Happy Book Release Day! The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick, The Last Second by Catherine Coulter & J.T. Ellison, Leave No Scone Unturned by Denise Swanson, Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien, The Hidden Corpse by Debra Sennefelder, Hope on the Inside by Marie Bostwick, Half Finished by Lauraine Snelling and Designs on Murder by Gayle Leeson are some of the new novels that are out today. I hope you find something that appeals to you.
Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien is
the third A Noodle Shop Mystery. Lana
Lee is the manager of her family’s restaurant, Ho-Lee Noodle House in Asia
Village. The restaurant is participating
in Cleveland’s Best Noodles contest which will be held at Asia Village. Peter Huang, their chef, and Lana want to win
this year. They have come in second and
third in the past, but they believe this is their year to take home the
prize. After the first round in the
competition, Norman Pan—a judge and food critic—finds a fortune cookie next to
his plate with a threatening message inside.
Later at the after party at the Bamboo Lounge, Norman is found face down
in a bowl of noodles. Detective Adam
Trudeau, Lana’s boyfriend, is lead on the investigation and warns Lana to stay away
from the case. Lana, of course, has no
intention of listening to Adam and immediately starts a list of potential
suspects. She soon discovers that Norman
was not well-liked and gave critical food reviews (even to his own niece). Lana visits each contestant’s restaurant to
ask questions and look around for clues (a bonus is checking out the competitor’s
food at the same time). Then another
judge receives a killer fortune and is later found dead in her hotel room. Lana is piecing together the clues when she
receives a forbidding fortune. Will Lana
be the killer’s next victim?
Murder Lo Mein can be read as a standalone
if you have not read the previous novels in A Noodle Shop Mystery series. The author provides everything a new reader
needs to know. I enjoy the author’s casual
writing style. It makes for an easy to
read story. There are numerous suspects
since the victim was obnoxious. There is
one, though, that stands out from the crowd. I liked that all the details of
the mystery are wrapped up at the end of the book. I did not appreciate the number of times Lana
is told to not investigate and we are reminded that she is an amateur sleuth (I
got it the first five times). I did find
there to be too many extraneous characters in this story. It can be hard to keep track of all of them
(do we need to know every shop owner in Asia Village). There is a subplot involving Lana’s
grandmother who does not speak English. It
turns out she was lonely back home and life is much livelier for her in
Cleveland. I found grandma to be a cute
addition to the book. The food
descriptions will have your mouth watering.
Lana gets to eat a variety of dishes while digging into the suspects
lives. I hope we get see Lana start
developing as an individual. She is
nearing thirty and it would be nice to see some maturity (less spaciness). There is family drama, romance, friendship,
food, a cute canine and a noodle contest in this new cozy mystery. Murder Lo Mein is a light-hearted cozy mystery that left me craving Chinese food.
The first two books in A Noodle Shop Mystery series are Death by Dumpling and Dim Sum of All Fears. The next installment is Wonton Terror (great cover) which comes out August 27. I want to thank you for visiting today. I will be joining the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour tomorrow with my review of Designs on Murder by Gayle Leeson. Have a charming day and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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