Death By Dumpling by Vivien Chen

So let me start by saying a few of by blogger friends reviewed this book. I had never heard of the series.  But I am glad I discovered it!

Twenty-something Lana Lee, (I love the name!) lost both her job and her boyfriend and now works in her parent’s restaurant Ho-Lee Noodle House in the Asia Village Plaza.  Depressed and a bit embarrassed at having to return to her parent’s business she is at a cross-road in her life.  Her parents, of course, think she needs to get her life in order, find a boyfriend and get married. Clearly this is not in Lana’s future.  Her sister, who is in law school seems to be able to carry on with her life without the obligatory companion, but Lana… .

Then the property manager of the complex Mr. Feng ends up dead after Lana delivers him his lunch. And everybody becomes a suspect.  It seems although respected, Mr. Feng may have not been very liked by some of the shop owners.  There are an array of quirky, funny, intense suspects who each have there own hidden reason for wanting Feng dead.

Lana, against explicit instructions from the (cute) detective on the case, decides to make it her mission to find out what happened, if only to salvage her own reputation as she seems to be one of the prime suspects.  She, along with her roommate become very unsophisticated sleuths.  But what they uncover unfortunately may get Lana killed.

Adding to the chaos of Lana’s life is a dog named after a soy sauce, a mother and aunt who seem to know more than they are saying, and who are also pressuring her into dating someone who, unbeknownst to them is on her suspect list!

Death By Dumpling is an unexpected enjoyable funny cozy with interesting plot twists and comical dialogue.  The characters are believable and most are lovable.  This is the first in A Noodle Shop Mystery series which I look forward to reading more of.