One of the things I love about working in a library is handling books, looking at covers, reading titles. Her Royal Spyness, Cheddar off Dead, Death Bee Comes Her, Assault on Pepper, Up to No Gouda. Even without a dog or cat on the cover to catch my attention, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto stood out. Her title, Dial A for Aunties stood out, too, but The Library District didn’t have enough copies!
At the meeting, our first responder called the book delightful, a fun story, cleverly written. Our next mentioned what turned out to be common opinion – Vera wasn’t immediately likeable, but she grew on us. Saying “She was a bossy bitch” actually made us laugh. Another member liked how much a difference Vera made in everyone’s lives, but he found the story a bit verbose.
We marveled at all the cooking Vera managed. One of us was fascinated by how she drew so many people together in the face of calamity. He was particularly touched by how Vera won over Emma. Another member found Vera’s skill at manipulating people remarkable. We wondered at what one member called the halo effect. When I looked this up later, the halo effect[i] is considered cognitive bias or an error in reasoning – but the application is fitting because the way Vera presents herself and their biases made people respond to Vera in a way that was effective.
We weren’t completely won over, though. Several people thought Emma was too precocious for a two-year old. One member did not have sympathy for Vera and was pleased that the author focused on other characters’ viewpoints. We weren’t convinced about Vera’s powers, but that halo effect . . .
We had some pleasant side conversations. Julia’s re-found passion for photography was inspiring. One of us has taken up writing down words – inspired by another member’s example. Most of the unusual words in this book are not English. We talked about color contrasts and keeping the misspelled sign: “Vera Wang’s World Famous Teahorse.”
(Spoiler alert) Most of us were surprised by the identity of the murderer and only two of us figured it out. No one wanted any of the main characters to be guilty and unless the author brought in a ringer – who could it be? One of us asked if anyone had considered Tilly? This made us pause – he would have been an interesting choice! But would that have fit the cozy expectation? We certainly loved how surprised Tilly was, seeing his mother in a hospital bed surrounded by people he didn’t know she knew!
Was this a cozy mystery?[ii] Amateur sleuth, focusing on community, minimal violence and sex, often including a romance – think Miss Marple. One of us realized that a book he had come across fit this description exactly, adding the common element of a dog or cat. When he looked up the author, he realized there were 20 books in the series. I wish I could remember the name. Send in or bring your cozy-mystery recommendations!
In the meantime, Vera’s next mystery is out: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on A Dead Man). Also, checkout the comments for some nice responses from members who couldn’t attend the meeting.
- WORDS:
- Congee: rice porridge “a steaming bowl of freshly cooked congee.” Page 190
- Astaga: Oh, my! (an interjection) wordhippo.com[iii]
- TEAS:
- Jin Xuan Oolong Tea. I brought these tea bags to the meeting but did not serve tea. According to Vera, tea must be brewed properly. If you’d like to try it, I still have some. I can’t vouch for the quality. This is the tea Vera served to Riki. “Ah, Jin Xuan, one of the best type of tea. Is also called ‘milk tea’ because the taste is so creamy and sweet, almost like milk.” Page 46
- Yeo’s Crysanthemum Tea Drink. I brought this canned drink for us to try. It was lightly sweet and plain.
[i] https://www.britannica.com/science/halo-effect
[ii] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/the-cozy-mystery-explained/
[iii] https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/indonesian-word-0416d4a9e0a7f893615e0ebd49eb97bea9b36bfd.html
WhitneyBookBistro 
Nice post! Enjoyed the involvement and fun.
From CB in South Carolina:
I listened to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers last year and I was happy to see it as a book club selection for this month, as I really enjoyed it. I listened to it again, and found it just as enjoyable as the first time. I hope the group will enjoy it too.
I found the characters very endearing, didn’t want any one of them to be guilty, and worried about it throughout the book. I was relieved that it wasn’t any of the four, but it was very sad that Marshall’s father killed his own son. I could see how Alex Chen would be overcome by anger at discovering Marshall’s true character, and guilt over how he had treated Oliver. I thought the author’s depiction of this unraveling was really well-written. It also made me wonder if this could be considered a sort of male “honor killing?”
I didn’t feel that Vera was a stereotype, although many writers would have turned her into one. In a U-tube interview with the author, she stated that Vera was based 80% on her mother and 20% on her father, who wake up at 4:30 and think Jesse is lazy because she doesn’t, and have actually said things like, “If you drink cold water, it will freeze the fat in your arteries and you will have a heart attack,” or “If you go to sleep past 9 pm, you will have liver damage.” After listening to the author describe several interchanges with her family, I feel like Vera is pretty authentic.
I enjoy reading reviews to see what others think and to gain new insights. All of the reviews I read were positive, except for two. One person got bored and stopped reading and the other doled out some harsh criticisms of the book’s structure. I thought about it and decided that the first one did not appreciate, and therefore could not enjoy, the cozy murder mystery genre and the second one must be completely off base, as the author has a master’s degree in creative writing from Oxford, and probably knows much more about structure than a blogger named Brittany.
I thought the part about Vera drawing an outline of the body and making tea for the police was hilarious! There were many other funny bits, but there were also serious issues like abuse, theft, grief, and the communication gaps between generations.
I loved that Vera, who seemed very lonely and overlooked (like many elderly people), found purpose, ostensibly by solving a murder, but really I feel, by mothering four other lost souls and creating a kind of family.
From CB in Las Vegas:
I love Vera Wong and I want her for my Baba.
I like the descriptions of tea and food. I want to try her dumplings and the chrysanthemum tea.
Seriously, I have found a new author and my “to be read” list just got much longer.
I liked all the characters and the ways that they interacted. I think the essential message is that family is the people you really care about. The ending was good, and not too sweet. I was kinda expecting everyone to end up being paired off like a Hallmark movie. But the author resisted that impulse and we ended up with one couple, some friends, and one poor old man on trial.
Thank you for the selection.
From MR:
I loved Vera-she was a hoot! I enjoyed the character development and the surprise ending. I had no idea that Alex, the only patron of the tea shop and Oliver’s father were the same person and turned out to be the murderer. As a grandmother of a clever little 2-year old, I questioned some of Emma’s vocabulary. This one surprised me, “And that’s inflaaation.” She was very “mature” for her age. Just saying.
The author is Laurien Berenson. The first book is A Pedigree to Die For. Her biography and bibliography on wikipedia.org.