Reading between the Lines
Can’t Go Wrong with Vera Wong
by Jessica Martell
A meddling tea shop proprietor puts her
considerable talents to use assisting in a murder
investigation after the victim is found dead on the floor of her tea house. Image credit: amazon.com
Vera Wong is one of the most charismatic, outrageous and lovable characters in contemporary fiction. Set in a fading corner of Chinatown in present-day San Francisco, “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers” by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a laugh-out-loud murder mystery featuring a victim who had it coming and an eclectic collection of sympathetic suspects.
Vera Wong is a 60-year-old widow who runs a tea shop and a tight ship. Vera has the discipline and rigidity of a drill instructor, rising at 4:30 a.m. each morning.
“The upper half of her body levitates from the mattress—no lazy rolling out of bed for Vera, though admittedly, sitting up in bed now comes with about half a dozen clicks and clacks of her joints”
Early on, it is subtly revealed that Vera is neglected by her son and her tea shop is neglected by customers; indeed, readers might be tempted to feel sorry for her except she’s a battle ax who needs no sympathy. In fact, Vera isn’t above using all manner of machinations—fibs, guilt, bribery—to steamroll her way into doing what’s best for her son, her customers and her murder suspects.
In her orthopedic shoes and sun visor, Vera puts a comedic spin on the meddling old woman trope. She holds traditional values, but she refuses to get left behind by the trends of the younger generation. This is especially evident in her texts with her son Tilbert, whom she refers to affectionately as “Tilly.”
“Tilly, I notice that this girl @NotChloeBennet has liked TWO of your videos on the TikTok! I think this means she likes you. I look at her profile and she pout a lot, but I think she will make good wife. She went with her mother for manicure last week, this means she is a filial daughter. Perhaps you should slip and slide into her DM. Kind regards, Mama.”
The clash of Vera’s old world values and her valiant attempts to stay relevant are absurdly hilarious and charmingly realistic.
This tea shop proprietor gets the opportunity to put her considerable talents to use when she awakens one morning to find Marshall Chen’s dead body on the floor of her tea house. Suddenly, Vera has a number of new customers, each of whom she considers a suspect in a death the police don’t consider suspicious. While Vera “assists” the investigation, it turns out that the real work she’s doing is acting as an antidote to the toxicity Chen inflicted on those closest to him.
A unique feature of this whodunit is that it is told by a third-person-limited narrator who rotates through the perspectives of several characters. Most of the chapters focus on Vera, but the reader also meets the victim’s widow, Julia, along with Riki, Sana and Oliver. For additional texture, Sutanto also treats readers to pages of the notebook housing “Vera Wong’s Murder Case.”
In “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers,” this unlikely sleuth mixes teas like potions, and she is a fierce warrior for those who need one. Fans of murder mysteries will surely get a hoot out of Vera, and find themselves hoping this standalone novel eventually becomes book one of an endless series.
Jessica Martell spent 17 years as a high school English teacher before accepting her current position as an educational consultant. She and her husband live in Munith with their two cats.
