Death by Dumpling sees Lana returning to work at her parents' noodle shop after losing her job and her boyfriend. When a customer ends up dead due to a food allergy, she and the chef become suspects in the murder. Lana quickly realizes that she has to figure out what really happened if she wants to clear their names.
This is a cozy mystery and it definitely feels like one. There's not even a whiff of danger as Lana goes around poking her nose where it doesn't belong. She blunders on, asking intrusive questions to everyone, and somehow they all indulge her by answering. Eventually she happens upon the answer, and it proves decently satisfying to wrap the whole thing up.
I initially came across this because I love dumplings, and the titles in this series are just too delicious to pass up. Otherwise, I would say there is nothing special about this debut. It's fine as a cozy, but it's a bit on the bland side. It didn't really grip me or make me feel compelled to keep reading. I think it's because the writing is very simple. Everything is spelled out in minute detail, so the reader is hit repeatedly over the head with things that are obvious and don't really need to be said. It sort of sucks the excitement out of the writing.
Something else that bothers me is Lana's family. Her mom is overbearing and meddling, in the way that Chinese families are. And her sister is kind of a jerk. Probably most other readers wouldn't be so bothered by this, but coming from a Chinese background, I found this hit a little too close to home, and it made those interactions hard to read.
Still, the titles in this series have me intrigued (I know, I shouldn't pick a book by its title, but I can't help it), and the first book shows enough potential that I'll probably go on to read the second one. Hopefully that one will be a little more exciting, and feature more of the delicious Detective Trudeau and less of Lana's family.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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