Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) ~ Jesse Sutanto
Vera Wong is back in this sequel to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, and I couldn’t be happier. A year after Vera came downstairs in her San Francisco Chinatown tea shop and found a dead man, her life has new meaning. She has a group of found family, young people who were actually her suspects in that murder, and her son Tilly is living with Selena, the detective who was working on that case. Her shop is bustling. But she is bored and needs a challenge. If only another person would end up dead so she could get involved and help solve the murder!
Be careful what you wish for Vera, because after she is scammed out of some money and goes to the police station to talk to Selena, she meets Millie. Millie is looking for a missing friend, Xander. When snoopy Vera finds information in Selena’s briefcase about Xander, she decides she needs to get involved. What follows is more ridiculous fun, lots of cozy descriptions of Vera’s excellent cooking, new friendships (and suspects), and some pretty dark themes towards the end of the book.
I got a little tired of hearing the word ‘comforting’ used to describe food (I listened to the audio) but otherwise I loved this book, and was happy to spend more time with the gracious and bossy Vera Wong.
Definitely recommended, but read the books in order. (I mean, you don’t HAVE TO, but I suggest it.)
10 Comments
Margaret
I haven’t read the Vera Wong series although I have heard of it. Are they funny? Some books do repeat words or phrases too much; once we become aware of them, it can be annoying.
J
I found them to be very funny, yes.
Elisabeth
I read the first book and keep forgetting to put the second on hold. The first one was hilarious, so I’m excited for Round 2!
J
I suspect you will love it!
Suzanne
I only recently read the first book and thought it was predictable but very cute. My complaint about that book was the repeated use of “gape” to describe people’s surprise. Everyone’s mouths were always gaping or falling open in a gape. But I liked it enough to give this one a shot!
J
LOL, I didn’t notice the gaping…
Yes, the story was predicable enough, but I just love Vera, so I will probably read any book that has her sleuthing.
Ernie
Vera sounds like a hoot. I appreciate knowing that there’s a book before this one that I should read first. Thanks for the recommendation.
J
Vera is definitely a hoot! There’s a scene where a school principal shames a 12 year old girl for not wearing a bra, and Vera is PERFECTION.
K @ TS
I am looking forward to reading this, as I did like the first one! I put it on hold the other day when you mentioned it! I thought she would annoy me, but I ended up liked Vera in the end!
J
I love Vera!