Killer Kung Pao

July 1, 2020
A Chinese American sleuth finds herself immersed in yet another case involving the Asian community in Fairview Park, Ohio. The Ho-Lee Noodle House, the Chinese restaurant in Asia Village that Lana Lee manages for her parents, is filled with divas competing for oxygen. A minor car accident between irritable June Yi and Mildred Mao results in an argument and threats of lawsuits. When Lana, ever willing to experiment, goes to the beauty parlor to have her hair dyed gray, she becomes one of the witnesses to an unfortunate meeting between June and Millie, and when Millie ends up electrocuted in a foot spa, Lana sees June get promoted to the most likely suspect. Lana's boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, naturally catches the case. Knowing her proclivity for sleuthing, he warns her to be careful. The police realize there's no way Millie's death could have been an accident but don't have enough evidence to charge June or anyone else. With her hair only half dyed, her hands full with organizing a sidewalk sale for the plaza, and her mother suddenly asking her to redecorate the restaurant, Lana might seem to have no time for investigating. But when June's sister, Shirley, begs her to help, she can't refuse. June had plenty of enemies that supply Lana with a plethora of motives as she works to solve the mystery before she becomes the next victim. Plenty of quirky characters don't make up for the lack of pizzazz.

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September 1, 2020

As far as Lana Lee, manager of Ho-Lee Noodle House in Cleveland's Asia Village, is concerned, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry have nothing on her customers June Yi and Mildred Mao when it comes to holding a grudge. Tea shop and bakery owner June and Mah-Jong maven Mildred have been at odds with each other for years, and the latest salvo in their ongoing battle occurs when June's car rear-ends Millie's Cadillac in the Asia Village parking lot. Mildred threatens to take June for every penny she's got, and Lana is pretty sure that June would stop at nothing to put an end to Mildred's sue-happy ways. However, when Mildred is later electrocuted while enjoying a pedicure, Lana quickly discovers that June isn't the only person at Asia Village with a motive for murder. VERDICT Chien infuses the latest deftly crafted entry in her delectable "Noodle Shop" series (after Egg Drop Dead) with plenty of wry charm and dry wit, making this another tempting, too-good-to-miss treat for culinary cozy fans.--John Charles, formerly of Scottsdale P.L., AZ

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