Vivien Chien

Mystery Review: Misfortune Cookie

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Lana Lee, our part-time amateur detective and full-time restaurant manager, leaves snowy Ohio behind for sunny California and a restaurant convention…Only to find herself thrust into the middle of a murder mystery when Aunt Grace’s friend gets pushed off a roof. With the promise to stay away from danger, murder, and sleuthing still fresh in her mind. Lana finds herself unable to tell her Aunt Grace ‘no’ when she asks for Lana’s investigative skills.

A fish out of water without her beloved notebook, Kikomon (her pug), and supportive best friend — Lana must rely on her reluctant sister, Anna May, for help. Which goes as smoothly as you’d guess when said older sister does not condone her little sister’s penchant for snooping.

Misfortune Cookie is a change-up for the Noodle Shop Mystery series — as the majority of the main characters we’ve come to love only make cameos. However, we get to know Anna May and Aunt Grace much better, which is excellent! On top of which, Lana makes some critical decisions about her life as a sleuth — owning her need to find answers. 

Which I’m interested in seeing what happens when she returns home.

As I write this review, I just realized Misfortune Cookie is a transitional book — a cleverly written, immensely entertaining, and engaging transition story that will push Lana and the rest of her crew into new and (hopefully) exciting ways in future installments. Which makes me admire this book even more because it doesn’t feel like an evolution in Lana’s world — that’s how deftly Chien penned her mystery. 

What is even better, if you’ve not read anything in this series before (and are intimated by the back catalog), this is the perfect book to pick up! And if you’re not sure about the whole culinary themed mystery — again, this is the ideal book to start with as you’ll see that whilst food is present, it in no way detracts or distracts from the story at hand!

Seriously, pick up a copy of this mystery. 

You won’t be sorry.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2023

A Noodle Shop Mystery (series) by Vivien Chien

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One of the pitfalls of no longer working in a bookshop is that one occasionally falls behind in a series. Which I must confess – I don’t really mind. Why? Because when I eventually recall the temporarily neglected author, I’ve a backlog to zip my way thru! Thus allowing me to dive headlong and immerse myself in the world of an old friend and catch up with them…

This awkward phenomenon occurred most recently with Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery series. Where over a week, I devoured Fatal Fried Rice – where Lana’s cooking instructor winds up dead and lands Lana in very hot water. Killer Kung Pao – where the sourest business owner in the Asian Village is accused of murder, and her sister asks Lana to clear her name. And Egg Drop Dead – during Noodle House’s first catering gig, for the owner of the Asian Village, one of the owner’s staff ends up dead, and Lana’s detective skills are pressed into service.

I reveled in every word I read.

Here’s what I love about this series: Chien does a great job in varying motives, methods, investigative techniques (as Lana learns or stumbles onto new strategies), and culprits. Thus giving each of her books a sense of freshness, variety, and surprise – a feature often missing from other cozy mysteries. Another reason I enjoy this series is the fact the book’s solutions make sense. As in, I don’t need to suspend my disbelief in thinking an amateur sleuth could stumble onto the truth. Which, again, is a nice change of pace.

Above and beyond these aforementioned attributes – these books are witty, fun, and intelligent reads.

Okay, so the titles are punny – but I can assure you that’s where the cloying coziness ends. Lana just happens to manage her family’s noodle shop – it is the backdrop for the books, not the central theme. I promise.

I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a new cozy-ish series to immerse themselves in.

(BTW – I did make an entry in my phone’s calendar to remind me Chien’s new book, Hot and Sour Suspects, is out in January 2022 – so I didn’t accidentally forget again….)