Raining Men and Corpses

A Raina Sun Mystery, Book 1

By: Anne R. Tan

Narrated by: Liz Brand

When it rains, it pours! And this amateur sleuth may be in over her head...

Graduate student Raina Sun is trying to keep her head above water as the bills roll in, when her dashing college adviser cons her out of several months of rent. Her quest to retrieve the money sets in motion a streak of even worse luck.

First, she stumbles on her advisor's dead body and becomes a suspect in his murder. Next, the only man she's ever loved reappears as the lead detective to the case. Raina's having trouble interpreting his signals. Does he want to reignite their passion, or just stay close to his prime suspect?

Her life careens further out of control when her grandma shows up at Raina's postage-stamp-sized apartment, dragging a red suitcase and trouble of her own. As Raina summons her sleuthing skills, she discovers that when it comes to murder, there may be no place for an amateur.

Come on in, the water's fine. Buy Raining Men and Corpses today!

©2014 Anne R. Tan (P)2020 Anne R. Tan

Engaging story with a Chinese heroine

When a professor at a small university is found dead, later determined murdered, Raina Sun, a graduate student finds herself caught in the mystery she feels compelled to investigate. The characters are well developed, and the pace of the novel keeps you engaged. It's not a fluffy romance disguised as a mystery. I recommend this if you like a puzzling mystery without excessive violence, sex and bad language.

This is the first novel in the Raina Sun mystery series. I have read all of the books, and Anne Tan is one of my favorite authors. I especially enjoy the Chinese culture brought out in the stories that feature Raina and her grandmother.

It was exciting to receive the first audiobook and give my review. Even though I have purchased all of her books it added a new dimension to listen to the story and view it from a new perspective. The narrator did a great job reading and made it easy to picture all the characters in my mind. I think the listener will find her voice very enjoyable. With every book I have reviewed for this author I have given a five star rating. I also highly recommend this audio version.

Having an audiobook of the book makes for a way to enjoy the mystery all over again.

The book is well plotted and The characters are wonderful. I relish The interplay between Raina and her grandmother.

Great book and great narrator

Raina Sun is trying to figure life out as a grad student. When her professor, who happens to be an ex, turns up dead. Raina is a suspect in the investigation being run by her ex husband! She decides to take it upon herself to try to solve the mystery. She enlists the help of her grandmother and her senior friends to crack the case. There are always fun adventures when Raina is involved. There are laugh out loud moments in this murder mystery. The narrator does a great job with varying voices for the characters. Loved it!

4 stars

Raining Men and Corpses is a pretty good cozy mystery with engaging characters and an interesting plot.

Smart, funny, perfect

Rainy is like all of us. She has family issues, work issues, friend issues, love issues.. and tries to ignore all of it to just live her life. Like us, it would work if only life was fair. She’s smart, loving, loyal and wants to be a good friend. She also is a murder suspect in her ex’s death, and being investigated by her other ex, who may or may not want to be ‘not an ex’. She has a friend who’s a reporter, a trust fund she can’t touch, new tires on a credit card that’s maxed, and a grandmother who is fantastic (and a lot of extra work). What to do? Solve the murder, get over all the ex’s and figure out why grandma is sleeping in Her bed. Easy. Right?
This story is told as first person which is perfect for narrations, and Liz Brand does a great credit to the well turned words of Anne R Tan. Ms. Tan wrote a story that makes you feel like your favorite cousin is recounting the best ‘what I did on summer vacation’ story ever told. You feel invested in the outcome, and the various events pull emotions and thoughts from your own life.
Fantastic. Just fantastic.

It's even better with Liz narrating!

cozy-mystery, contemporary, romance, seniors, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, verbal-humor, situational-humor, Chinese-customs
Read 2 times. Last read April 14, 2020.

The grad student with problems. A murder of a colleague. Surprise reappearance of ex husband who is lead detective on the case. A best friend/reporter who just steamrolls over everyone. Family trouble over an inheritance. A sassy Chinese grandmother who appears unannounced on her doorstep and moves right on in--to EVERYTHING.
That's the basics, but the mystery/suspense are well done, and there is much fun and snarks throughout. I really enjoyed it! 2016
Now I have the audio and I REALLY love it thanks to narration by Liz Brand! 2020!

Raina Sun and Her Sleuthing Grandmother

The first book of Anne R Tan's 'A Raina Sun Mystery' series introduces the reader to graduate student Raina Sun, a woman who is still trying to juggle family obligations, school and moving on after heart break. Her faculty adviser boyfriend has recently dumped her after swindling her out of thousands of dollars. She finds him dead soon after and it doesn't appear to be accidental. To make matters worse, her childhood love turns up as the lead investigator on the case and her grandmother unexpectedly comes for a visit. Her life becomes dangerous while she searches for a killer.

This story is a light cozy mystery with likable characters and a good, attention-holding plot. The author does a good job of showing the reader how chaotic Raina's life is, and that most of it is of her own making. Raina's PoPo (Chinese for grandmother) is the source of levity in this book and made me chuckle a few times. There are also a few moments of suspense that add some nice tension to the story.

Narrator Liz Brand delivers a great performance here. I especially like the voice of PoPo that she has created from Ms Tan's writing.

I was the lucky winner of a contest the author held in which I received a free review copy of this audiobook. This post is my voluntary review of 'Raining Men and Corpses'.