I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto Series: Vera Wong #2
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Berkley on April 1, 2025
Also by this author: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Format: eARC (336 pages) • Source: Publisher
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Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…
Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.
Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.
Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.
Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.
I really enjoyed the first VERA WONG book and was pumped to hear there would be a sequel! I thought the premise was well-suited to a series because Vera is such a unique and interesting main character. I loved the found family vibes and all of the people she brought into her life (that she originally accused of murder…). I thought they’d turn into a nice crime-solving crew for future books!
This story follows Vera as she tries to solve the mysterious death of Xander Lin. Is that even his real name? Or just his online persona? She finds a young distressed woman crying over his death and then just so happens to see some case files in Selena’s briefcase… suddenly Vera has another case to spice up her life.
Vera always describes herself as a “Chinese mother” and that’s why she’s so good at everything she does lol. She has a unique personality that honestly is a little abrasive and off-putting at first. Once you get used to her unique charm, her behavior can be lol-funny at times! I also am desperate to eat some of her food.
Vera collects her suspects and people connected to Xander (very much like the first book). The bones of the book are very similar to the original Vera Wong story in this way. However, the actual plot/mystery is a lot darker and more grim – especially for a cozy mystery. I don’t want to spoil it but look up trigger warnings if you’re concerned about it.
The side characters from the first book were in this, but not as much as I would have hoped or expected. Vera manages to find another group to create a family with in this book, while mixing in some of the previous book’s characters. It was fun to get to know more people but I kind of hope if there are more books, she keeps up with the existing folks she’s adopted and we don’t get yet another group of people. I like how she’s building out a community; there were some nice vulnerable moments about loneliness here from Vera and other characters. She’s not usually vulnerable.
I think people who enjoyed the first book will probably enjoy this sequel – like I said, the general setup of the story is the same and Vera hasn’t changed either. The heavy mystery “topic” felt a little out of place for a cozy mystery and honestly a bit unrealistic given the wider vibe of a Vera Wong mystery, so I would still say I preferred VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS. There’s a big implication we could see another book (along with a potential change of scenery?!), which could be a fun way to change up the story structure we’ve now seen twice. I will absolutely continue to read this series if more come out!
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