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Sign up todayVera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
A Vera Wong Novel: Book #1
Narrator
Eunice Wong
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
10 hours 41 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“I immediately cared deeply about Vera, the Chinese mother whose tea shop is failing and whose grown son ignores her. Eunice Wong’s audiobook performance was perfectly done to bring out the many sides of Vera. The mystery is enjoyable, but the connections the characters make with each other are what really drive the plot. ”
— Colleen • Read Between The Lynes
Bookseller recommendation
“This book is a cozy mystery about the soul-healing power of found family. What hooked me was Vera’s indomitable personality - and her cooking. The descriptions of meals had my mouth watering. Jesse Sutanto weaves humor and lightness into a story about loneliness and finding yourself again after years of manipulation. With such likeable characters, I forgot I was reading a murder mystery! ”
— Courtney • Greene Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto is a sweet, found family, murder mystery. The main character is a hilarious, bossy woman who finds a dead body in her tea shop one morning. She decides the police are not investigating properly, so she does her own version of detective work. In the process, she helps a group of people heal from past hurts and learn to appreciate the lives they have. It’s a good mystery, with plenty of charm and humor to make it a fast read. I highly recommend it for cozy mystery fans. ”
— Natalie • Katy Budget Books
Bookseller recommendation
“What a delightful mystery. I loved Vera's determinedness and point of view, and I love how she's sure she knows more than everyone else. She's sharp, flawed, and lovable. ”
— Stacy • The Curious Cat Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“A perfect book. Not since Anxious People have I fallen in love with a group of people so fast, and Vera Wong is just the best anchor of all. A book that i need made into a movie/show immediately, and I need a sponsored line of teas cause the descriptions of the flavors had me drooling. The ending was incredibly satisfying, and knowing Sutanto's background in romance helps explain the gorgeous emotional resonance of each of the interpersonal links in the books. obsessed and can't stop recommending this book to literal strangers on the street. Read it as an audiobook and the voice acting was phenomenal. ”
— Nyawira • Page 158 Books
Bookseller recommendation
“In true Jesse Q. Sutanto fashion, her newest book brings lovable characters, hijinks, and a rollicking good time. I don't know how she makes murder so wholesome and funny but she does in a forget-your-worries-and-only-read-this-book way every time.”
— Kimi • Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“So funny! Narrator, Eunice Wong nailed the main character. Both the narrator and author, Jessie Q. Sutanto, are of Chinese descent, and Wong portrayed Auntie Vera in a funny and loving way. This was our bookshop reading group pick in July 2023 and everyone loved it! ”
— Barb • Maria's Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“When a man is found dead in Vera Wong’s tea shop, the aging Vera uses it as an excuse to expand her limited horizons. Lonely in a shop with no customers and a son too busy to visit, Vera vows to find the murderer - even when no foul play is detected. In trying to lure the killer back to the scene of the crime, she instead attracts three people associated with the dead guy and winds up creating a found family with them all. And also, she catches the murderer. Fun, not-so-mysterious mystery, especially as Eunice Wong's reading is wonderful. ”
— Karrie • Vroman's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved this book, it was so much fun. It hits a lot notes - it's funny and also has some family drama and a good mystery. I loved Vera Wang! ”
— Melli • The Book Rack of Fort Walton Beach
A USA Today bestseller
Edgar Award Winner for Best Original Paperback
Audie Award Winner for Mystery
Libby Award Winner for Best Mystery
A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.
Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.
Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would 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 knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.
What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?
Jesse Q. Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Indonesia, Singapore, and Oxford, and considers all three places her home. She has a masters from Oxford University. When she is not writing, she is gaming with her husband or making a mess in the kitchen with her two daughters.
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Reviews
"Vera Wong is my new favorite sleuth! This book is comfort food for the soul. Every chapter is bursting with wisdom and heart."—Elle Cosimano, USA Today bestselling author of Finlay Donovan Is Killing It"Following the success of Dial A for Aunties, Sutanto is back with another charmer, this time following the exploits of orthopedic-sneaker-wearing Vera Wong Zhuzhu, who finds a dead body in her Chinatown tea shop. When the police investigation isn’t thorough enough for her liking, she concocts a plan to find the murderer, aided by a locked flash drive she found on the body and stashed away for safekeeping. Sutanto excels at skewering with affection, and an earnest hilarity shines through in this entertaining whodunit."—The Washington Post
“A mystery with warmth, humor, and many descriptions of delicious teas and foods. Recommended for fans of Sutanto and of character-driven cozy mysteries.”—Library Journal, starred review
"Sutanto hits all the right notes in this cozy mystery, perfectly blending meddling, murder and found family."—BookPage, starred review
“Vivid sensory descriptions of the custom teas Vera concocts and the elaborate feasts she prepares further heighten the feel-good appeal. Literary comfort food in the guise of a quirky whodunit.”—Kirkus
“Jesse’s core strength is ultimately this: whatever she writes, she writes with passion and a lot of heart.”—The Jakarta Post
"Vera is an indelible comic creation who will hopefully pop up in many future books."—Minneapolis Star Tribune
"I'll promise you this: you've never met a character quite like Vera Wong, and once she gets under your skin, you'll never forget her, nor will you want to. Vera is a force, and so is author Jesse Q. Sutanto, spinning a compulsively readable story with intrigue, humor, and above all, heart. Get ready for this cast of loveable characters to feel like family, pulling you into their beautifully interwoven lives and the mystery linking them together. Smart, wholly original, and brimming with emotion, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers feels like the warmest hug that you'll never want to end."—Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here
"I love this book and I LOVE the feisty Vera Wong! Once again, Jesse Sutanto delivers laugh-out-loud hijinks that are all wrapped up in charm and heart (and a dead body). 10/10 recommend this delightful ride!"—Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Wager
"Jesse Sutanto has once again weaved her magic and gifted us with another winner. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is a signature Sutanto creation, a feel-good genre-defying comedic whodunnit with a superb cast of characters headed by the indomitable, chaotically funny Vera, indubitably one of the best senior protagonists I've seen in a long while. A+, no notes."—Lauren Ho, bestselling author of Last Tang Standing and Lucie Yi Is Not A Romantic
"Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is flawless. With a clever plot filled with marvellous, lovable characters who feel like real people, it's laugh-inducing, heart-warming, and fabulously crafted. Truly a joy to read."—India Holton, bestselling author of The League of Gentlewomen Witches
"Step aside, Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes! Vera Wong is on the case! A murder mystery with a found-family story at its heart, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is delightful, compelling, and laugh-out-loud funny. I couldn’t put this book down!"—Jenny L. Howe, author of The Make-Up Test
“A staggering, masterful suspense confection, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is quite simply one of my favorite novels of all time. The kind of book you want to reread every year in order to revisit its brilliant world. Vera will delight, charm, and steal your heart. A propulsive, delectable blend of Knives Out meets The Maid shot through with Sutanto’s customary raucous sense of humor and gift for astonishing twists, Vera is an instant classic.”—May Cobb, author of My Summer Darlings
"Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is like the perfect cup of tea: complex, carefully brewed, with a zing of humor and a warm, sweet finish. A funny, charming, delightful book."—Amy Clarke, author of Girl, 11
"Vera knows best in this hilarious mystery. Jesse Sutanto is masterful in delivering hijinks in this warm-hearted story that brings together a unique cast of characters. Vera is a force who reminds us that meddling moms are not to be messed with."—Julie Tieu, author of Circling Back to You
“The story brilliantly captured the characters and the cultural lifestyles and traditions of the group. The plot has some twists and turns, but this story is about more than solving a mystery.”
—Mystery and Suspense Magazine
"This book is GREAT! Vera may very well be the best character in books all year.”—Red Carpet Crash
"This cozy mystery is absolutely astonishing in managing to be simultaneously humorous, deeply intelligent, and a precisely delivered target strike to my many already complicated feelings regarding being both Asian and Asian American in the 21st century.”—Criminal Element Expand reviews
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