Death by Bubble Tea

In this book by Jennifer J. Chow, I loved how the differences between Yale Yee, the sleuth, and her cousin, Celine, not only created tension throughout the book but ultimately played on each of their strengths to solve the mystery. 

The two cousins are thrown together when quiet Yale is tapped by her dad to run the family bubble tea stand at L.A.’s night market. Loud and flamboyant Celine, a social media influencer, arrives in L.A. and gets tasked with helping Yale out.

Chow does a great job of showing the two girls' very different personalities and adding in that… show more.

In Death By Bubble Tea, Jennifer Chow introduces us to the fascinating world of Los Angeles’ night markets where her sleuth, Yale Yee (named for the aspirations of her education-minded parents) runs a bubble tea stand with the help of her cousin, Celine. Bookish, quiet Yale couldn’t be more different than her brash, social media influencer cousin, but together they make a culinary splash and solve a murder that mars the opening night of the market. Intriguing cutthroat foodie culture, millennial energy, and warm family relationships distinguish this debut cozy.

Unlike some of the more male-dominated genres, cozies have become more diverse in recent years. So if you’re interested in sampling something new, I highly recommend the first installment in the new L.A. Night Market Mysteries Series, Death by Bubble Tea. Author Jennifer J. Chow does an amazing job of providing mouth-watering descriptions of Cantonese and Taiwanese foods while at the same time delivering a twisty murder investigation as undertaken by cousins Yale Yee and Celine, whose family runs a food stand in Los Angeles’s Eastwood Village Night Market. You can’t go wrong with any of Chow’s books, but… show more.