Death by Bubble Tea
When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it’s a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale hasn’t cooked in years, and she hardly considers Celine’s career as a social media influencer as adequate experience, but because she’s just lost her job at her local bookstore, she feels she has no choice.
Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine’s surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They’re quite shocked that their bubble tea, in particular, is a hit—literally—when one of their customers turns up dead. Yale and Celine are prime suspects due to the gold flakes that Celine added to the sweet drink as a garnish. Though the two cousins are polar opposites in every way, they must work together to find out what really happened to the victim or the only thing they’ll be serving is time.
I like the concept for Death by Bubble Tea. There are few cozy mysteries
that feature people of Asian descent.
There are mouthwatering food descriptions (I really need to find a good
Chinese restaurant in my area). I was
not a fan of either main character. Yale
and Celine are opposites. Yale avoids
technology while Celine posts pictures of food and drinks on Instagram. Celine likes fashionable clothes and high-end
everything. Yale is happy to wear
comfortable clothing and work in the local bookstore. Yale loves books which I can relate to, but
she is also a bit of Debbie downer. She
is still mourning the loss of her mother and feels that her mother’s death was
her fault. The reason why Celine had to
depart Hong Kong was silly in my opinion.
I did not feel it warranted banishment.
The mystery had several suspects along with misdirection. The clues are subtle. You never know what detail might be
important. The mystery can be solved
before the reveal for those who are avid armchair sleuths. I liked that there was a complete wrap
up. I did feel that the medical examiner
should have been more on the ball. I
know it is fiction, but there does need to be realism. Certain details did not
track with the supposition. I was not a
fan of Yale’s old high school rival. He is
an obnoxious jerk (Yale should have told his mother what he was doing). I found the pacing of Death by Bubble Tea to
be slow courtesy of the overly detailed descriptions. I liked Yale’s sweet father. He is a good man with a big heart. It was
interesting learning about the night market.
It sounds like quite a festival with the food, costumes, games, and
socializing. Death by Bubble Tea was a
mixed bag for me. Death by Bubble Tea is
a culinary cozy with a brilliant beverage, night market magic, a poisoned ninja,
a nasty nemesis, a determined detective, enticing nibbles, and a cold killer.
Kris
The
Avid Reader
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Thanks for the review.
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