Jesse Q. Sutanto captivates readers by blending murder, comedy and mystery into a masterpiece

by KELLY HERNLEY

Staff Writer

If you’re looking for your next favorite book, a cozy murder mystery that combines humor, culture and friendship may be just what you need. 

Jesse Q. Sutanto’s “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers” follows Vera, an older Chinese woman who runs a struggling tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Vera follows the same routine every day: waking up at 4:30 a.m., going on her morning walk, opening her shop to relatively few customers, contacting her son to provide motherly advice and going to sleep promptly at 8:30 p.m. 

But when she discovers a dead man lying on the floor of her shop, Vera takes charge of investigating his death because she believes that she can solve the case better than the detectives assigned to the case. 

Throughout the investigation, Vera becomes acquaintances and, later, friends with the victim’s widow and daughter, along with other suspects. She suspects them because they returned to the scene of the crime, which she considers is an expression of guilt. Vera engages with each of the characters, keeping a written record about what she knows about each of them in her notebook. 

The story alternates between perspectives, as each chapter is from a different character’s viewpoint. As the story progresses and Vera learns more about her suspects, she is able to add information and cross suspects off her list. 

I picked up this book over the summer at my local library, and I was so glad I did. It was published in March of this year, and it has quickly gained in popularity since then, with over 42,000 ratings on Goodreads and an average rating of 4.06 stars. 

This book is full of humor and heart, which makes it the perfect read if you need an escape from reality. Between trying to figure out who the murderer was, Vera’s personality, and the humor spread throughout, I couldn’t put this book down. 

But, the book is not all murder and mystery, as its humorous parts often made me laugh out loud. A particular part in the story that I found funny was after Vera had discovered the dead man on the floor of her tea shop. Before she called the police, Vera took it upon herself to outline the man’s body in Sharpie, which the police officers did not find amusing. 

At another point, the officers made the mistake of telling Vera that they thought the man had overdosed, but Vera insists that the man was murdered because he had “bad vibes.”  

I also loved that Sutanto was able to include Chinese culture throughout the book, a lot of it through the tea and food that Vera prepared. Sutanto is Chinese and Indonesian, so the culture in the book comes from her own experience. 

Throughout the story, Vera prepared many Chinese dishes, such as black pepper beef, spicy garlic tofu and braised pork belly. The book also mentions the Chinese zodiac, as Vera is described as being a pig when she should have been a rooster. Vera’s character is also largely based off of Sutanto’s mother, and Sutanto dedicated the book to her mother, calling her the “OG Vera.” 

By the end, I was more interested in the relationships that were formed over the course of the story than in the murderer and their motives, which created a sense of coziness in the book. That is not to say that the mystery itself was not interesting; I just felt that the characters and their relationships, along with the humor sprinkled throughout, was what made this book stand out. 

Vera’s character and personality make her extremely likable. She’s also sassy and nosy, and she still keeps up with social media in an attempt to keep tabs on her son, making her the perfect person to conduct a murder investigation. Furthermore, Vera forms relationships with all of her suspects throughout the book, and she even becomes a motherly and grandmotherly figure to the victim’s widow and daughter, respectively. Vera’s spunky personality will make you wish that you were friends with her, especially to enjoy her tea and cooking. 

The next time you find yourself with time to spare between classes or just want to escape reality with a good book, make sure to give “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers” a try. You just may discover your new favorite book.