Investigating a murder gives a lonely widow purpose. Every day at 4:30 a.m., Vera Wong Zhuzhu, 60, wakes without an alarm; texts her son, Tilbert, to say he's sleeping his life away; and takes a brisk walk around San Francisco's Chinatown before returning to open her business, Vera Wang's World-Famous Teahouse. (The name isn't a typo but a calculated choice; "even white people" have heard of Vera Wang.) While fellow immigrants used to frequent the shop, now it has only one regular customer, and though Vera and her late husband paid off the building's mortgage years ago and she lives upstairs, the utilities alone are sapping her savings. Solitude and irrelevance are wearing on Vera until she comes downstairs one morning to find a male stranger dead on the floor. Vera calls the police, who determine that the man--Marshall Chen, 29--likely broke in and then overdosed. Vera, however, believes it was homicide, seeing as Marshall died clutching a USB drive. Granted, the cops don't know about the drive, as Vera pocketed it before picking up the phone, but that's probably for the best; "nobody sniffs out wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands." Gentle humor and abundant heart elevate Sutanto's spirited mystery, which focuses primarily on the tender relationships that form between Vera and her four main suspects. A kaleidoscopic third-person narrative allows Sutanto to fully develop each character, investing readers in their fates. Vivid sensory descriptions of the custom teas Vera concocts and the elaborate feasts she prepares further heighten the feel-good appeal. Literary comfort food in the guise of a quirky whodunit. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

At the start of this stellar mystery from Sutanto (Dial A for Aunties), 60-year-old, strong-willed widow Vera Wong discovers a body with a flash drive in its hand in her tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Vera contacts the police, but confident she can do a better job at pinpointing the murderer, she snatches the flash drive before their arrival. The authorities identify the victim as 29-year-old Marshall Chen and determine he died from an allergy attack. Convinced the death was no accident, Vera is thrilled to delve into detective work when a handful of people who knew Marshall come into her shop looking for information. The eclectic group includes Marshall's widow, his twin brother, a reporter for Buzzfeed, and the host of a true crime podcast. Seeing them as potential suspects, Vera lures them with her distinctive teas and cooking, developing genuine friendships with each one, but also easily able to sniff out their lies. The engrossing plot, which is full of laugh out loud humor and heartfelt moments, builds to a satisfying conclusion that will leave readers eager for more Vera. Sutanto has outdone herself with this cozy with substance. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Mar.)

Death shouldn't be funny or sweet or heartwarming, except maybe in a new cozy series starring Vera Wong, the widowed owner of San Francisco Chinatown's rather decrepit Vera Wang's World-Famous Teahouse. That titular typo is actually intentional, meant to suggest "a very famous person, even white people know her name." At 60, Vera's settled into specific routines: up at 4:30 am ("late mornings are only for toddlers and Europeans"), wash, walk, text her silent son, home, cold shower, breakfast, open shop downstairs, wait for (her very few) customers. Disruption arrives one morning when she discovers a corpse on the floor. The police arrive, refuse her amazing tea, barely investigate, and leave. Vera knows she's looking at foul play, no matter what the authorities insist. Of course, she'll solve the case by gathering (and feeding) the most likely suspects--an alleged reporter, a supposed podcaster, the dead man's wife, and his twin brother. Vera's next deadly installment hasn't yet been officially announced, but the success of Sutanto's best-selling Aunties series certainly points to more tales of murder.

In Sutanto's (Dial A for Aunties) latest, a lonely but resilient tea shop owner tries to solve a murder. Vera Wong's tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown may have lost most of its customers and her Gen-Z son rarely returns her texts, but she manages to thrive on her own. After finding a dead body in her tea shop and stealing a piece of evidence from the crime scene, Vera uses her detective skills to try to solve the murder. Using tea and home-cooked meals, Vera draws close her four suspects. Each of them has a secret that connects them to the victim and might tear their newfound family apart. Sutanto excels at creating lovably flawed characters, the mystery has plenty of twists to keep readers guessing, and Vera's case notes at the end of some chapters add humor to the deductive process. VERDICT A mystery with warmth, humor, and many descriptions of delicious teas and foods. Recommended for fans of Sutanto and of character-driven cozy mysteries.--Tristan Draper