Murder Lo Mein

This series continues to delight! Strong mystery, strong characters, lots of laugh moments, lots of twists and turns and red herrings, and sleuthing that’s clever and believable without it feeling like Lana’s nosy or super-talented. (Both traits have put me off cozies in the past.)

I liked the sheer number and range of suspects in this, and the way Chien manages to do double-duty with them. They’re not just there to be suspects or to throw suspicion on other people—or at least, not all of them are. And there were people being suspicious or 100% innocent who I also suspected of being involved. Add Lana’s frequent, “why ask questions when you could just google them” method, and the absolutely wonderful restaurant names, and show more yeah, I had fun.

Not to say this is totally perfect. I think Chien’s about reached her limit for cast size in this. She balances it well, but with so many suspects, the employees of the Noodle House didn’t get as much attention and were reduced to walk-on roles and one-note characters, which made me sad. Hopefully in the next one, there’ll be more of a focus on them again? And we finally learn why Lana’s not-a-boyfriend is so cautious and I’m not quite sure I buy it as much as Lana does.

Still, I enjoyed this quite a bit, I’m still hooked on the series, and I’m still trying to convince everyone that this is the cozy series to pick up if you’re on the fence about them. (No, seriously, it’s strong on everything and #ownvoices.) I’m going to be on this train for a while yet, I can tell.

7.5/10

To bear in mind: Will probably make you hungry. show less

The main reason why I am giving this four stars is that it seems Chien is dabbling with a love triangle or possibly rectangle now and I want no part of it. I like the core couple of Lana and Adam and I hate it that a lot of cozy mystery's have now started to do this. I was glad that the "Liz Talbot Mystery" books moved away from that after the first couple of books. Hopefully "A Noodle Shop Mystery" does as well.

"Murder Lo Mein" finds Lana as the manager of her family's restaurant. She is wondering if her mother really will live things up to her, but so far so good. Her family's restaurant and others are now entering the annual Cleveland’s Best Noodle competition. Lana's family and others feel like they were cheated out of winning show more last year and that one of the judges was possibly fixing things so that the former contestant won. When one of the judges is found strangled, all eyes turn to who could have done it and why. Lana of course goes investigating and gets warned off by her boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau. Making matters a bit more complicated is that a new face has appeared in the plaza and he appears focused on asking out Lana. With Lana wondering where she and Adam's relationship is going, she starts to wonder what if while also trying to track down a murderer.

Lana is a good character and I keep rooting for her. She's more comfortable in going around and questioning people in this one and is still managing her family's restaurant. She and her sister have come to a truce of sorts so it appears that is working out well now too. She is left wondering about Adam though since he barely seems to have time for her these days.

I love the continuing development of Lana’s best friend and roommate Megan though I wish she get a love interest too. It was also nice to see some backstory into Adam and why he was previously so tight lipped about his past.

I think this was a solid installment and shows the cozy mystery genre in a good light. There's not any swearing (that I can recall) and there seems to be a subtle fade to black when you can imagine that a love scene may have occurred. show less

This is another fun installment of the Noodle Shop Mysteries, and I enjoyed reading it. There was less suspense in this one than I remember from the prior books. I blame it on this book having a larger cast of characters than earlier installments, but that could also just be where my mind was when I was reading it. Still, this was a fun read and we got more backstory from Adam, Lana's maybe-boyfriend. I'm hoping that the way their relationship is headed at the end of this books means that Freddie won't turn into a love-triangle-interest the way it was hinted in this book. Lana did turn him down eventually, and I hope that sticks.

I do appreciate that everyone both tells Lana to keep her nose out of the investigation and yet also show more acknowledges that she isn't likely to do that. It gives this cozy mystery series a nod at common sense, while still leaving the whole "amateur sleuth" cozy standard room to play.

I'm definitely going to be continuing with this series. It's still a lot of fun, and I really appreciate the mostly-Chinese cast of characters being shown as completely normal. Such a nice change from the token Chinese characters that I've been used to. show less

Murder Lo Mein can be read as a standalone if you have not read the previous novels in A Noodle Shop Mystery series. The author provides everything a new reader needs to know. Lana Lee has taken over management of the Ho-Lee Noodle House from her mother who is now focused on Lana’s grandmother whom the parents brought with them to the United States after their last visit. Lana hopes to garner attention for the restaurant by their winning Cleveland’s Best Noodles contest which is being held at Asia Village. Unfortunately, one of the judges is killed at the Bamboo Lounge which, of course, has people avoiding the karaoke bar. Penny, the owner, is worried what will happen if business does not improve soon. Lana sets out to find the show more killer despite being warned to stay out of it by her boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau. I enjoy the author’s casual writing style. It makes for an easy to read story. There are numerous suspects since the victim was obnoxious. There is one, though, that stands out from the crowd. I liked that all the details of the mystery are wrapped up at the end of the book. I did not appreciate the number of times Lana is told to not investigate and we are reminded that she is an amateur sleuth (I got it the first five times). I did find there to be too many extraneous characters in this story. It can be hard to keep track of all of them (do we need to know every shop owner in Asia Village). There is a subplot involving Lana’s grandmother who does not speak English. It turns out she was lonely back home and life is much livelier for her in Cleveland. I found grandma to be a cute addition to the book. The food descriptions will have your mouth watering. Lana gets to eat a variety of dishes while digging into the suspects lives. I hope we get see Lana start developing as an individual. She is nearing thirty and it would be nice to see some maturity (less spaciness). There is family drama, romance, friendship, food, a cute canine and a noodle contest in this new cozy mystery. Murder Lo Mein is a light-hearted cozy mystery that left me craving Chinese food. show less

A delightful little mystery filled with well developed characters, lots of plot twists, a decent amount of humor, and what sounded like amazing food! I wish this book included recipes!! I will definitely read the other books in this series.

Who doesn't love a cozy mystery? In the third book of the Noodle Shop series, Lana is back at it once again. Cleveland's Best Noodle Contest has come to Asia Village. After coming in 2nd place last year, Ho-Lee Noodle House is looking for a win. Norman Pan a local food critic receives a strange fortune cookie at the first event and then is found face down in a plate of noodles. Of course, Lana (along with her best friend Megan) decides she has to investigate because this murder happened at the plaza. What starts at asking a few question could end up with Lana being a target for murder once again.....

Lana Lee is adorable. I love that she wants to protect those around her and that she feels so much loyalty Asia Village. The interactions show more with her maybe boyfriend Adam Trudeau are great. I am already anticipating the next book and can't wait to read it. show less

Cleveland, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, cozy-mystery, murder, amateur-sleuth, restaurant, contest, suspense, chef *****

Can't really say that the review is unbiased because it's in CLEVELAND and the contest revolves around CHINESE NOODLES and an amateur sleuth with a law enforcement boyfriend!
The set up to the first murder is easy to follow, the plot is ingenious and full of twists and red herrings. The characters certainly are and the publisher's blurb gives some hints but doesn't warn the reader about some of the funny family relationship things. I truly enjoyed being grabbed by the story on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!