Puss Reboots: Blog: May 2025: The Chow Maniac

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Ako and Bambi, Volume 2 by Hero and Jan Cash (Translator)
Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss
Bond and Book: The Devotion of 'The Surgery Room' by Mizuki Nomura
The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien and Cindy Kay (Narrator)
"Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" by John Cheever
"Clancy in the Tower of Babel" by John Cheever
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 11 by Ryoko Kui
The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton
Here by Richard McGuire
Kowloon Generic Romance Volume 5 by Jun Mayuzuki
The Last Dragon of Oz by Whitney L. Spradling
Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower and Rebecca Mitchell (Narrator)
Litany for a Broken World by L.J. Cohen
Murder, She Wrote by Bridget Kies
A Murderous Misconception by Lorraine Bartlett, Gayle Leeson and Jorjeana Marie (Narrator)
Night for Day by Roselle Lim
No Roast for the Weary by Cleo Coyle and Rebecca Gibel (Narrator)
Oh. It's You.: Love Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano "The Pot of Gold" by John Cheever
The Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
Shadow of the Solstice by Anne Hillerman and Jessica Matten (Narrator)
Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates and Elise Arsenault (Narrator)
"The Swimmer" by John Cheever
Through the Air to the North Pole by Roy Rockwood
The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder and Callie Beaulieu (Narrator)
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
The Whole Cat and Caboodle by Sofie Ryan and Marguerite Gavin (Narrator)

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April 2025 Sources

April 2025 Summary

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The Chow Maniac: 05/18/25

The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien and Cindy Kay (Narrator) (2025) is the eleventh book in the Noodle Shop mystery series. Private detective Lydia Shephard has enlisted Lana Lee to help her investigate a series of mysterious deaths of members of an elite Asian-American association. Her main suspect happens to have opened a new shop across the way from Lana's restaurant!

The deaths are all members of the Eight Immortals. Through a prologue we learn about their founding and through Lana's investigations we learn about what they have done in recent years. We also learn that the society isn't sticking to its own rules like it used to and like it should.

The who behind the murders wasn't any big surprise for me but the history of the Eight Immortals more than made up for it. There's a lot of local world building done in this mystery, something the series has needed.

Although I've read the entire series, The Chow Maniac was the first audio I've listened to. Cindy Kay does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. I plan to continue the series via audio.

Five stars