Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…

Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.

Paperback, 339 pages

Audiobook, 10hours, 41 minutes

Published March 14, 2023 

by Berkley

4/5 stars

This isn't my first Jess Q. Sutanto book, I love how she can write serious mystery/suspense reads and then a fun, humerous story, though still a murder mystery.

I picked up the audiobook for this read and I'm so glad I did. The the narrator had the perfect voice and accent to bring Vera Wong to life, her personality absolutely shined through.

Vera Wong was the kind of character I couldn't help rooting for. Opinionated, nosy and completely convinced she knows best. She stumbles into a murder investigation the way only Vera could, with complete confidence and zero hesitation. Given this said murder literally happened on her doorstep, how could she not take charge.  But what makes this book more than just a murder mystery is the heart woven through it.  This is also a story about family and friendship, and those threads give the book a warmth that stayed with me.

I really enjoyed the cast of unreliable suspects, they kept me on my toes and just when I thought I had things figured out, the ending surprised me completely. A satisfying conclusion that tied everything together nicely.  Can't wait to read book 2, and yes I will continue the audio route.

Though this book was part of my 2026 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge (#21), I obtained the audiobook from Spodify.