What can I say but I loved this! I have laughed out loud and once again adored Vera and her amateur sleuthing. Another great bunch of characters join Vera’s extended family as she snoops around trying to solve the mystery of the death of a young man. Jesse has such a great talent for bringing an eclectic group of people together and really bringing them to life on the page. Their quirks are what makes them special and I love how they develop throughout the book. Lots of twists and turns, some poignant moments and messages, and all in all a story that lifts your spirits and leaves you feeling happy. I can’t wait for the next book and the promise of Vera and Winifred abroad!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HQ for a copy in exchange for a review.

Vera Wong comes across a distressed girl and decides she needs to help her. The girl is looking for her missing friend, however things end up being not as straight forward as they first seemed. Vera is determined that she will solve this mystery. Will she succeed?

I read my first book by this author last year, You Will Never Be Me, and loved it so was excited to read this one. This is the second book in the Vera Wong series and my first encounter with her. Although this can be read as a standalone, I think it would bring much more pleasure and understanding to read the first book prior to this. It took me a while to work out the characters connections with one another and there are some spoilers from the first book. Even though I regret not reading this in order, I found the book very entertaining and engaging.

Vera is a great character and you can’t help but fall in love with her personality. The other characters are also strongly written. I really enjoyed the mystery element and working out where it was going. I felt a lot of emotions while reading this, at times I was laughing out loud and others were very touching. I also found the Chinese heritage intriguing. Overall this is a great cosy crime mystery but I’d suggest reading the first one before picking this one up. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Absolutely hilarious, while still being a good crime novel. I love Vera, in fact I suspect anyone lucky enough to read this will fall for her too. I long to try her cooking, which is mouth-wateringly described and I would love to be one of her ‘nieces’. A superb read.

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) is a testament to Sutanto’s ability to craft compelling mysteries infused with humour and heart. Fans of the first book will find this sequel equally engaging, while new readers will be charmed by Vera’s unorthodox approach to crime-solving. It’s a delightful read that underscores the importance of community, the complexities of modern identity, and the enduring appeal of a well-brewed cup of tea.

Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto is a unique contemporary offering that entertained me from the start. It is the second book in the Vera Wong series but can be read as a stand-alone.
Vera Wong is a vey likable lead character – a sixty-one-year-old Chinese lady living in San Francisco, with a compulsion to cook for everyone she meets. She has her fingers in many pies too. “She knows that ‘putting a stop’ to anything Vera is doing is probably going to be an exercise in futility.” Vera’s heart has a huge capacity, her meddling comes from her desire to care.
The novel is very light-hearted in tone which counter balances the serious themes of human trafficking and associated crimes.
There is also much humor, specially created by Vera Wong. “I am Chinese mother, all I do is create conflict. You think the C.I.A. know anything about destabilizing? They know nothing compare to me!” Sometimes the humor comes from malapropisms and observations. At other times it is from Vera Wong speaking her mind.
We see that in the world of social media and connection, people have never been more isolated, disconnected and lonely. Vera Wong unites the lonely as she recognizes their deep desire to belong.
I thoroughly enjoyed Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) and read it in just two sittings. I certainly hope there will be more cases for amateur super sleuth Vera Wong to solve.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

This was everything!!!! I read book 1 for the cosy and murder mystery vibes and it was such a great book with authentic Southeast Asian rep, a brilliant sleuth and unguessable suspects! Plus the twist was brilliant!
I wondered if book 2 could achieve the same or similar and it totally did. Who was Xander? Who would kill him? Everything was so brilliantly plotted, I can’t wait to read this again!

First Vera Wong book read
And loved it
Funny,relevant and entertaining whilst keeping a subject that is serious and affects us all at the forefront
Loved the characters and the way the book was written
The only thing to do after reading this to read the first one
Very enjoyable read

The world famous Vera Wong returns, this time with the power of social media!

Of course it takes the true power of real-life community and friendship to crack this case. But for everyone who has been missing Vera as much as me, you’ll be glad to have her back running your life for a few days!

I loved the first Vera Wong book and was very grateful to Netgalley letting me read and review this second book. I love her character and all her foibles. This tale is very timely based on constantly evolving social media and scammers. The old characters are here and Vera is still trying to marry off her son Tilly to Serena the police officer. It has humour , relationships but also investigates a serious issue in society today.

The writing was entertaining and had me laughing throughout. There were some sad and emotional bits weaved in as well, which added a more serious tone to the whole thing. I loved the balance of serious and humorous. It kept my attention from the beginning right through to the end.

I got through this book in a couple of days which is good for me. I looked forward to picking it up at each reading session and was desperate to see what would happen next.

The chapters were long and each was written from the point of view of one character. The chapters were headed with which character's point of view you were reading from so you didn't get confused. You got a good chunk of the story from each character's point of view before moving onto the next character and carrying on with the story. This helped you to keep track of what was going on as you were able to get engrossed in the point of view that you were reading from.

There was a good flow between the chapters. Whilst each chapter was from a different character's point of view, they all seemed to fit seamlessly together.

There was a good pace to the book, with the story moving forward well. You didn't linger on anything for too long. There was a good balance between being given information and keeping the story moving.

The characters were excellent. You got to meet the characters from the first book again, but I don't think that it really mattered if you hadn't read the first book. There were a few details given as to who was who, but as they weren't central to the story this wasn't a priority. I liked that there was a similar pattern to this story as we had seen in the first book, a group of random people all coming together via a link to the victim, with Vera as the central character.

Each character was clearly hiding something and I enjoyed gradually finding out what each character's secret was.

I can't say enough about Vera. I absolutely love her. She is strong, funny without meaning to be, and loving. She has many layers that I have enjoyed getting to know over the past two books. Her cultural background shines through and it is a joy to read about. I love the way that she draws people to her and how they all end up helping one another.

Lastly the settings. There isn't a lot of detail as this is a character focused book. Where the detail is important to the story there is more of it. There is enough detail to ground the story and for you to imagine where the characters are.

Overall an excellent book that I really enjoyed reading and felt sad when it came to an end. I can't recommend this book and series enough!

Following on from solving Marshall’s murder in the last book. Vera has now gained a new family, which were her previous suspects in the murder of Oliver‘s twin brother. The only exception to this was Selena who was the police officer, in the case, Oliver and of course little Emma, Julia‘s daughter. Anyway, Vera is bored and wishes for a new murder to happen for her to solve. But instead, she’s scammed over the telephone and ends up at the police station to report the crime. Outside the police station, she meets Millie a young woman who is quite distraught, over what Vera has no idea. So Vera takes Millie back to her tea shop, to have some tea which will hopefully bring her out of her stupor. Millie gives her some news that her boyfriend Thomas is missing and she doesn’t know what to do. So this puts Vera on the search for the missing boyfriend, who happens to turn up dead in a police report that Vera snoops a look into whilst babysitting Selena‘s and Tilly’s cat. The case brings together a few suspects and Vera realises that Thomas is actually Xander Lin and he is a social media influencer.

So Vera goes about not minding her own business and sets out trying to find his killer, even though he apparently committed suicide. Whilst trying to find this so-called killer, Vera runs into problems of her own with the shop being vandalised, twice and she gets hurt during one of the vandalisations. you would think this would make her stop after a trip to the hospital and being told off by Selena and Tilly. But all it does is encourages her to get the gang of people she’s met together and onto the trail of the unsuspecting missing person from the group who is in fact the one in danger. As you can tell, this is a typical Vera Wong book where she just cannot keep still and run her tea shop and stay out of danger. It does have the potential twist and the plight of some immigrants into America, but as you read on you’ll find that all ends well in the end, or does it? You’ll just have to read the book to find out for yourselves and it is an enjoyable cozy mystery. It’s a fun read that you will enjoy and it should fulfil your Vera expectations.

3.5*

Seriously, who does't love Vera? She's unstoppable. If you dare not like her, she will make you love her! Be warned! Lol!

I found Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping somewhat formulaic: the 'naive' grandma, bribing everyone into confessing all their dark secrets with food and tea (seriously? ); while disregarding all concerns about her safety. Also somewhat stereotypical: 3rd world scammers and human trafficking. But all in all, it sure was an enjoyable read. I mean, it had its moments when it made me laugh out loud. And that sure was welcome. I wouldn't hesitate picking up another novel by Jesse Sutanto, when in need of a light/cosy mystery!

Vera Wong part II

“Sometimes, all an old lady wants is a murder to solve. Is that too much to ask for?”

Vera goes to the police station to file a report after being scammed and meets a young girl, Millie, outside whose friend had disappeared. Vera’s mystery solving abilities immediately kick in, she starts using her cooking to win people over, get them to feed her all the information she needs, makes good friends and becomes an online sensation.

Unusually for a sequel this one is actually better than the first.

Loved this just as much as the first one and very glad to see Vera back!
Particularly glad to see she hadn’t changed her ways…

This is a fast-moving, fairly cosy mystery story, with a few dark twists but also some laugh-out-loud moments. The characters are interesting, and mostly likeable, Vera especially so. It was a very good, quick read.

I think I probably missed out by not having read the first Vera Wong mystery story, and am looking forward to reading the next one.

More fun with Vera and her gang, plus a lot of new friends to boot. I'll be honest, I'd figured out where this was going quite quickly, but it was still an enjoyable read and Vera is the best main character. The ending implies a new destination for book 3 and a favourite city of mine to boot, so will be keeping an eye out for that one.

A young man has died but 'Who is Xander Lin, and why is it so hard to find people who actually know him ?' Vera Wong investigates the suspects whilst simultaneously managing to build genuine friendships with them.
Well written, characters I cared about and lots of laughs - if I could I would have given this book 5 stars plus. The exploration of social media and the less than perfect life of perfect influencers adds depth. Vera herself even becomes a You Tube star. Despite the warmth and humour there is a sinister crime at the heart of the book which quite rightly gets an airing here.
I'll be recommending this one to all my friends.
Thanks for the author, publisher and NetGalley for a chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Vera Wong is my favourite fictional character in the world. She can do no wrong and I need her to adopt me and whip my life into shape. She is the kind of character who can carry a story no matter how bad the story is. Thankfully, that's not something the reader has to worry about here, as the murder Vera Wong is investigating this time is something bigger than she took on before. She adopts a new found family, and basically feeds and berates and cares for people until they tell her the truth. I sincerely believe that if Vera Wong was in charge of the police force, police brutality would never occur. Her methods of investigation are unorthodox, endearing, and utterly compelling. This was the kind of book where the book was not enough time spent with the characters, I immediately need more!

A mystery with heart and humour but a serious core. Vera is a great character. She loves to feed people and make them happy. She also loves to right wrongs. The story’s about on-line influencers, phone scams, missing people and a murder among other things. Serious subjects dealt with skilfully but with wit and humour. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments. It’s Vera Wong and her determination to solve mysteries, her love of cooking and joie de vivre that make the book so much fun. I need to read the first book in the series now!

What a brilliant follow up to the first Vera Wong mystery- I loved that and believe me- this one is even better! Vera is such a fun character who is also incredibly warm hearted. In this book, as well as the people she helped and “adopted “ in the first book who are all present in this one, she also manages to find more suspects who actually need help and love in their lives!
After being scammed on the phone, Vera goes to the police station to report the crime. Just outside she meets Millie, a young girl who is obviously thinking about going into the station to ask for help with a problem.
As Vera starts to talk to her and takes her back to the tea shop, she discovers that Millie was thinking of reporting her friend Thomas missing.
Vera resolves to help Millie find Thomas as she’s really keen to solve another crime but when it transpires that Thomas is dead, Vera gets involved in all sorts of danger as her investigation progresses.
I just love Vera, her positive nature, the way she looks after people and feeds them amazing food she has cooked, even those she suspects of murder, and the way she solves the crime is so clever.
The story is very up to date as it involves social media influencers and although Vera is not the age where you’d expect her to know much about this subject, she takes it all in her stride and even becomes one herself in the quest to solve the mystery.
Despite the light hearted nature of Vera and her friends this turns out to be an expose of a very serious subject - it was really clever how the author brought all the strands of the plot together!
Definitely a five star book and highly recommended- such a joy to read! Note to Vera and the author though - 60 is not old despite Vera’s assertions to the contrary!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy!