More About Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Welcome to the world of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
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?
More About Jesse Q. Sutanto
Jesse grew up going back and forth between Jakarta and Singapore and considers both places her homes. She did her Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford, which is surely one of the most gorgeous places in the world.
She is passionate about women's rights and diversity in publishing and is especially interested in helping writers from marginalized communities. If you are a writer from a marginalized community, say hello to me on Twitter or Instagram! Jesse loves hearing from other writers, even if it's just to say a quick hello.
Thoughts on Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Vera had been on my TBR shelf for a few months but I didn't get around to it until a few days ago when I was rumbling around my house with insomnia and decided to do a little reading at 2 am. About three chapters in I had to stop, I was laughing so much (not little ha-ha chuckles but uncontrolled loud guffaws) that I was worried I would wake up the rest of the house.
This tagline for this book should be "come for the murder, stay for the characters". This book gives us a peek into the inner workings of the amateur sleuth's mind. And Vera's mind is unique. OK, maybe other retired tiger moms think like this but she is new to me. It isn't just Vera, I fell in love with everyone and, like Vera, was horrified by the thought that any on them was the murderer.
Even if you don't normally read murder mysteries, give Vera a try. You'll enjoy meeting Vera and the little family she gathers. She simultaneously tries to unravel a murder and improve the lives of the broken people that are both her friends and her suspects. And she is not subtle. Vera, the human bulldozer.
A Little Extra
Both Vera Wong and the Dial A for Aunties are in development to be limited streaming series. I'm excited! Jesse also has a YA romance series. a YA thriller series and a middle grade adventure series. So, something for the whole family! I liked Vera so much I'm going to check out the Dial A for Aunties series next. Check out her titles HERE.
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