Book Review: Hot and Sour Suspects by Vivien Chien

 

Hot and Sour Suspects (Noodle Shop #8). Vivien Chien. St. Martin's Press (2022). 320 pages. Genre: Cozy Mystery.  

First Line: "'You young folks and your weird dating concepts,' my father, William Lee, said with an amused smirk."

Summary:  Ho-Lee Noodle House is hosting a speed dating event.  This is something new for them and the hope is it will bring new customers.  As manager of the restaurant, Lana Lee is in charge of the event.  The evening goes better than expected.  Just as Lana and her best friend Megan are planning to host another event at the restaurant, Rina Su, fellow Asia village shop owner, calls to let Lana know that the man she was matched with at the speed dating event has been murdered.  Rina is the number one suspect.  

Lana and Megan don't believe Rina is capable of murder, but the facts are pointing to her.  As the two of them begin digging into the murdered man's past, they discover he has left a trail of offended co-workers, angry neighbors and several spurned women.  The line of suspects is long.  Complicating matters is the fact that Lana's boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, has been assigned to the case.  This means that involving herself in the case will not only possibly get her in trouble with law enforcement, but could ultimately mean the end of her relationship.  Even though the stakes are high, Lana can't help but get involved.

My thoughts:  One of the things I like about this series is the relationships Lana has with her friends and family.  She has a great family that is always there for her, but sometimes things don't go smoothly.  One of the secondary storylines involves Lana's sister, Anna May.  Lana and Anna May are complete opposites and Lana views her sister as the perfect Chinese daughter, while she views herself as the rebellious one.  Anna May has been dating a man, who it turns out is not who she thought he was.  Lana is tempted to be snarky with her about it, but instead does her best to be a supportive sister.  This scenario gives the reader a glimpse into the workings of a Chinese family.  News spreads like wildfire amongst the women in the Asian community and if the truth comes out about Anna May's relationship, it will cast a negative glow on the family.  In Lana's attempt to be a supportive sister, she decides to spread a false rumor about her sister's relationship that will be better than the truth.  But that plan backfires and ends up making matters worse.  This added some comic relief from the tension of the main storyline. 

Another thing I appreciate about this series is the author's ability to write a tight mystery.  The mysteries are well thought out and believable.  You don't have to take a leap of faith to go along with the story. There are no loose ends.  There are always plenty of layers to uncover and that is definitely the case in this mystery.  

Dating the detective on the case definitely made it harder for Lana and Megan to dig around.  However, I appreciated the way that Lana and Adam discussed the situation.  Adam is unbelievably understanding of Lana's propensity to have to figure out what happened.  But, Lana also completely understands why Adam doesn't want her to get involved.  

Hot and Sour Suspects is a great addition to this series.  Each book has been equally strong and I hope the series will continue.  

There is an author's note at the beginning of the book letting the reader know about the author's recent struggle with ovarian cancer.  I appreciate author's notes of any kind and this one gave a little perspective to the story.  

Quotes: 

"Naturally, because I felt a sense of urgency, Kikko did not.  She took her sweet time smelling individual blades of grass while I tried to calm my nerves."

"One thing my mother taught us growing up that stuck with me is never to take ourselves too seriously.  She took great care in guiding my sister and me on navigating the differences between joking around and mean-spirited comments."

"I'd been slipping on some self-care items, like perusing a bookstore at my leisure.  It was one of my favorite things to do.  There is no better place to cast out all your worries."