This story was a lot of fun—though there were several moments where I had to shake my head at the actions Vera took, because while it was obvious that what she was doing was wrong it was also so very believable that someone like her would do exactly that. All of the side characters were a bunch of fun too, and I enjoyed getting to know them over the course of the investigation.

I did figure out "whodunnit" before the big reveal, though I couldn't give any evidence or motive for it. Still, I enjoyed seeing all the theories that the characters had (okay, it was mostly Vera) get built up and then unravel. I also greatly enjoyed seeing the characters develop various relationships with each other, and was pleased that it wasn't all couples hooking up, but that the group truly turned into a lovely found family. That was a very refreshing subplot.

For the most part I listened to the audiobook. However, I didn't care for the way the narrator voiced Emma. I didn't mind the way the little girl was written, but I didn't like the way she sounded in the audiobook. So I did read some of the scenes in print (yay library!) because of the way Emma sounded. On the other hand, the other characters' voices—especially Vera's—were great, and the audio enhanced the read for those characters.

Just one warning: if you're familiar with (and a fan of) Chinese cooking, this book will make you hungry. Vera cooks so much delicious sounding food, and I wanted to try all of it. ( )

Vera Wong runs a tea shop in China town and things are going according to her usual routine until, one morning, she comes across a dead body in her tea shop. She goes about things in her own way and, initially, at least, this I found very irritating and stupid. She places an obituary and waits for the murderer to return to the scene of the crime. In order, 4 young people show up and she gradually gets involved in their lives while viewing them as suspects in "her" murder. There is something in this about the disconnected lives that we often lead, isolated from family and the interaction between generations. Vera comes across as a very specific type of Chinese mother (and I do feel for her son), but she fits into her new role as mother figure to the young people remarkably well. The solution of the murder doesn't come with the feeling of success that she imagines, it is actually quite sad. Vera seems to have found her niche and to have a purpose in life that comes from the meetings with the people involved. ( )

In a Nutshell: Great as a dramedy; decent as a mystery. Straddles well the thin line between being comical and being stereotypical. Entertaining but predictable.

Story Synopsis:

Vera Wong is a sixty-year-old teashop owner in San Francisco, and like every Asian mom, she is an expert not just in tea brewing. She loves her son Tilly though he doesn’t have time for her, and she stays updated about everything from “the Google.”
When she wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her teashop, Vera knows that she can do a much better job than the police at catching the killer. Within a couple of days, Vera has her list of suspects ready. Now to nab the culprit!
The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Vera and her various “suspects”.

Here’s what you need to know about the goods and the not-so-goods of this work:

( )

Vera Wong is an elderly widow who runs a teashop in San Francisco. She gets up early every morning and opens the shop, even though she only ever has one customer, and she texts her grown son several times a day, even though she knows he probably won’t respond. But her quiet life takes an abrupt 180 when she wakes up one morning to a dead body in her shop, the police don’t seem interested in calling it a murder, and Vera decides to solve the case on her own.

Adorable. Think Debbie Macomber, but with most of the saccharine replaced with delicious Szechuan. Very much enjoyable. ( )

Vera Wong, a widowed teashop owner, opens her shop one morning and finds a dead body inside. Vera quickly concludes that the police aren’t up to the task—and who better to investigate than a mother who always knows best? While trying to catch the killer, Vera becomes closer than she ever expects to her young suspects—all recent shop customers. A funny and heartwarming read for fans of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. - Andrea ( )