Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

I’m going to admit something that probably makes librarians everywhere collectively sigh in disappointment: I absolutely picked up Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers because the cover looked cute. I saw the cover, thought it looked fun, and decided that was enough information for me.

Thankfully, this was one of the rare occasions where judging a book by its cover completely paid off.

The story follows Vera Wong, an older woman who owns a tea shop that she proudly insists is “world famous,” despite the unfortunate reality that it’s not exactly drawing massive crowds from the neighborhood. Vera lives a very routine life until one morning she walks downstairs and discovers a dead body in her tea shop. Rather than reacting with horror like most people probably would, Vera quickly becomes convinced that the local police department is not handling the investigation properly.

Now, to be clear, Vera’s qualifications for solving a murder are almost entirely based on the fact that she watches a lot of CSI. In her mind, this makes her more than capable of handling a criminal investigation herself, and her confidence throughout the entire book is one of the funniest parts of the story.

As Vera begins investigating the murder, she starts gathering information from the various people connected to the victim. Or, as she would put it, the suspects. Over time, though, those suspects slowly evolve into something much more meaningful as unexpected friendships begin to form and Vera inserts herself into all of their lives, whether they asked her to or not.

Yes, technically, this is a mystery novel. There’s a dead body, there are secrets, there’s an investigation, and there are plenty of moments where you genuinely want to know what happened. But the mystery almost feels secondary to the relationships that develop throughout the story. More than anything else, this book is charming. It’s warm, funny, surprisingly emotional at times, and filled with the kind of found family dynamic that makes you want to keep spending time with the characters long after the story ends.

Vera is hilarious! A lot of it comes from her absolute certainty that she knows what’s best for everyone around her, combined with her tendency to offer unsolicited life advice to basically every person she encounters. She’s nosy, opinionated, dramatic, and somehow still incredibly lovable.

And this book is so surprisingly comforting. Even with the murder mystery element, the overall tone stays incredibly light and cozy. It never drifts into dark thriller territory, which I appreciated. Instead, it feels like the literary equivalent of curling up with tea and listening to someone tell you neighborhood gossip.

There are also several subplots woven throughout the story, and nearly all of them added something meaningful to the emotional core of the book. The friendships, the loneliness many of the characters are experiencing, the ways they slowly begin showing up for each other…all of it felt very genuine underneath the humor and chaos.

If you’re someone who loves fast-paced, gritty thrillers filled with nonstop suspense, this may not fully satisfy that craving. But if you’re looking for something lighter, sweeter, and genuinely enjoyable that still gives you a little mystery to solve along the way, I really can’t recommend this one enough.

It’s the kind of book that leaves you smiling while reading it.

And now I’m left wondering whether Vera Wong could solve every fictional murder simply through aggressive hospitality and unsolicited emotional support.