Hot Pot Murder (LA Night Market, #2)

by Jennifer J. Chow

Trouble is brewing for cousins Yale and Celine Yee after a hot pot dinner gets overheated and ends in murder in this second novel of the L.A. Night Market series by Jennifer J. Chow.

Yale and Celine Yee’s food stall business is going so well that they’ve been invited to join an exclusive dinner with the local restaurant owners association. The members gather together for a relaxing hot pot feast…until Jeffery Vue, president of the group, receives a literal shock to his system and dies. 

Everyone at the meal is a suspect, but the authorities are homing in on family friend Ai Ho, owner of the restaurant where Jeffery was killed—and Yale’s dad is a close second on their list. Yale and Celine step up to the plate and investigate the dinner attendees: the association’s ambitious VP, a familiar frenemy, a ramen king, a snacks shopkeeper, and a second-generation restaurateur. It’s up to the detecting duo to figure out what really happened before their friends and family have to close their businesses for good.

• ISBN10: 0593336550
• ISBN13: 9780593336557
• Publish Date: 6 June 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593336557

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Hot Pot Murder is the second LA Night Market shopfront foodie cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow. Released 6th June 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 284 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is an interesting "buddy" investigation where the two main protagonists couldn't be more different. They're cousins, shy bookish Yale and her flashy outgoing influencer cousin Celine, who got into hijinks together on a visit from Hong Kong in book one. It's not long until murder intrudes again, and the cousins decide to play amateur sleuth (again). The story is engaging and told well, but the pacing is occasionally odd and uneven. That being said, the story is fun, and the denouement, reveal, and resolution are satisfying and well crafted. The cousins seem to be finding their footing and developing into a good team.

Being a cozy, it's blissfully free of graphic violence, bad language, or sexual content. There were a couple bits of clunky dialogue, but they're happily few and far between. The author has included some recipes in the back of the book which are simple and authentic.

Four stars, with good characters and a well crafted story. A good choice for public library acquisition, as well as for fans of shopfront food cozies. It would make a good choice for a mini binge/buddy read
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.