Vera Wong, who owns 'Vera Wang's World-Famous Teahouse' in San Francisco, describes herself as a typical Chinese mother. This means Vera is respectable, would do anything for her children, knows all there is to know, is good at sniffing out wrongdoing, and - in general - is a formidable force.
Vera recently solved a murder case, and having caught the 'detective bug', Vera is looking for another homicide to clear up. Vera's investigative method is to ply everyone with delightful teas and scrumptious food, which induces people to confide in her.
Happily for Vera, she stumbles on another mystery when she goes to the San Francisco Police Department to report a phone scam. A Chinese girl named Millie is hovering in front of the police station, looking uncertain. Vera whisks Millie off to her teahouse and plies her with tea made with dried candied winter melon peel with goji berries and rose petals.
Millie then confides that her Chinese-Indonesian friend Thomas is missing, and she's afraid something bad happened to him. Millie shows Vera a photo of Thomas, who looks like a K-pop star, and Vera wants to find him, but doesn't know how.
Then Vera lucks out. While cat-sitting for her son Tilly - a lawyer, and his girlfriend Selena - a police detective, Vera spies Selena's briefcase and snoops inside.
Among other things Vera finds a file about an Asian-American man fished out of Mile Rock Beach, a suspected suicide. The unidentified man is a John Doe, and when Vera looks at his picture, she discovers he's Millie's missing friend Thomas. On Instagram, Thomas is an influencer who calls himself Xander, and his photos feature fancy parties and private jets. When Vera shares this information with Millie, the girl is shocked because Thomas could never afford this lifestyle.
Vera is certain Xander was murdered, and - against the advice of her family and friends - sets out to discover who killed him. Vera manages to track down Xander's talent manager TJ Vasquez;
Xander's influencer girlfriend Aimes;
and Xander's honorary grandfather Qiang Wen.
However, despite Vera's wonderful food, they all seem to be keeping secrets. Vera then becomes a culinary star on Tiktok, and uses her platform to seek information about Xander.
Someone doesn't want Vera investigating Xander's death, and she's vandalized and threatened - but this doesn't deter a Chinese mother.
The story is filled with interesting people, including Vera's neighbors in Chinatown and her 'extended family' - really a group of people Vera met during her first murder investigation.
Vera is both annoying and endearing, as seen in her interactions with others. For example:
Vera calls her son Tilly's girlfriend Selena her 'future daughter-in-law', and encourages the couple to have 'sexy time' so she can have grandbabies.
Sixty-year-old Vera calls herself a little old lady when it suits her, but she actually thinks of herself as a spry forty-year-old.
Vera carries Tiffin containers filled with food almost everywhere she goes, and feeds everyone in sight.
Vera constantly spars with her Chinese neighbor Winifred, who has a Korean/French patisserie, and - to Vera's envy - has two adorable grandbabies.
The story has a dark undercurrent of criminal activity that's central to the plot. In the end, Vera is a fun heroine who solves a crime and adds to her family of 'adopted kinfolk.'
Many yummy foods are featured in the book, such as Chinese barbecue pork; salt and pepper squid; cold peanut noodles; three-cup chicken; vegetarian dumplings; and more.
Chinese Barbecue Pork
Salt and Pepper Squid
Cold Peanut Noodles
Three Cup Chicken
Vegetarian Dumplings
I enjoyed the novel and look forward to more of Vera Wong's adventures.
Thanks to Netgalley, Jesse Q. Sutanto, and Berkley Publishing Group for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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