this was a cute and fun cozy mystery! vera wong is a tenacious 60 year old chinese woman who owns a tea shop in chinatown. living a lonely life, her world is turned upside down when she walks in one morning and find a dead body in her shop. this bring julia, sana, riki, and oliver into her life as each one of them had some relation to the dead man.

i really enjoyed the found family aspect of this - each character had a unique story and voice which created a chaotic but interesting dynamic when they were together as a group. i also found vera hilarious in her persistence with trying to solve the case. the author did a great job of capturing a true elder asian auntie HOWEVER, she made vera sound more like 80 years old rather than 60.

the mystery plot felt like it did drag on a bit while the story focused more on the characters and their individual arcs. i was a bit gagged by the reveal because it was actually pretty twisted. overall, a fun start to a cozy mystery series!