Death by Bubble Tea is the first book in a new shopfront foodie cozy series by Jennifer J. Chow. Released 5th July 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. Library binding available in third quarter 2022. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is an interesting "buddy" investigation where the two main protagonists couldn't be more different. They're cousins, shy bookish Yale and her flashy outgoing influencer cousin Celine, who haven't seen one another since they were children. Yale gets roped into playing tour guide when Celine flies in from Hong Kong for a visit. It's not long until murder intrudes in the reunion, and the cousins decide to play amateur sleuth. The story is engaging and told well, but the pacing is occasionally a little off and I found my interest wandering in places. That being said, the story is fun, and the story arc leads to a satisfying climax, denouement, and resolution. Celine's character starts out as entirely unsympathetic and I had so much antipathy toward her I considered dropping the book but wound up glad that I hadn't done so over the course of the book.
Being a cozy, it's blissfully free of graphic violence, bad language, or sexual content. There were a couple bits of clunky dialogue, but they're few and far between. The author has included a few recipes in the back of the book as well as a chapter sneak-peak for the upcoming second book in the series which is due out in spring 2023.
Three and a half stars, rounded up for the better than just competent characterization and story. A good choice for public library acquisition, as well as for fans of shopfront food cozies.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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