Book Review: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Title: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Series/Standalone: Vera Wong Series (Book #1)

Genre: Mystery, Adult Fiction, Cozy Mystery

Pages: 339

Publisher: Berkley

Year Published: 2023

Format: Audiobook

"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 college-aged 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?"

My Rating: 5/5

This was unlike other cozy mysteries that I've read. Mostly because it centred around a main character I hadn't read from before. Her narrative throughout the mystery kept me intrigued and laughing throughout. I loved the way we got to see so many sides of her character the woman, the mother, the community leader and more. I can't wait to read more. 

Sidny

Book Review: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

Author: Matt Dinniman

Series/Standalone: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book #3)

Genre: Science Fiction, Adult, Dystopian, LitRPG

Pages: 532

Publisher: Indie Published

Year Published: 2021

Format: Ebook (Kindle Unlimited)

"Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top 10 list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly useless book.

Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon."

My Rating: 4.25/5

I enjoyed the character development in this third instalment. The plot twists and the change of pace were interesting. I was grateful that the author started this book with the warning that it was confusing and not to worry about it that everything would come together in the end. That being said, it was still a lot of exposition and explanation. It did burn me out a bit, and we (my husband and I, since we're buddy reading) will be taking a little break. I hope to pick up the next one before the end of the year.

Sidny