5 Stars

Super quick and thrilling, this mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you slack jawed at the ending. And in true Jesse Q Sutanto style, it’s so fun and laugh out loud funny at times.

Family Drama!!! Everyone is suspect at this Chinese New Year reunion. I didn't see this twist until the reveal, and I love the darker edge it brought to the story. Eunice Wong is always a standout! She has a remarkable ability to make you feel like you're truly in the room.

WOW!!!! This little short story was banging from start to finish!! I honestly had no idea whodunnit and was shaken when it came to fruitation!!

Josephine takes on the family reunion dinner this year after Uncle hurt his ankle, she doesn't expect her son to be bringing someone with him.... She floored to know he is engaged to her too!

During dinner the girl dies.... Turns out she isn't unknown to the family and everyone has a reason to kill her.

It was great! So good! I couldn't believe how well developed it was and the audio was amazing!!

This was my fav of the busybody series

5 stars

I love Jesse Q Sutanto's books, but this short story was just missing her usual hits. I know it is meant to be short, but I was expecting just a little more of a punch, and the ending for me felt truly abrupt.

This is a good, not great audiobook. Fans of Sutanto's Vera Wong series will likely enjoy but just know it's not on par with that book. I think Sutanto works better with more time/pages to flesh out the characters and story.

The best in the series! Loved how fast paced these stories are but this one has Jesse's signature writing style interweaving Filipino culture and traditions. Lots of characters in such a short story but it worked for me. Murder takes place on Chinese New Year and there are a lot of suspects and reasons for motive. I have read three stories in this series so far and this is by far my favorite! Jesse Q. Sutanto shines and delivers! I love her complicated family stories and she added the perfect amount of mystery and whodunnit vibes!

➡️This or That⬅️
*
These advanced copies are from The Busybodies Mysteries Series through Amazon Prime. It has some serious hits from some of our favorite thriller authors. Here are the two short stories I was given!
*
Take it - Staged- This was a murder mystery among a group of relators. Each chapter starts with a little how to sell houses that gets progressively more unhinged. I just thought this was totally unique and unlike anything I’ve read before it was really super fun.
*
Leave it- The Reunion Dinner- I thought this was just a short of boring family drama with an insufferable mom. There were too many characters to follow and it just did not hold my interest at all unfortunately. Normally this author is a hit for me but this was quite a miss.
*
QOTD- do you enjoy reading short story collections ? What’s one you would recommend ? I always love a Stephen King short story
*

The narration is spectacular but as with the rest of this series, I was bored and didn’t connect with nor care about the characters or what was happening at allll

Excellent short story from Sutanto. Fans of her writing and audiobook listeners will like this quick short story and the family dynamics.

3.75 rounded up.

This is a quirky story that is full of drama. The narration of this audio version fit the story and characters perfectly.

The story centers around Chinese New Year and the rights to host the family event. Josephine will do anything to host the event and the result is an unexpected turn to a family meal. Then, there's some figuring out to do when things quickly go sideways! I was not expecting any part of what happened.

Advance reader copy provided by Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

I love a good short story collection.

Particularly, when there’s a good theme throughout.

The Reunion Dinner does well with the whole, Everybody’s A Suspect! trope. Is it the jilted business partner? Or the jilted lover? Or the OTHER jilted lover?

I also loved the Chinese New Year dinner setting.

It’s amazing what a good writer can do with only 50 pages.

It was fine. I like her full length stuff more though. I feel like with this novella there was enough time for JQT to really do her thing.

The cool thing about this author is she has such a wide range of talents and is able to write across genres which I love. I just didn’t really get super invested in this one but it’s a novella so I mean, it happens.

Thank you so much to Brilliance Publishing | Amazon Original Stories for the ALC!

I absolutely love Jesse Q Sutanto books especially Vera Wong and this gave me similar vibes!

It was the perfect "bite size" audiobook clocking in at just about an hour! Perfect for a commute or even a walk! The narrator did an AMAZING job on the performance!

This was a total blast and the ending sealed the deal. So satisfying. I'm sure this will be the best one in the "series" and can definitely be read/listened to as a stand alone.

This will be available October 15th! Make sure to add to your TBR!

3.5⭐️ This one was very fun! I enjoyed the close knit ‘who did it’ murder mystery vibes! The plot twist did get me at the end and I enjoyed the narrator and story.

The Reunion Dinner by Jesse Q. Sutanto is part of Busybodies - a collection of short, quirky mysteries.

The Reunion Dinner is a fun installment to the Busybodies series. It's a bit of a puzzle in the beginning (lots of character coming at you quickly!). But things sort themselves out as the story unfolds. If you're looking for a fun and fast-paced mystery, I definitely recommend. This was my first time reading Jesse Sutanto but I'll definitely be checking out her other titles.

3.7 rounded up to 4.

A family chinese new year party gone wrong when host Josephine’s son brings a surprise fiancée home who doesn’t make it out alive. Following the murder, it becomes clear many people in the family had motives to kill Lacey - so whodunit?

A quick little fun one hour audiobook mystery that is part of the Amazon ‘Busybodies’ collection. The narrator was spot on and I listened in one sitting. It was interesting enough to be a good palette cleanser in between longer reads!

Thank you to Brilliance Pub and NetGalley for the advance listen. Out Oct 15th!

What a fun story! Yes, as a novella, I still found it was too short as I like more development and tons of characters are thrown at you at once, but it’s just like visiting someone’s family for the first time – there’s a lot of people to keep straight and once you spend some time with them, it becomes easier to figure out who’s who. I loved how this all came together when it seemed liked there was no way anyone could have done it. As always, the food descriptions by Sutanto added to the ambiance of the story. I enjoyed it all.