Jesse Q. Sutanto Reviews – Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, Dial A for Aunties, and Four Aunties and a Wedding

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Narrator: Eunice Wong
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Random House Audio on March 14, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
Length: 10 hours 41 minutes
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.

What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?

This was really just a whole lot of fun! I liked Vera from the start (but I must admit that I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have her as a mother!).  The story was funny and I didn’t want to stop reading once I started. It’s been a long time since a book made me laugh out loud, so I am happy to report that I did just that while reading this book. This was an excellent introduction to Jesse Q. Sutanto’s writing.

Vera lives alone in an apartment above her tea shop. She calls her adult son frequently and opens her tea shop on time daily knowing that she won’t get many customers. She lives a routine life until she finds a dead body in the tea shop. Since she knows that the police won’t solve the murder, she takes matters into her own hands. She soon befriends those tied to the victim and they start to grow close, even as she investigates them for the murder. I really loved all of the characters and adored the found family they created together. The mystery itself was able to keep me guessing until the very end.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Eunice Wong really took the story to the next level. She did such a great job of bringing Vera to life. I think that she did a great job with all of the character voices and she was able to bring the humor out with her narration. I am certain that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. This story had the perfect combination of great characters, humor, heartfelt moments, and an engaging mystery. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work very soon.

I received a review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group and Penguin Random House Audio.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Narrator: Risa Mei
Series: Aunties #1
Published by Penguin Random House Audio on April 27, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General
Length: 10 hours 21 minutes
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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"Sutanto brilliantly infuses comedy and culture into the unpredictable rom-com/murder mystery mashup as Meddy navigates familial duty, possible arrest and a groomzilla. I laughed out loud and you will too.”—USA Today (four-star review)

“A hilarious, heartfelt romp of a novel about—what else?—accidental murder and the bond of family. This book had me laughing aloud within its first five pages… Utterly clever, deeply funny, and altogether charming, this book is sure to be one of the best of the year!”—Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read

One of NPR's Best Books of 2021!

One of PopSugar’s "42 Books Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2021"!

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? 

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue! 

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

This was fun! I have had this book on my shelf for a long time and have heard great things about it so I thought it was finally time to give it a try. Meddy was a great character and her Aunties were just a lot of fun. I couldn’t wait to see how this group of characters would work everything out in the end.

Meddy’s mother sets her up on a date with what she thinks is a nice boy. It turns out that he isn’t so nice and things go very wrong on that date. So wrong that the night ends with Meddy and her Aunties trying to figure out what to do with his body. Everything that you could imagine (and some things you couldn’t) going wrong does and this family ends up trying to deal with the body while fulfilling their roles in their family’s wedding business.

Risa Mei did a fantastic job with the narration. She was able to bring this colorful cast of characters to life. Once I started listening to the story, I didn’t want to stop. She really brought the humor of the story out and made the listening experience very enjoyable. I do believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to others. I had a lot of fun with Meddy and her Aunties and cannot wait to see what kind of trouble they find in the next book in this series.

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Narrator: Risa Mei
Series: Aunties #2
Published by Penguin Random House Audio on March 29, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General
Length: 10 hours 19 minutes
Pages: 304
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe—even the mafia—in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties.

Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day has arrived, and she can't wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests. As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. Meddy is hesitant at first, but she hits it off right away with the wedding photographer, Staphanie, who reminds Meddy of herself, down to the unfortunately misspelled name.

Meddy realizes that is where their similarities end, however, when she overhears Staphanie talking about taking out a target. Horrified, Meddy can’t believe Staphanie and her family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family—actual mafia, and they're using Meddy's wedding as a chance to conduct shady business. Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene—over their dead bodies—and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.

This was a very enjoyable read! I couldn’t wait to see what Meddy and her Aunties would have to deal with in this book. Meddy and Nathan are getting married and the Aunties are ready for the big day. The wedding will be taking place in England and they have hired a company similar to their own to handle all of the wedding details. Things get very interesting once the wedding festivities get underway.

I feel like the title of the book really should have been – How Meddy Missed Her Wedding. I thought that the story was funny but I really wished that Nathan had been present for more of the story. When Meddy learns that her wedding vendors are up to no good, they are determined to foil their plans. The Aunties are at their absolute best and are dressed to impress, complete with komodo dragon fascinators and a new list of English slang.

Risa Mei did a great job with this story. She did an amazing job of bringing this colorful cast of characters to life. I thought that she did a great job of bringing the humor of the story out. I had such a great time with this book that I found myself wanting to listen for hours at a time. I do believe that her narration added to my enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first book in the series but I still thought it was a very solid read. I would recommend reading the series in order if at all possible since the events of the first book are often referred to in this installment. I hope to see Meddy and the Aunties have more adventures in the future.

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