VERA WONG’S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Fiction, Cozy Mystery

3***

Blurb: Ever since a man was found dead in Vera’s teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly’s girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn’t be ungrateful, even if one is slightly…bored. Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena’s, Vera finds a treasure Selena’s briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for. Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can’t seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents. Vera is determined to solve Xander’s murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her future daughter-in-law.

Thoughts: This was a good story and the character of Vera grew on me – though to be honest, I didn’t like her at first. It wasn’t the “voice” – though that took me some time to get into – but more her meddling and insistence on certain things. But by the end of the book, I understood her a lot better and got where she was coming from. What the reader has to understand is that this is the way Chinese mothers are (and a lot of other mothers too!) They want the best for their children and if that means getting mixed up in a murder/human trafficking case, that’s what they’ll do. So when Vera befriends a young woman whose friend dies, she tries to help the girl figure out what happened. Which will also benefit her son’s soon-to-be fiancé (hopefully!). But Vera has no idea of the huge case she is opening up and how much trouble it will bring her.

Recommended with the caveat of the horrible practice of human trafficking and what goes with it.

Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Berkley, for providing this book.