the head of the lion for many years, working with her brother David, who ran the troupe. But his new fiancée had been wanting a chance to be the head of the lion, and he decided to give Angela a chance to do just that.

But after the fireworks, they find that someone used the noise to cover up their gunshots, and Rhonda is laying on the ground. Lana’s boyfriend Adam takes over, sending the guests away and making sure no one touches the crime scene. David is distraught, and Lana, no stranger to crime-solving, immediately finds her brain trying to put together all the pieces of the murder to make a complete picture.

David says that he and Rhonda had just had a fight, so Lana has to consider him a suspect. But since it was Angela who was originally supposed to be the head of the lion, Lana can’t be sure if she or Rhonda had been the target. Kimmy had seen a customer from the Black Garter who had seemed overly interested in Rhonda, and she’d been concerned. But she’d also seen David’s ex-girlfriend, who could have been upset that he was engaged to someone new already and aiming for Angela.

The next few days, as Lana has to clean up from the celebration, she also wants to figure out who was the target of the killer and why. And as she tries to find out who the killer is, she finds that the target is no longer on Rhonda or Angela. It’s turned in Lana’s direction, and she has to find out who is behind the murder or she might very well be next.

Peking Duck and Cover is the tenth book in Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery series. These books combine family, Chinese food, and crime-solving. There is a lot of love (and a fair amount of arguing) as Lana tries to live her best life in Cleveland. She sometimes has to fight the cold, she has to take care of her dog Kikkoman, and she has to solve the murders, but she always tries to stay true to herself and look great. And she always gets her man.

I have been a big fan of this series for many years now, and Peking Duck and Cover does not disappoint. Chien has been dealing with some serious health issues over the last few years (see her social media for more info on that if you want the details), but she has kept her readers in mind and tried her best to keep giving us Ho-Lee adventures. I think some of her personal growth has been reflected in Lana’s maturity over these last few books, and I am loving that. It keeps these books from being one-note, which is a challenge in a series like this. I think Lana’s stories are just getting better, and I am already looking forward to the next one in the series.

Egalleys for Peking Duck and Cover were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of PEKING DUCK AND COVER (Book 10 of the Noodle Shop mystery series) by Vivien Chien in exchange for an honest review. Ian Sung, the property manager for Asia Village, has organized an event for the Chinese New Year. As usual, he has involved Lana Lee in his plans; this time, she’s supposed to appear before the crowd to present awards. However, the party derails mid-event when Lana finds one of the lion dance team dead from a gunshot masked by the fireworks show. Having found the body, Lana is once again sneaking off to investigate the case while balancing her family life, sister drama, girlfriend responsibilities, and work schedule. It’s a good thing her friends, the aunties, and the Asia Village elders are all willing help!

I liked the book and enjoy the series. I recommend this book and series to fans of cozy murder mysteries featuring retail environments, special events, old/new world clashes, and family expectations.

#PekingDuckandCoverANoodleShopMystery #NetGalley

PEKING DUCK AND COVER was another quick and delightful addition to the Noodle Shop series. It’s always fun to catch up with Lana and her friends/family, and hear what new mystery she’s become embroiled with. This was another fun read, with a simple but compelling mystery, and continued developing depth of characters and relationships.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review PEKING DUCK AND COVER.