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Death by Bubble Tea (L.A. Night Market #1) by Jennifer J. Chow-Review

About The Book

Two cousins who start a food stall at their local night market get a serving of murder in this first novel of a delicious new cozy mystery series by Jennifer J. Chow, author of Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it’s a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale hasn’t cooked in years, and she hardly considers Celine’s career as a social media influencer as adequate experience, but because she’s just lost her job at her local bookstore, she feels she has no choice.

Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine’s surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They’re quite shocked that their bubble tea, in particular, is a hit–literally–when one of their customers turns up dead. Yale and Celine are prime suspects due to the gold flakes that Celine added to the sweet drink as a garnish. Though the two cousins are polar opposites in every way, they must work together to find out what really happened to the victim or the only thing they’ll be serving is time. 

My Review


Death by Bubble Tea is written by a new to me author, Jennifer J. Chow. It is the first book in the L.A. Night Market cozy mystery series.
I enjoy reading cozies with animals and food in them. Now while this one doesn’t have animals in it it has plenty of authentic and delicious sounding Asian foods and drinks that we are introduced to including Bubble Tea. Bubble tea most commonly is a tea accompanied with chewy tapioca balls. It has many flavors and varieties but the two most popular varieties are black pearl milk tea and green pearl milk tea, fruity flavors are very popular as well.
Yale Yee and her cousin Celine, visiting from Hong Kong at the suggestion of Yale’s father run a food stand at the Eastwood Night Market. Now these cousins haven’t seen each other in over twenty years and have very different personalities
Celine has the brilliant idea to add a gold garnish to the bubble tea to make it more photogenic because she is a food influencer. It works and brings in lots of customers after this. But then one of their customers turns up dead after hours at the Night Market.
While every chapter is not nonstop action we are introduced to many characters. Are the cousins the guilty party or is it one of the many characters we meet who seem to have a motive for the killing? This kept me reading and guessing right to the end.
I will be looking for more in this series as they release.

Pub Date 05 Jul 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Two-time finalist for the Lefty Award. Jennifer J. Chow writes cozy mysteries with heart, humor, and heritage. Current Vice President of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Los Angeles, where she hunts for all things matcha.

Her most recent series is the L.A. Night Market Mysteries (Berkley/Penguin Random House). Learn more about her other books at http://www.jenniferjchow.com.

Connect on Instagram and Twitter: @jenjchow

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