The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien

Available: April 1, 2025

Rated: 5 noodles

Lydia is back! This time she's working with a client from the Asian community and he's been quite tight-lipped, despite having come to Lydia for help. Lydia thinks that Lana could get him to open up to her so she hires Lana to work the case with her and Lana is in for quite a surprise. She had no idea there was a secret society of eight individuals working together to help young people in the Asian community get their start in business. But some terrible things have been happening to these civic-minded individuals and for the last few months they've been dropping like flies. Can Lana and Lydia get to the bottom of it before the killer strikes again?

I really enjoy this series. Most cozy heroines are white females between the ages of 30 and 60 so it's really nice to have a cozy heroine who's a bit younger and comes from a different ethnic background. Lana isn't really someone I can relate to necessarily because we have nothing in common and that's a big part of what makes her so interesting. I also love that she's so real. She's irreverent and sassy and she hangs out at a bar and has a friend who waitresses at a strip club. She's a breath of fresh air. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love cozies, but sometimes the same sweet woman who works at the same cozy library in the same idyllic little town and dates the same handsome guy... it can get boring. Lana complains about traffic and carries a crystal in her pocket and drinks too much and has a dog that snorts and toots. You can't help but love her.

It's hard to say too much about this book without giving anything away but I will say that anyone who is a fan of cozy mysteries, particularly someone who maybe getting a little tired of the same-old same-old storylines, should check out this series.

Thank you to Vivien Chien, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.