Play Book Tag discussion

What a fabulous book. Vera Wong owns a small teashop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She is a widow who lives above the shop and watches a lot of CSI. Vera’s shop has slowly become run down and is now only frequented by one customer. When she suddenly finds a dead body in her shop, she believes that she’s the only one who can solve the case.

The dead man is Marshall Chen. Vera is annoyed that the police don’t seem to know what they’re doing and refuse her help. She feels justified in taking the flash drive hidden in Marshall’s palm and decides to run her own investigation. She places an obituary for Chen in the paper. She knows killers often return to the scene of the crime and is happy when four viable suspects turn up at her store.

The book is narrated by five different characters: Vera, Julia (Marshall Chen’s widow), Oliver (Marshall’s twin brother), Riki (an acquaintance of Marshall who is pretending to be a Buzzfeed reporter), and Sana (another acquaintance of Marshall who is pretending to be a true crime podcaster). As she gets to know her prime suspects, she can’t help but get attached to them.

The main plot and the various subplots concerning the four suspects are crafted with charm and there are several clues to the identity of the murderer hidden among each of their narratives.

This was such a fun cozy mystery. Vera is constantly offering observations, "as a Chinese mother, Vera has had years of practice at harboring unrealistic expectations." It was well written and filled with fantastic characters. I found it a fast-paced, lighthearted, heartwarming read that had me laughing out loud in several spots. I highly recommend it.

Thank you for your review - I have this on my TBR, but there is such a long hold list at the library. I might have to see if Kindle have a deal on it.