Noodle Shop #13
Vivien Chien’s thirteenth book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series is And Then There Were Bun. Main character Lana Lee manages her family’s business, the Ho-Lee Noodlehouse Restaurant, in Cleveland’s Asian Village. While managing the noodle house pays the bills, Lana has a very serious knack for managing mysteries as well. Twelve times over now, Lana has helped the local detectives, including her boyfriend, Adam Trudeau. With her team of friends, there never seems to be any mystery they cannot unravel.
Our amateur sleuth Lana Lee is celebrating her thirtieth birthday this year. This milestone birthday is throwing her for a loop. Luckily, she has good friends like Megan and a loving family that are all ready to band together to make her birthday celebration one to remember. Friends from all over come to celebrate. Unfortunately, someone’s plus one is less than welcome – an ex who seems determined to stir up trouble with Lana and Adam. He manages to provoke Adam into a heated discussion that gets him ejected from the party, which should have been the end of it. However, Lana’s ex showing up dead in a dumpster makes things more than a little complicated. Caertainly for Lana, but more so for Adam as he ends up as primary suspect for the murder. Even the chief of Police, and Adam’s friend, can’t help but investigate him now. Lana’s team must work overtime to clear Adam’s name and find the true killer, complicated by Adam being on suspension as he tries to figure out how to function without all the resources and power he normally has as a detective. As it turns out, Adam has a thing or two to learn from Lana and her amateur sleuthing team and their methods.
Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mystery series is engaging, fun, and full of genuine love of food. Especially doughnuts. For those who have read the previous twelve books in the series, And Then There Were Bun is a welcome addition. It builds the relationships between characters and gives some closure to one of the bad relationships of Lana’s past. I also very much enjoyed watching Adam try to figure out how to go about investigating without any actual authority or resources at his disposal. For those new to the series, while this is an enjoyable mystery, I would suggest reading some of the previous books first to be able to fully appreciate some of the developments and reveals. Regardless, And Then There Were Bun is a fun mystery with a protagonist that is relatable, endearing, and is relentless in her pursuit of justice for victims and those falsely accused. There is also a strong supporting cast to this series as well. As the Ho-Lee Noodle House is the center of all Lana’s operations, readers really get to submerge themselves in that environment and become invested in their happiness and wellbeing as well. I look forward to seeing where Lana Lee’s adventures take her next, as well as how things develop amongst all the characters in Asia Village. – Carla Schantz
Noodle Shop mysteries in order
Death by Dumpling
Dim Sum of All Fears
Murder Lo Mein
Won Ton Terror
Egg Drop Dead
Killer Kung Pao
Fatal Fried Rice
Hot and Sour Suspects
Misfortune Cookie
Peking Duck and Cover
The Chow Maniac
Crime Rangoon