Lana Lee, Megan, Adam, Peter, and Kimmy are back to solve another mystery. Okay, mostly Lana and Megan are the other three aren't. Lana is still our point of view character, and wow was she busy in here. Not only having to deal with a family member coming to town that doesn't get along with her mom, but an old friend's husband gets killed with Lana in the vicinity. Well, because of that, Lana is in the middle of it to try and figure out who killed him. Lana is still a great character, and I love how she is with her family, and when she is snooping. Megan is always a hoot with Lana, and I love it how she keeps getting Lana into investigating.

Adam is still trying to stop Lana, but he is okay with it as long as she tells him what she finds out. I think that's sweet and even more so when he goes in protective mode. Peter and Kimmy are dating, and they are pretty cute together. They are totally different from each other, but I think it's cute that they are trying it out.

The Mystery

Ronnie Chow was someone that rubbed people the wrong way, so it's not a big deal that he gets blown up, right? Well, Lana doesn't think that it's right of the police only to be focusing on the Chow family, so she is investigating to figure it out. Let's say that it was a hard case to get through some of the information that Lana gathered fully. Not only that, but the motive. There are red herrings here, but I didn't fall for them. I just kept on thinking well that's a red herring and didn't fully get with whodunit until it became apparent. It was an excellent case, though.

5 Stars

I am giving Wonton Terror by Vivien Chien five stars and recommending it. Ms. Chien does another fabulous job on this book, and it amazes me how well the mystery is plotted along with why the culprit did it. I have to say that Ms. Chien almost had me on this one, but I actually figured it out!

Other Books in the Series

You will find links to my reviews of these books near the top next to the book cover of Wonton Terror.

Coming out March 9, 2021

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Wonton Terror by Vivien Chien.

Stop by and check out my interview with Vivien Chien and enter the giveaway, HERE.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

annieb123

Written on Aug 25, 2019

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Wonton Terror is the fourth book in the Noodle Shop mystery series by Vivien Chien. Due out 27th Aug 2019 from St. Martin's Press, it's 320 pages and will be available in ebook and paperback formats.

This series was pretty strong from the start. Protagonist Lana Lee is a 20something trying to find her way independently and working in her very close knit family's noodle shop. Over the series, she's become (somewhat) unwillingly entangled in several mysteries. This entry in the series has much the same form as the others, a tragic accident (or was it murder?), lots of back history in her extended family and their families, interactions with her family and best friend Megan, and handsome cop boyfriend Adam.

Despite (or maybe because of) all the cozy mystery tropes, the book was such a fun read. From the punny title, to the oddball secondary characters, to the completely off the wall murder, to the denouement, it's a fun and comfortable read. The author is technically sound enough to make it read well, with a plot driven narrative that doesn't rush or lag; the pacing and tension are precise and controlled. I really care about Lana and her family. They're close (sometimes too close) but they have a good and functional and loving relationship with one another.

I sometimes get a fleeting thought about the setup and whether I should be so comfortable about the setting being written in an Asian shopping center with lots of tourist trade almost like an Asian theme park. I wonder if I should be bothered that it doesn't bother me. My take on this is: the characters are varied, they aren't depicted weirdly or in an especially racist/stereotypical manner. They aren't all good guys or bad guys or anything like that. They have close, healthy family relationships and in fact, one of the themes of earlier books in the series is that main character Lana is the target of harassment for not being 'really' Asian since her dad is Caucasian. Anyhow, I don't think it's weird, and the series is delightful.

The language is clean (PG, an occasional damn, nothing worse), there's a little romance, but nothing to scandalize, and the denouement is satisfying. I worry for poor Lana, being mixed up in all these murders. It reminds me of poor Jessica Fletcher; "It's ok, Aunt Jess, don't come to the wedding, we don't want anyone dropping dead in the punch bowl"!

Five stars. Entertaining, escapist, fun reading.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.