Dim Sum of All Fears

A Noodle Shop Mystery

By: Vivien Chien

Narrated by: Cheryl May

Welcome back to Ho-Lee Noodle House, where you can get fantastic take-out...unless you get taken out first.

Dim Sum of All Fears is the second book in a delicious new cozy series.

Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Surprising everyone - including herself - she turns out to be quite capable of running the place. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead...and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery.

Between running the Ho-Lee and trying to figure out whether the rock-solid Detective Adam Trudeau is actually her boyfriend, Lana knows she shouldn’t pry into the case. But the more she learns about the dead husband, his ex-wives, and all the murky details of the couple’s past, the more Lana thinks that this so-called murder/suicide is a straight-up order of murder...

©2018 St. Martin's Paperbacks (P)2019 Journalstone

Critic reviews

“Vivien Chien serves up a delicious mystery with a side order of soy sauce and sass. A tasty start to a new mystery series!” (Bestselling author Kylie Logan)

Fun

Light fun and a good puzzle mystery. It would be a good beach read for a trip.

Love the Story...Voice Acting Not So Much (Reader)

As stated above I have read the book prior to listening to the book. I heard a sample and was pleased with the voicing of Lana and her family. I am currently listening to the book and I am a bit disappointed with some of the voice acting (i.e. Detective Trudeau). It may just be a matter of personal preference. However, some of the actors and actresses need to work on voice inflection to suit the attitude of certain scenes. Again, personal preference talking. Otherwise, it is a nice listen as you work (if you are into that) or just to past a lazy afternoon. For those wanting to know if the book is worth reading, it is. A nice "cozy" mystery. A nice balance of comedy, suspense, and slice of life. I hope my review helped. God bless!

Did not disappoint

The readers voice is my absolute favorite . Love this series!!!!!!’ Can’t wait to start book 3 !

Lana still at it.

The narrator does not have the best range of voices. And I think she is trying hard to sound Asian.
The plot and storyline are great. Lana really is hard at not learning lessons.

Slow

Slow start, and by Ch 11 still had not captured my attention enough to turn on Audible when I had a free moment. Giving up.

Nancy Drew Vibes

I have really been enjoying these murder mystery series. Easy to listen to. Give them chance.

great cost series

Really enjoy this light series great protagonist and good story always makes me want to seek out the next one.

Not as good as the first

Like most cozies, the heroine is a little to hair-brained for my taste. The leaps in logic are baffling. The decision to give or hold back info from the police is frustrating. There are lines in this one that would make you think the author is in her 50s (my age), yet she writes the author-insert protagonist like she was 17. I was still curious about the ending, and it's a pretty short book. If I can get a hold of #3 from the library, I might try it, since it was entertaining enough while I washed the dishes.

Now, for the reader. This reader does a pretty good job with voices. Since it's first person, I don't mind some of the men's voices-- I imagine it is Lana trying to tell us what that person said. But, she has an odd way of reading the lines. The pauses are in odd places. It's as if she came to a line break unexpectedly and didn't know there was more in the sentence.

I will make up an example:
John stood at the counter, nervously drumming his fingers.
might be read like
John stood at the counter nervously. Drumming his fingers.

It's annoying. I sort of got used to it after a while, but it was still grating.

Not bad enough for 2 stars, not really good enough for 4. I wish my library had it so I wouldn't have spent a credit. but, I might try the next one to see if anything improves.