The following version of this novel was used in the creation of this study guide: Sutanto, Jesse Q. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Berkley. 2023. Paperback.

Vera Wong, a Chinese immigrant and owner of Vera Wang’s World Famous Teahouse, is struggling to stay afloat as she only has a single consistent customer, a grieving husband named Alex. So, when Vera finds a body in her establishment, she decides that it must be murder. Not trusting the police to take it seriously, she steals a flash drive from the victim’s body and checks his driver’s license for his name: Marshall Chen.

Within a few days, Vera settles on four suspects that all returned to her teahouse after Marshall’s death. These four are: Riki, an immigrant who believes Marshall deserved to die, but is terrified that he might have been the cause. Oliver, Marshall’s twin brother who suffered from years of abuse and neglect due to Marshall’s lies. Sana, an artist struggling to overcome her creative block, and Julia, Marshall’s wife whom he abandoned at the very beginning of the novel. All four are suspicious of each other, but slowly open up to both each other and Vera.

As the investigation stalls, Vera’s teahouse is broken into, prompting Julia to invite Vera into her home while the others revamp it. During this time, each character’s connection to Marshall and their innocence is revealed.

First is Sana, whom Vera confronts after finding a file of Sana’s artwork on Marshall’s computer. Sana reveals that she was a student at CalArts and desperate to prove herself to her famous mother. On the verge of graduation and feeling that she failed, Sana trusted Marshall when he offered to sell her work, inadvertently singing away her digital rights, only for him to ghost her. She tracked him down demanding payment, slapping him once he refused and called her art worthless, but left without killing him.

Second is Riki, whom Vera also confronts after finding a folder with his name on it and a file named a scalper bot. He explains that he came to America hoping to earn money to send his gifted brother, Adi, to a special school. However, with low paying jobs and no help, he became desperate and agreed to make Marshall a scalper bot in exchange for $25,000. However, when Marshall refused to pay, Riki tracked him down and punched him in the face, but was horrified at his actions shortly after. Once it is confirmed that Marshall was killed by his bird dander allergy, Riki is cleared, but struggles with guilt after learning that Sana was scammed by his bot.

At the same time, Julia discovers that she will inherit $700,000 from Marshall, drawing Officer Gray’s attention. This leads to Julia letting Officer Gray take Oliver’s manuscript in which he vented his anger towards Marshall and love for Julia using other names and characters. This lead to Officer Gray confronting him, but Oliver shuts the interview down by asking for a lawyer.

When Vera hosts a dinner party hoping to draw out the killer, it is revealed that none of the suspects are actually responsible. Julia, who was unaware of the inheritance, never left the home, while Oliver reveals that he planted drugs hoping to get Marshall in trouble, but chickened out before calling the police. When Vera tells the others that she staged the break in, but still lost Marshall’s laptop and flash drive, Julia kicks her out.

All four come to regret this decision and find Vera sick in her apartment. After some time in the hospital, Vera figures out the truth and confronts the real killer: Alex, Marshall and Oliver’s father. He tearfully admits that he was horrified to learn how Marshall had lied to him for decades and planned to abandon his family and, in Alex’s despair, gave Marshall a tea made from one of his allergens, killing him. He apologizes to Oliver for years of emotional abuse and is arrested. As Vera’s son helps with Alex’s defense, she and her former suspects reopen the new and improved teahouse.