Murder Lo Mein

Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Paperbacks Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 26 Mar 2019

Review

Vivien Chen serves readers a generous helping of delicious suspense in her newest Lana Lee mystery. Cleveland’s annual Best Noodle competition is Ho-Lee Noodle House’s opportunity to shine. After coming in second several years in a row, Lana is determined this year is Ho-Lee’s turn to win. Norman Pan, food critic and one of the competition judges, is known for his scathing reviews, rude comments and bad temper - still it is a shock to discover him face down in a bowl of noodles. His death throws the contest into disarray leading Lana to once more put on her sleuthing hat and start asking questions.

It isn’t easy to discover the killer amongst the swath of suspects. Realistically, most of the people involved have different agendas which they are reluctant to share. The story is cleverly plotted. I also liked the unique color and flavor of Asia Town. It is a fascinating setting. The novel left me hungry for more - noodles and mysteries by Vivien Chen.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Murder Lo Mein from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

— Crittermom

Description The third in a tasty series, Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien is a delight! Everyone agrees that the food at Ho-Lee Noodle House is delicious—unless it happens to be deadly. Lana Lee’s stake in her family’s Chinese restaurant is higher than ever now that she’s been made manager. So when she enters Ho-Lee into Cleveland’s Best Noodle Contest, Lana makes it her business to win—at all costs. But when a local food critic receives a threatening note in a fortune cookie and is later found dead, face-down in a bowl of lo mein, all bets are off. . . Now, along with her sweet-and-sour boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau, Lana decides to take matters into her own hands and dig into the lives of everyone involved in the contest. But when she receives an ill-fated fortune, Lana realizes that in order to save the reputation of her restaurant, she needs to save herself first. . . “Thoroughly entertaining...fun and delicious.”—RT Book Reviews