When work is stressful, I unwind often with a cozy mystery. Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop mysteries really hit the spot. Last year, I reviewed the first novel, Death by Dumpling for CBR 13. The series follows Lana Lee and her family’s noodle restaurant in the Asia Village shopping center. She stumbles upon a murder and helps the cute detective, Adam, solves the case. It’s a similar formula in the next two novels in the series.
It was easy to go back into the series months later. Dim Sum of All Fears is book two. Lana has officially become the restaurant manager. Her mom has taken a back seat in running things. She befriends Isabelle who recently opened a nearby souvenir shop with her husband. Unfortunately, they are discovered murdered in their shop. Since Lana was friends with them, she feels obligated to find the truth. Adam is thoroughly against the idea. He’d prefer she leave him to do his job. He gets distant and short with her. On one hand, he’s understandably busy solving a murder. Lana starts to wonder if he’s even interested. She struggles with the urge to meddle in the investigation. When two unknown ex-wives arrive in the plaza asking for her, she can’t help but stay involved. We learn that the murdered husband borrowed money to open the shop from them. Both exes say they are entitled to inherit it. Ian, the plaza manager, enlists Lana to smooth things over. All he really cares about is minimizing the publicity and getting a new tenant. Lana starts snooping to figure out what these women know. Once again, she becomes far too entangled in the case. She digs up unexpected secrets that Brandon was keeping from his wife. Lana has to rely on her wits and friends to solve this one.
In the third book, Murder Lo Mein, Asia Village is hosting a cooking contest with local Chinese restaurants. Her cook Peter has some real skills, but there’s some fierce competition. Clearly too fierce because one of the judges ends up dead. He was a food critic with a nasty attitude. He even gave a bad review to his own niece’s restaurant. Lana had spoken to the judge moments before at the contest’s first-round party. The whole community is in shock. Thankfully, she isn’t a suspect but Adam forbids her from investigating. He thinks the plaza isn’t safe even though everyone assumes it was clearly a singular attack on the critic. Because the contest is important publicity for Asia Village, Ian the owner once again isn’t fazed about a dead body. Business is business to him. He is desperate to prove his worth running the place. I wouldn’t recommend reading this one hungry. The dishes for the competition sound delicious. Compared to the previous book, there’s a fair amount of pages devoted to Lana and Adam figuring out their relationship. Lana doesn’t want to be bossed around and Adam doesn’t appreciate her constantly putting herself in danger. By the end, they do come to an understanding. He can’t deny her snooping skills after she helps solve three cases!
I love all the pun-inspired titles of these books. Lana is a fun character who is dedicated to her family and community. She hones her street smarts as the series continues. Her romance with Adam is finally hitting a good stride by book three. What I really keep reading for are the colorful characters Lana meets at the village. The characterization of the food critic was so vivid. I’m always curious about who we’ll meet next. I would recommend reading this series in order. Pick it up if you’re looking for a cozy mystery featuring quirky characters and medium to low stakes. Think Murder She, Wrote meets Kim’s Convenience. You can check out my blog here.