Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutano - Review
Review Snapshot:
What mood is this right for: For when you’re wondering what your grandmother would do if she found a body in her apartment.
Length (Audio): 10hrs 41 min
Genre: Mystery | Cozy
Source: Libro.FM
Where to Buy: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - Affiliate Link - Free with a trial of Audible
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
1 Sentence Summary: Murder but make it tea filled & cozy
My Thoughts:
So we start this book with Vera Wong in her tea shop “Vera Wang’s Famous Tea Store” (yes Vera Wang…a little preview of the humor you will get in this book). On morning she walks downstairs to discover a dead body. Hilary ensues as she takes it upon herself to assist the police in solving this crime. You will find yourself giggling throughout this whole book from Vera’s top-tier commentary.
While this book is largely plot driven, it leans heavily on Vera’s character and charm. By the end of this book, I wanted to be adopted into Auntie Vera’s little family. Her dynamic with the rest of the cast is heartwarming. Especially with Julia’s daughter Emma. I smiled in every scene of them together. Vera could have easily been very one dimensional but, these relationships really gave her emotional depth and softness. I am a sucker for the found family trope. It’s going to be really hard for me to ever give that fewer than 3 stars.
That said, there are few things that kept this from being quite 5 stars for me. I don’t think we have to sacrifice believable just because we’re in the cozy genre. There were a lot of parts to the plot that just felt easy and unrealistic. While cozy mysteries are for when you don’t want a ton of stakes or you aren’t looking to be challenged by a plot, I still think this category owes its readers a believable plot. There were just one to many coincidences and easy finds in this one.
The ending took me by suprise, not with the mystery but in how emotional it was. While we really do come to detest the “victim” Marshall throughout the book, the shift in tone was surprising. I do think switch up in emotion helped the ending overall as it made up for slight predictability of the end.
Final thoughts, if you like Cozy Mysteries, you will definitely love this one. Vera Wong is a character you absolutely need in your life. This book is the perfect way to listen to on your morning walk or to spend a rainy day reading. It will leaving you laughing and smiling the rest of the day.
Where to Buy: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - Affiliate Link - Free with a trial of Audible
