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Raina Sun Mystery #1
Raining Men and Corpses
Raining Men and Corpses
Book 1 of the Raina Sun Murder Mystery series.
A contemporary humorous mystery set in the fictitious small college town of Gold Springs, California. Raina Sun is a typical graduate student trying to keep her head above water as the bills roll in from a lawsuit disputing an inheritance from her dysfunctional family. Then her dashing college adviser cons her out of several months of rent.
Her quest to get her money back sets into motion a streak of bad luck. First, she finds the dead body of an ex-lover and becomes the prime suspect to his murder. The only man she ever loved reappears as the lead detective to the case and wants to reignite their passion (or at least he’s sending out smoke signals).
Her life careens out of control as her best friend does whatever it takes to get the inside scoop for the town’s newspaper. And her grandma moves into Raina’s postage-stamp-sized apartment, dragging a red suitcase and trouble. The family secret Raina has been running away from is now staring at her across the dining room table every morning.
Raina must figure out how to extract herself before things get dicey. There is no place for an amateur when it comes to murder.
The eclectic cast of characters in this amateur sleuth mystery will have you scratching your head and laughing until the end.
Book 1 of the Raina Sun Murder Mystery series.
A contemporary humorous mystery set in the fictitious small college town of Gold Springs, California. Raina Sun is a typical graduate student trying to keep her head above water as the bills roll in from a lawsuit disputing an inheritance from her dysfunctional family. Then her dashing college adviser cons her out of several months of rent.
Her quest to get her money back sets into motion a streak of bad luck. First, she finds the dead body of an ex-lover and becomes the prime suspect to his murder. The only man she ever loved reappears as the lead detective to the case and wants to reignite their passion (or at least he’s sending out smoke signals).
Her life careens out of control as her best friend does whatever it takes to get the inside scoop for the town’s newspaper. And her grandma moves into Raina’s postage-stamp-sized apartment, dragging a red suitcase and trouble. The family secret Raina has been running away from is now staring at her across the dining room table every morning.
Raina must figure out how to extract herself before things get dicey. There is no place for an amateur when it comes to murder.
The eclectic cast of characters in this amateur sleuth mystery will have you scratching your head and laughing until the end.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 23, 2014
1,717 people are currently reading
2,664 people want to read
About the author
Anne R. Tan
31books153followersAnne R. Tan is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes the Raina Sun Mystery series, the Lucy Fong Mystery series, and the Cedar Woods Mystery series. Her humorous cozy mysteries feature Chinese-American amateur sleuths dealing with love, family, and life while solving murders. Her books feature diverse characters and relationships because everyone deserves to be an armchair detective.
A Note from Anne:
My books are my legacy to my children. Unfortunately, they would not grow up in the San Francisco Bay Area like I did. Without a cultural hub to keep the language and philosophies alive, our family would lose this part of our heritage in one generation. My children are visitors to this rich culture, just like my readers. At its core, I always felt Chinese culture is about family and community. I hope you’ll enjoy your time with Raina Sun, Lucy Fong, and their large dynamic family.
Thank you for supporting my art,
Anne R. Tan
A Note from Anne:
My books are my legacy to my children. Unfortunately, they would not grow up in the San Francisco Bay Area like I did. Without a cultural hub to keep the language and philosophies alive, our family would lose this part of our heritage in one generation. My children are visitors to this rich culture, just like my readers. At its core, I always felt Chinese culture is about family and community. I hope you’ll enjoy your time with Raina Sun, Lucy Fong, and their large dynamic family.
Thank you for supporting my art,
Anne R. Tan
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
October 8, 2017
2.5 stars
I read this for the Terror in a Small Town square for
Someone was in the house. Raina tiptoed around the car to the side door. The rushing noise in her ears competed with her uneven breaths. Her clammy hands gripped the doorknob. She twisted and pulled. The door scraped against the concrete floor, ripping through the silence. It opened an inch. Gooseflesh peppered her arms.
This is first in a series that looks to follow along with Raina as she amateur sleuths her way through situations and her detective ex-husband Matthew tries to get her to mind her own business. Their relationship was completely mystifying as the most we get about Matthew is he has gold flecked eyes, thinks he will snap one day because his dad was an alcoholic, and wants Raina to stay out of murder cases. Told from Raina's point of view we get statements here and there about how Matthew and her were childhood sweethearts, married, he left her cuffed and naked in a hotel room in Rome, and their marriage was annulled in Vegas. Again, this first in series, which all these little statements dropped here and there, I kept checking to make sure I didn't miss a beginning novella or something; I felt so lost in regards to their relationship.
The murder mystery had great red herrings but it was a bit overshadowed by how I kept being baffled how so many were disregarding/disrespecting the police and investigation. No one seems to be telling the police the truth and some officers seem to be ok messing up an investigation because of personal feelings. This along with not getting a pov from Matthew and him using believable procedure for the investigation, gave the story more of a chik-lit murder mystery farce.
Raina and the cast of characters including her grandmother and friend Eden, were enjoyable to follow along with for the afternoon but I needed more details to explained connections to really immerse myself in the story.
I read this for the Terror in a Small Town square for
Someone was in the house. Raina tiptoed around the car to the side door. The rushing noise in her ears competed with her uneven breaths. Her clammy hands gripped the doorknob. She twisted and pulled. The door scraped against the concrete floor, ripping through the silence. It opened an inch. Gooseflesh peppered her arms.
This is first in a series that looks to follow along with Raina as she amateur sleuths her way through situations and her detective ex-husband Matthew tries to get her to mind her own business. Their relationship was completely mystifying as the most we get about Matthew is he has gold flecked eyes, thinks he will snap one day because his dad was an alcoholic, and wants Raina to stay out of murder cases. Told from Raina's point of view we get statements here and there about how Matthew and her were childhood sweethearts, married, he left her cuffed and naked in a hotel room in Rome, and their marriage was annulled in Vegas. Again, this first in series, which all these little statements dropped here and there, I kept checking to make sure I didn't miss a beginning novella or something; I felt so lost in regards to their relationship.
The murder mystery had great red herrings but it was a bit overshadowed by how I kept being baffled how so many were disregarding/disrespecting the police and investigation. No one seems to be telling the police the truth and some officers seem to be ok messing up an investigation because of personal feelings. This along with not getting a pov from Matthew and him using believable procedure for the investigation, gave the story more of a chik-lit murder mystery farce.
Raina and the cast of characters including her grandmother and friend Eden, were enjoyable to follow along with for the afternoon but I needed more details to explained connections to really immerse myself in the story.
March 27, 2018
A good mystery. Fun grandma. Rambled a bit. 3.5*
Shelved as 'dnf'
March 5, 2017I DNF'd this one at 45%
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried to get as far as I could, but every time I picked it up I just felt annoyed and bored. I just didn't feel like pushing through. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine that this book had, the main character keeps going on about how poor she is, but then makes bad money decisions. And instead of that being her thing it just is sort of there. In the course of half the book she went out to eat multiple times, bought a new dress and mentioned eating B&J ice cream a few times. It just bothered me every time one of those things happened. It's a minor thing, but if it happened often it adds up.
Besides that the main character isn't really likeable. She makes a lie at the start of the book, which I already didn't like, but then she keeps thinking about it and how the love interest can't find out about her lie and going through long lengths to make sure he doesn't. I think it's obvious her lie will get out eventually. I don't like characters who lie a lot and Raina and I got off on the wrong foot because of that. And as the book progressed that just didn't change, I just didn't care about her character or liked her.
It felt like these little details were missing to make it read better, but we're kept in the dark about a lot of small details. What happened between her and the love interest, what happened to he grandfather etc. It just felt like I started with book 2 and was missing parts of the story. There's a reason I dislike reading series out of order and this is that reason, I feel like I am missing little details or getting the backstory behind things.
The murder mystery was sort of interesting. I did predict the method of killing fairly early on. But when I stopped reading at 45% that was about the only piece of info we knew about the murder mystery. The mystery progressed really slowly, instead the book si filled with daily life occurrences, which in and of itself isn't bad, but here it didn't work for me. Maybe it's also because I just finished two very mystery driven cozy mysteries, so this was a big switch in the other direction.
What I did like was that the book felt very realistic. Raina was just a normal women that got caught up in a difficult situation. She doesn't get as easily involved as in most cozies and it felt pretty normal and natural. There just seemed a bit too much of that, daily life things and other social issues.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery with lots of focus on the side plots, a realistic main character and an interesting, but slow developing mystery, you might like this one.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried to get as far as I could, but every time I picked it up I just felt annoyed and bored. I just didn't feel like pushing through. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine that this book had, the main character keeps going on about how poor she is, but then makes bad money decisions. And instead of that being her thing it just is sort of there. In the course of half the book she went out to eat multiple times, bought a new dress and mentioned eating B&J ice cream a few times. It just bothered me every time one of those things happened. It's a minor thing, but if it happened often it adds up.
Besides that the main character isn't really likeable. She makes a lie at the start of the book, which I already didn't like, but then she keeps thinking about it and how the love interest can't find out about her lie and going through long lengths to make sure he doesn't. I think it's obvious her lie will get out eventually. I don't like characters who lie a lot and Raina and I got off on the wrong foot because of that. And as the book progressed that just didn't change, I just didn't care about her character or liked her.
It felt like these little details were missing to make it read better, but we're kept in the dark about a lot of small details. What happened between her and the love interest, what happened to he grandfather etc. It just felt like I started with book 2 and was missing parts of the story. There's a reason I dislike reading series out of order and this is that reason, I feel like I am missing little details or getting the backstory behind things.
The murder mystery was sort of interesting. I did predict the method of killing fairly early on. But when I stopped reading at 45% that was about the only piece of info we knew about the murder mystery. The mystery progressed really slowly, instead the book si filled with daily life occurrences, which in and of itself isn't bad, but here it didn't work for me. Maybe it's also because I just finished two very mystery driven cozy mysteries, so this was a big switch in the other direction.
What I did like was that the book felt very realistic. Raina was just a normal women that got caught up in a difficult situation. She doesn't get as easily involved as in most cozies and it felt pretty normal and natural. There just seemed a bit too much of that, daily life things and other social issues.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery with lots of focus on the side plots, a realistic main character and an interesting, but slow developing mystery, you might like this one.
February 19, 2016
Not a bad story, but not great. The characters were entertaining, especially the grandmother. The mystery wasn't bad- I guessed at the culprit, but wasn't definite until the end. However, there were enough clues or pointers to make sure the ending wasn't out of left field.
I loved the diversity in this book! An Asian lead, Asian love interest, and characters from a wide range of cultures is something I haven't come across in many books, let alone cozy mysteries.
The reason I liked this book but didn't love it was because there seemed to be a lot of backstory that seemed like it should be relevant but wasn't really mentioned. It was just kind of confusing at times.
I loved the diversity in this book! An Asian lead, Asian love interest, and characters from a wide range of cultures is something I haven't come across in many books, let alone cozy mysteries.
The reason I liked this book but didn't love it was because there seemed to be a lot of backstory that seemed like it should be relevant but wasn't really mentioned. It was just kind of confusing at times.
October 9, 2021
Maybe I'm just out of touch with cozy mysteries from the past few months, but I don't think I "got" this one. Overall, there was too much going on in a way that was hard to follow.
In this novel, it almost seems like there are separate stories going on. Aside from the office murder, you have a lot of family ties and awkward friendships that don't seem to fit with each other. While most cozy mysteries have these elements, it seems like had too much trouble connecting these in , to the extent that the overarching book becomes too hard to follow at times. I found myself skimming more than I would have liked to, and realizing I didn't actually miss much. Then when there are major plot points, they are kind of thrown in randomly at points that don't make sense.
The characters are somewhat redeeming, but they also make the story difficult to follow. Aside from the grandmother, who is obvious comic relief, none of them stand out in a way that makes me pay attention. Their stories are too interconnected, and yet also too separate, to make sense of anything going on. I'm still not sure if I understand all these people's relationships with each other.
In terms of flow, I had two thoughts, and these seem to contradict each other: the book was too long, and the ending came out of nowhere. There was both too much development of random extraneous points, and an ending that didn't line up with the rest of the story, creating a flow that is both drawn out and rushed. I can't say I'm a fan.
I was also disappointed at the lack of culture reflected in this story. This is the first cozy mystery I've come across with an author of color and featuring POC main characters. As such, I was disappointed that there were no Chinese-specific elements of the story, and not any recipes of any background. For this novel, I feel like the idea of food, as well as culture, are missing from this novel.
I do have the next two books in an omnibus, so I'm likely to read them at some point, but it's not a high priority with all the other books I need to read. I might check out the next one around Christmas since it has a holiday theme, but I don't see much reason to continue right away.
In this novel, it almost seems like there are separate stories going on. Aside from the office murder, you have a lot of family ties and awkward friendships that don't seem to fit with each other. While most cozy mysteries have these elements, it seems like had too much trouble connecting these in , to the extent that the overarching book becomes too hard to follow at times. I found myself skimming more than I would have liked to, and realizing I didn't actually miss much. Then when there are major plot points, they are kind of thrown in randomly at points that don't make sense.
The characters are somewhat redeeming, but they also make the story difficult to follow. Aside from the grandmother, who is obvious comic relief, none of them stand out in a way that makes me pay attention. Their stories are too interconnected, and yet also too separate, to make sense of anything going on. I'm still not sure if I understand all these people's relationships with each other.
In terms of flow, I had two thoughts, and these seem to contradict each other: the book was too long, and the ending came out of nowhere. There was both too much development of random extraneous points, and an ending that didn't line up with the rest of the story, creating a flow that is both drawn out and rushed. I can't say I'm a fan.
I was also disappointed at the lack of culture reflected in this story. This is the first cozy mystery I've come across with an author of color and featuring POC main characters. As such, I was disappointed that there were no Chinese-specific elements of the story, and not any recipes of any background. For this novel, I feel like the idea of food, as well as culture, are missing from this novel.
I do have the next two books in an omnibus, so I'm likely to read them at some point, but it's not a high priority with all the other books I need to read. I might check out the next one around Christmas since it has a holiday theme, but I don't see much reason to continue right away.
May 11, 2016
If you're in the mood for a fun murder mystery to take to the beach in summer, or curl up on the couch with in winter, then Raining Men and Corpses by Anne R. Tan will fit the bill.
Raina Sun is our sleuth. She's a graduate student who is instantly likable for all the mistakes she's made in her life as much as for anything else. Getting involved with her 'dashing college advisor' and lending him a substantial sum of money is one of many items on Raina's list of 'wish-she-hadn't-dones'. And things don't get any easier for Raina when a professor is murdered and an ex-lover appears. Not to mention the Grandmother, Po Po, who arrives on her doorstep and comes with her own set of troubles. Although, Po Po will no doubt become a favourite character for many readers. Raina's grandmother is a bit loopy but instantly endearing.
What I liked about this story was the build up of more than just the murder mystery. There's a good dollop of mystery in other aspects of Raina's life too - her romantic past and her family are both hiding a good share of skeletons. And things get more mysterious before it all unravels in a satisfying end.
I'd recommend this book to all lovers of fun, light murder mysteries. Romance fans looking for something different might also enjoy it.
Raina Sun is our sleuth. She's a graduate student who is instantly likable for all the mistakes she's made in her life as much as for anything else. Getting involved with her 'dashing college advisor' and lending him a substantial sum of money is one of many items on Raina's list of 'wish-she-hadn't-dones'. And things don't get any easier for Raina when a professor is murdered and an ex-lover appears. Not to mention the Grandmother, Po Po, who arrives on her doorstep and comes with her own set of troubles. Although, Po Po will no doubt become a favourite character for many readers. Raina's grandmother is a bit loopy but instantly endearing.
What I liked about this story was the build up of more than just the murder mystery. There's a good dollop of mystery in other aspects of Raina's life too - her romantic past and her family are both hiding a good share of skeletons. And things get more mysterious before it all unravels in a satisfying end.
I'd recommend this book to all lovers of fun, light murder mysteries. Romance fans looking for something different might also enjoy it.
February 12, 2017
A new series and new author for my. The first of 5 books in the series so far. Raina is a grad student at a mythical California college. Her advisor and former boyfriend dies suddenly making Raina a suspect in his murder. Her life is complicated further by the arrival of Po Po, who is her grandmother, and her former husband who is the lead detective on the murder case. The relationship between Raina and her ex is complicated.
This is an enjoyable cozy. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
This is an enjoyable cozy. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
August 24, 2017
“Raining Men and Corpses� earns 4/5 Secrets and Lies!
I am new to Anne R. Tan’s Raina Sun Mystery series, and after seeing several 4/5-star reviews, I knew it time to get in by reading book 1 right away. Ok, this was a great place to start: Regrettable loans? Ex-boyfriend’s body? ‘Person of interest�? Lead detective is also an ex? All this and the arrival of her grandmother make for a fun tale. As with many first books, the introduction of characters and their connections along with any backstory delays diving into the murder mystery and the investigation, but I stayed with it and weeded through all those details and found the mystery entertaining. Some twists and enough complexity to delight my inner “Sherlock,� but by the final resolution, I had it figured out. Anne’s variety of characters are in the beginning stages, but so much was provided that by the end I think I knew them well. Raine is strong and determined, but vulnerable and some of the ‘bad luck� may have been from her own doing…bad decisions? Po Po was fun, a bit trying at times, and reminiscent of my own grandmother’s nature. The love interest? I’m not sure I would be cordial, but healing…that might be a good thing definitely a love/hate dynamic for future books. I enjoyed the references to her Chinese heritage (a unique focus) and the dynamic with her grandmother. i enjoyed this enough that reading the rest of the series a necessity.
I am new to Anne R. Tan’s Raina Sun Mystery series, and after seeing several 4/5-star reviews, I knew it time to get in by reading book 1 right away. Ok, this was a great place to start: Regrettable loans? Ex-boyfriend’s body? ‘Person of interest�? Lead detective is also an ex? All this and the arrival of her grandmother make for a fun tale. As with many first books, the introduction of characters and their connections along with any backstory delays diving into the murder mystery and the investigation, but I stayed with it and weeded through all those details and found the mystery entertaining. Some twists and enough complexity to delight my inner “Sherlock,� but by the final resolution, I had it figured out. Anne’s variety of characters are in the beginning stages, but so much was provided that by the end I think I knew them well. Raine is strong and determined, but vulnerable and some of the ‘bad luck� may have been from her own doing…bad decisions? Po Po was fun, a bit trying at times, and reminiscent of my own grandmother’s nature. The love interest? I’m not sure I would be cordial, but healing…that might be a good thing definitely a love/hate dynamic for future books. I enjoyed the references to her Chinese heritage (a unique focus) and the dynamic with her grandmother. i enjoyed this enough that reading the rest of the series a necessity.
April 25, 2017
Chinese American graduate student Rainy Sun lends her money too freely and needs to be repaid. Perhaps a job would help, but Rainy’s hoped-for emplyment turns out to be just more volunteer (over)work. Soon life’s spinning out of control, an ex-boyfriend isn’t ready to commit, an ex-lover is dead, and a very present grandmother has come to share Rainy’s small apartment. Devious plot twists range from match-making to murder, and plenty of mysteries lie in the background to Rainy’s curious relationships. It’s all good fun, grounded in Rainy’s excitable thoughts and dreams (including a “photo-burning ceremony with her friends Ben and Jerry�). And it’s very American, with loving details of student life, personal hygiene and spinach twisted on the fork. And cookies. Lots of characters, light-hearted and chatty, with a backstory waiting to be told in future volumes I’d guess.
Disclosure: I learned it was on a deal and I offer my honest review.
Disclosure: I learned it was on a deal and I offer my honest review.
February 26, 2017
Because it was in the ‘read now� section of NetGalley, and I liked the cover and description, I downloaded this book.
For me, it was not altogether a very bad or very good read. I do like the author’s writing style but as other people before me I was disappointed because of some important points. First of all, the editing. Even for me, being Dutch, I could spot the mistakes and inconsistancies. Second, and I’m again not the only one to mention this, is the fact that there was too much information about things that happened in the past, without a further explanation. Why not make Matthew just an ex-boyfriend? Less trouble, less explaining to do and more clear for the readers. My digital copy of the book is full of bookmarks because I really had trouble sometimes to find out why I was reading something, for example the whole part about the second family of Raina’s grandfather or the story regarding the inheritance. It would have been better had the author spaced out this information over two or maybe three books. There is, however, no explanation at all why Raina is a grad student at a History college, apparently working a job in the IT-lab, and complaining she left a job as an engineer? And by the way, there is no such thing as an Chief-in-Editor� apparently there was no ‘Editor-in-chief� at hand when this book was edited.
Of course there were good points too! I liked big parts of the book, including Po Po’s character ;-). I admire Anne Tan because she wrote this book and is not afraid of criticism. I hope that for the next books, there is a better editor at hand to help the author to work on being a much better writer.
For me, it was not altogether a very bad or very good read. I do like the author’s writing style but as other people before me I was disappointed because of some important points. First of all, the editing. Even for me, being Dutch, I could spot the mistakes and inconsistancies. Second, and I’m again not the only one to mention this, is the fact that there was too much information about things that happened in the past, without a further explanation. Why not make Matthew just an ex-boyfriend? Less trouble, less explaining to do and more clear for the readers. My digital copy of the book is full of bookmarks because I really had trouble sometimes to find out why I was reading something, for example the whole part about the second family of Raina’s grandfather or the story regarding the inheritance. It would have been better had the author spaced out this information over two or maybe three books. There is, however, no explanation at all why Raina is a grad student at a History college, apparently working a job in the IT-lab, and complaining she left a job as an engineer? And by the way, there is no such thing as an Chief-in-Editor� apparently there was no ‘Editor-in-chief� at hand when this book was edited.
Of course there were good points too! I liked big parts of the book, including Po Po’s character ;-). I admire Anne Tan because she wrote this book and is not afraid of criticism. I hope that for the next books, there is a better editor at hand to help the author to work on being a much better writer.
March 3, 2021
Read for #Book1CoziesClub
I have both Chapter by Chapter audio only vlogs as well as a First Impressions video up on my blog if you're interested in more of my thoughts, but I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be continuing with the series.
I have both Chapter by Chapter audio only vlogs as well as a First Impressions video up on my blog if you're interested in more of my thoughts, but I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be continuing with the series.
September 21, 2022
I really enjoyed this cosy mystery. I warmed to Raina very quickly, and I identified with her. The storyline held my interest while the characters made me chuckle. My favourite character was probably Po Po, Raina's sassy grandma. It was satisfying to read, and I will definitely be reading some more of these.
September 10, 2023
I had the audiobook as well as an e-book and I loved listening to the narrator.
The story begins with the MC Raina Sun going to see Holden Merritt (her graduate advisor) who owes her $2000 dollars. As she's trying to tell him how she's late on her bills and request the money he owes her, he interrupts what she's saying and misinterprets what she meant to convey to him. Shortly after she tries to get the money, she learns that there's a dead body in the bathroom. Her ex-husband (who she obviously still is in love with) is the detective, and as bad luck would have it, she is the main suspect. It becomes clear that Andrew (her ex) also still has feelings for her but there was so much that went down between them.
Raina comes from a dysfunctional family and they're Chinese. At some point during the story, her grandmother, Po Po, comes uninvited and without notice to live with Raina. And there even more fun begins. Po Po is annoying at times but she and Raina have to make things work. There are some cultural aspects to the story too which I liked. I loved all of the characters except the "bad guys" characters. But they were still well-developed. Overall, I really liked this one.
The story begins with the MC Raina Sun going to see Holden Merritt (her graduate advisor) who owes her $2000 dollars. As she's trying to tell him how she's late on her bills and request the money he owes her, he interrupts what she's saying and misinterprets what she meant to convey to him. Shortly after she tries to get the money, she learns that there's a dead body in the bathroom. Her ex-husband (who she obviously still is in love with) is the detective, and as bad luck would have it, she is the main suspect. It becomes clear that Andrew (her ex) also still has feelings for her but there was so much that went down between them.
Raina comes from a dysfunctional family and they're Chinese. At some point during the story, her grandmother, Po Po, comes uninvited and without notice to live with Raina. And there even more fun begins. Po Po is annoying at times but she and Raina have to make things work. There are some cultural aspects to the story too which I liked. I loved all of the characters except the "bad guys" characters. But they were still well-developed. Overall, I really liked this one.
September 23, 2016
Raining Men and Corpses, a Raina Sun cozy
by Anne R. Tan
I think this is the first novel in the Raina Sun series. The author's website and the Amazon author site both indicate there are currently 4 books in the series. I won't be reading the remaining 3. In fact, I didn't finish reading this one, and it currently resides on my threw-it-at-the-wall shelf.
What I liked: very little. One of the Amazon reviews said the novel reminded her of Stephanie Plum and her grandmother. Well, I'm a Stephanie Plum fan and, believe me, Raina Sun ain't Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is a flake, but at least she's a consistent flake, and she realizes she's a flake, and she is not wishy washy in any way. But, I'm supposed to be listing things I liked (see how hard it is?). So, I did like Raina Sun's grandmother. In fact, she was about the only character in the series I did like. I thought the murder/investigation part of the plot was interesting. The novel is paced well. I was reading this on my kindle, and I only got 69% of the way through (to location 2247), so I can't comment on the second half of the novel.
What I didn't like: Editing and proofing were not very good. I will allow that this book was evidently the first published book of the author, and I didn't really start keeping track of things that I thought were incorrect or awkwardly phrased until close to when I stopped reading. At 1955 there is this:
...She didn't know what to make of Eden's relationship with Sol. Or her quasi-relationship with Matthew.
Okay, from my reading to that point, I was pretty sure that the author meant Raina's quasi-relationship with Matthew, but that's not how it reads. As written, it would be (should be) interpreted as the thinker (Raina) didn't know what to make of Eden's relationship with Sol Or her (Eden's) quasi-relationship with Matthew. The phrasing lacks clarity, and the sad thing is that it would only take the insertion of one word to fix it.
...Or her OWN quasi-relationship with Matthew.
At 2016, there is this, as Raina slips in to a locked dormitory by closely following in a student who had a pass card by:
...grabbing the handle before the door swing shut.
Tense matters. And again, it could be fixed by the insertion of just one word.
...grabbing the handle before the door COULD swing shut.
And at 2140:
...Lori gave Raina a tight smiled when she set down.
Yes, by now I'm shaking my head.
In general (no one place):
By the time I got to the error at 2140, there had been 3 references to using a fake attack of diarrhea as an excuse to be absent from an area or meeting. Three. I thought Raina was supposed to be an adult, not in middle school.
I disliked most of the characters. Raina is a spoiled, wishy-washy, doormat of a person who rushes in without thinking, jumps to conclusions, repeats failed history expecting things to turn out differently, and who believes anything anyone tells her about anyone or anything. Matthew is a dick. I don't care how handsome he might be, who would waste even one tear on this jerk? Eden is not a friend, she's a frenemy who cares more about her career than her friends. And don't get me started on Matthew's partner, Hooper. Olivia is a conniving snipe, and Sol is just a waste of space. Besides the grandmother, who I already said I liked, about the only likeable major character in the book is the murdered man, Holden.
But for me, the threw-it-at-the-wall moment came at 2247:
...The reflection gave slit-eyed Asians a bad name.
Now, I know the main character is a Chinese-American, as is the author. I also know that it is evidently cool and hip to use perjoratives and racist slang when referring to one's own race/ethnicity/social class. Sorry, in my opinion, it is just plain racist, not cool or hip. That was it for me.
So, my recommendation is to skip this series entirely. Read Evanovich's Stephanie Plum instead.
by Anne R. Tan
I think this is the first novel in the Raina Sun series. The author's website and the Amazon author site both indicate there are currently 4 books in the series. I won't be reading the remaining 3. In fact, I didn't finish reading this one, and it currently resides on my threw-it-at-the-wall shelf.
What I liked: very little. One of the Amazon reviews said the novel reminded her of Stephanie Plum and her grandmother. Well, I'm a Stephanie Plum fan and, believe me, Raina Sun ain't Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is a flake, but at least she's a consistent flake, and she realizes she's a flake, and she is not wishy washy in any way. But, I'm supposed to be listing things I liked (see how hard it is?). So, I did like Raina Sun's grandmother. In fact, she was about the only character in the series I did like. I thought the murder/investigation part of the plot was interesting. The novel is paced well. I was reading this on my kindle, and I only got 69% of the way through (to location 2247), so I can't comment on the second half of the novel.
What I didn't like: Editing and proofing were not very good. I will allow that this book was evidently the first published book of the author, and I didn't really start keeping track of things that I thought were incorrect or awkwardly phrased until close to when I stopped reading. At 1955 there is this:
...She didn't know what to make of Eden's relationship with Sol. Or her quasi-relationship with Matthew.
Okay, from my reading to that point, I was pretty sure that the author meant Raina's quasi-relationship with Matthew, but that's not how it reads. As written, it would be (should be) interpreted as the thinker (Raina) didn't know what to make of Eden's relationship with Sol Or her (Eden's) quasi-relationship with Matthew. The phrasing lacks clarity, and the sad thing is that it would only take the insertion of one word to fix it.
...Or her OWN quasi-relationship with Matthew.
At 2016, there is this, as Raina slips in to a locked dormitory by closely following in a student who had a pass card by:
...grabbing the handle before the door swing shut.
Tense matters. And again, it could be fixed by the insertion of just one word.
...grabbing the handle before the door COULD swing shut.
And at 2140:
...Lori gave Raina a tight smiled when she set down.
Yes, by now I'm shaking my head.
In general (no one place):
By the time I got to the error at 2140, there had been 3 references to using a fake attack of diarrhea as an excuse to be absent from an area or meeting. Three. I thought Raina was supposed to be an adult, not in middle school.
I disliked most of the characters. Raina is a spoiled, wishy-washy, doormat of a person who rushes in without thinking, jumps to conclusions, repeats failed history expecting things to turn out differently, and who believes anything anyone tells her about anyone or anything. Matthew is a dick. I don't care how handsome he might be, who would waste even one tear on this jerk? Eden is not a friend, she's a frenemy who cares more about her career than her friends. And don't get me started on Matthew's partner, Hooper. Olivia is a conniving snipe, and Sol is just a waste of space. Besides the grandmother, who I already said I liked, about the only likeable major character in the book is the murdered man, Holden.
But for me, the threw-it-at-the-wall moment came at 2247:
...The reflection gave slit-eyed Asians a bad name.
Now, I know the main character is a Chinese-American, as is the author. I also know that it is evidently cool and hip to use perjoratives and racist slang when referring to one's own race/ethnicity/social class. Sorry, in my opinion, it is just plain racist, not cool or hip. That was it for me.
So, my recommendation is to skip this series entirely. Read Evanovich's Stephanie Plum instead.
June 20, 2021
I liked the fact that there were so many suspects that kept possibly being the killer! It kept me on my toes. Even if I started to suspect one person, there was a possibility that it was this other person and I loved that.
August 7, 2017
Men, Corpses and Raina
Men, Corpses and Raina....Oh My.
Hilarious. Raining Men and Corpses is Great read, a real hoot with solid characters. Many kudos to the author for all the dialogue and interactions of and between all of the characters. I truly enjoyed reading "Raining Men and Corpses ". Raina, the protagonist,Eden and her grandmother, “PoPo�, her sidekicks are a perfect team to solve a murder and turn a book into a great read. The author does an amazing job of building just the right complexity into the environment to support the action,twists and turns, and back and forth of character interactions.If book one was such a page turner then Ican't wait to read the next book in the series. (Note: I was provided a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Raining Men and Corpses as your next read. -Tex
Men, Corpses and Raina....Oh My.
Hilarious. Raining Men and Corpses is Great read, a real hoot with solid characters. Many kudos to the author for all the dialogue and interactions of and between all of the characters. I truly enjoyed reading "Raining Men and Corpses ". Raina, the protagonist,Eden and her grandmother, “PoPo�, her sidekicks are a perfect team to solve a murder and turn a book into a great read. The author does an amazing job of building just the right complexity into the environment to support the action,twists and turns, and back and forth of character interactions.If book one was such a page turner then Ican't wait to read the next book in the series. (Note: I was provided a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Raining Men and Corpses as your next read. -Tex
July 14, 2019
Cozy mysteries tend to be cute, and this one fit the description. Raina is an interesting amateur sleuth with friendship and man issues that she had to contend with along with attempting to help solve a murder. Her grandmother was hilarious. She provided the comic relief that the book needed. The mystery aspect was interesting even though it moved slowly.
It took my quite a few chapters to get into the story, and even then the book dragged for me. I wasn’t fond of the relationship between Raina and Matthew. The author took her time revealing their past history together and even when it was all out in the open I wasn’t happy with why he behaved the way he did. The relationship annoyed me, just like the one she had with her best friend.
It took my quite a few chapters to get into the story, and even then the book dragged for me. I wasn’t fond of the relationship between Raina and Matthew. The author took her time revealing their past history together and even when it was all out in the open I wasn’t happy with why he behaved the way he did. The relationship annoyed me, just like the one she had with her best friend.
January 12, 2020
I'm so glad I finally started reading this series! I love the author's style and I quickly grew to like Raina and her sense of humor as well as her fun and crazy Chinese grandma that she calls Po Po. I know I'm going to be reading more in the series--I have to see how this all plays out even though I peeked at the future book blurbs just for my own peace of mind. Terrible? Maybe, but now that I know what ends up happening, I think I'll enjoy the books more.
This was a really good mystery that had everything a good cozy needs. There were some awesome characters, a couple of creepy ones, lots of humor thanks to Raina's grandma and a great showdown. I hadn't guessed the killer and enjoyed the twist along with all the red herrings.
This was a really good mystery that had everything a good cozy needs. There were some awesome characters, a couple of creepy ones, lots of humor thanks to Raina's grandma and a great showdown. I hadn't guessed the killer and enjoyed the twist along with all the red herrings.
May 10, 2017
Disclaimer: I acquired Book #1 from Amazon via BookBub at a reduced price. All other books in this series were purchased at full price. This is my honest review for which I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review
My Review:
"Oh, hi Matthew". Is that how you greet the love of your life when he suddenly pops up at a murder investigation when you're the prime suspect and he's the lead detective and you haven't seen him since he left you in Vegas with an annulment of your very brief marriage and you haven't seen him in several years? Well, Raina Sun has a lot of nerve. There's not much that intimidates her or keeps her quiet when she has something to say. You've heard the saying about "those who rush in where angels fear to tread"? That seems to fit Raina and PoPo pretty well.
The author introduced us to this main character and all her bad habits quite thoroughly, I thought. She loves to eat, which she does often whether it's out to eat a meal, stop for coffee and a pastry, eating at a friend's place, cooking for someone at her apartment, or a spoon or two in the Ben and Jerry's. Her molehills, I leave you to discover on your own. And she can't resist eavesdropping. Listening in on other's conversations is half of how she finds out what's going on in the case! It's sneaky, but it seems to work for her.
Then there's her secret weapon. PoPo is a Chinese word of respect meaning grandmother or an older woman. It can be used alone or with the woman's family name. Raina's PoPo is quite the character, and I don't mean that she's just another character in the book. She's a character with a capital C! Everyone should have a PoPo like Raina's!
The mystery developed quite slowly and I sometimes lost track of it in all the people stuff. Raina and PoPo are into people. They care about them and try to take care of the ones they love especially. They try to do the right thing, especially Raina. She's a good person who doesn't always seem to understand that bad things happen in this world.
She's smart, too, and she seems to have the edge over the local constabulary, including Inspector Matthew Louie. They all seem to stumble through this murder and solve it by following one step behind Raina as she figures it out by listening to gossip and peeking into peoples' desk drawers and kitchens. I suggest you try this first book in the series out. Who knows, it may lead you all the way to book #5, as it did me!
Book #2
My Review:
Again, this mystery seems to ramble among the people stuff and molehills, especially since this one has a baby involved. The police don't seem to be very involved in this one, but they show up when they're really needed. Of course, they would be more involved if someone had called them.
There's no sex in these books, just some kissing once in a while. Violence? Yes, there is violence. Quite a bit of it, but it's not graphic. As for Raina, a lot of her injuries seem to be self-imposed. Graceful and Raina don't belong in the same sentence.
Family secrets get out and hurt people this time. This is one that needs solving since the mystery behind it needs to be answered before anyone can put the pain behind them. But the answers may be buried in China.
Book #3
My Review:
Sometimes, family secrets are meant to be kept as secrets. Not this one. Raina and PoPo both know this one needs to be answered, even if people get hurt along the way. It seems that Raina will be the one to get hurt this time.
It's amazing that Raina ever has anything to wear. We hear all about her eating and the molehills, but she never seems to do laundry. She's always tripping, falling, spilling, spraying, or in some way ruining any outfit she puts on. She can go through half a dozen outfits in a day it seems. She's even borrowed a clean outfit of sorts from PoPo when she's gotten dirty on the go!
Her life is chaotic and important things go wrong because of it, or because of her crazy family. And now she's having strange dreams. Must be the pain meds from getting mugged.
Keep going, this is only book #3...
Book #4
My Review:
In this one, Raina jumps from one outrageous accident to another collecting bruises and scrapes along the way. But she's supposed to be a caretaker. Matthew's helping out with the family secret and Raina's supposed to be keeping a watchful eye on his grandmother. Landing Louie PoPo in the hospital wasn't quite what he had in mind.
She loses her job. Loses her BFF. Is Raina losing her grip? Help comes from surprising places sometimes, but then there's always a payback to come. And these Chinese always keep a very good accounting of paybacks. But that's a worry for the future.
And so we come to book #5, which was my favorite in the series...
Book #5
My Review:
Well, this time she's playing with the big boys. The Triads don't take captives, they just kill people and step over the bodies. But remember there are paybacks and it's time to pay up. And it's time to get all the answers to the family secret. Two birds with one stone. How hard could it be to spend a weekend pretending to be engaged to the head of the Triad?
One body, an explosion, secret passages, what else can happen? Well, PoPo can show up and charm the guy's grandfather because they were kids together. And you know that PoPo's a loose cannon...
Well, as usual, Raina gets to the bottom of the mystery, but the explosion has destroyed all evidence of the answers to the family secret. But might her weekend fiance have read the answers before the explosion tore them away?
When all is said and done, there's a sparkling ring on her finger at the end of the weekend, but who's the lucky guy?
So that brings you up-to-date. Now, we just have to be patient. Book #6 isn't due out until September 3, 2017, Murky Passions and Scandals
Ms. Tan says she has ideas to go all the way to #12, but only immediate plans to go up to #7. How far she goes depends on reader interest. So, get to the store whether your feet or your fingers and pick up your copies of all of Raina's adventures with PoPo and find out whose sparkly ring is on her finger! Pre-Order right now on #6 is only $2.99
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review
My Review:
"Oh, hi Matthew". Is that how you greet the love of your life when he suddenly pops up at a murder investigation when you're the prime suspect and he's the lead detective and you haven't seen him since he left you in Vegas with an annulment of your very brief marriage and you haven't seen him in several years? Well, Raina Sun has a lot of nerve. There's not much that intimidates her or keeps her quiet when she has something to say. You've heard the saying about "those who rush in where angels fear to tread"? That seems to fit Raina and PoPo pretty well.
The author introduced us to this main character and all her bad habits quite thoroughly, I thought. She loves to eat, which she does often whether it's out to eat a meal, stop for coffee and a pastry, eating at a friend's place, cooking for someone at her apartment, or a spoon or two in the Ben and Jerry's. Her molehills, I leave you to discover on your own. And she can't resist eavesdropping. Listening in on other's conversations is half of how she finds out what's going on in the case! It's sneaky, but it seems to work for her.
Then there's her secret weapon. PoPo is a Chinese word of respect meaning grandmother or an older woman. It can be used alone or with the woman's family name. Raina's PoPo is quite the character, and I don't mean that she's just another character in the book. She's a character with a capital C! Everyone should have a PoPo like Raina's!
The mystery developed quite slowly and I sometimes lost track of it in all the people stuff. Raina and PoPo are into people. They care about them and try to take care of the ones they love especially. They try to do the right thing, especially Raina. She's a good person who doesn't always seem to understand that bad things happen in this world.
She's smart, too, and she seems to have the edge over the local constabulary, including Inspector Matthew Louie. They all seem to stumble through this murder and solve it by following one step behind Raina as she figures it out by listening to gossip and peeking into peoples' desk drawers and kitchens. I suggest you try this first book in the series out. Who knows, it may lead you all the way to book #5, as it did me!
Book #2
My Review:
Again, this mystery seems to ramble among the people stuff and molehills, especially since this one has a baby involved. The police don't seem to be very involved in this one, but they show up when they're really needed. Of course, they would be more involved if someone had called them.
There's no sex in these books, just some kissing once in a while. Violence? Yes, there is violence. Quite a bit of it, but it's not graphic. As for Raina, a lot of her injuries seem to be self-imposed. Graceful and Raina don't belong in the same sentence.
Family secrets get out and hurt people this time. This is one that needs solving since the mystery behind it needs to be answered before anyone can put the pain behind them. But the answers may be buried in China.
Book #3
My Review:
Sometimes, family secrets are meant to be kept as secrets. Not this one. Raina and PoPo both know this one needs to be answered, even if people get hurt along the way. It seems that Raina will be the one to get hurt this time.
It's amazing that Raina ever has anything to wear. We hear all about her eating and the molehills, but she never seems to do laundry. She's always tripping, falling, spilling, spraying, or in some way ruining any outfit she puts on. She can go through half a dozen outfits in a day it seems. She's even borrowed a clean outfit of sorts from PoPo when she's gotten dirty on the go!
Her life is chaotic and important things go wrong because of it, or because of her crazy family. And now she's having strange dreams. Must be the pain meds from getting mugged.
Keep going, this is only book #3...
Book #4
My Review:
In this one, Raina jumps from one outrageous accident to another collecting bruises and scrapes along the way. But she's supposed to be a caretaker. Matthew's helping out with the family secret and Raina's supposed to be keeping a watchful eye on his grandmother. Landing Louie PoPo in the hospital wasn't quite what he had in mind.
She loses her job. Loses her BFF. Is Raina losing her grip? Help comes from surprising places sometimes, but then there's always a payback to come. And these Chinese always keep a very good accounting of paybacks. But that's a worry for the future.
And so we come to book #5, which was my favorite in the series...
Book #5
My Review:
Well, this time she's playing with the big boys. The Triads don't take captives, they just kill people and step over the bodies. But remember there are paybacks and it's time to pay up. And it's time to get all the answers to the family secret. Two birds with one stone. How hard could it be to spend a weekend pretending to be engaged to the head of the Triad?
One body, an explosion, secret passages, what else can happen? Well, PoPo can show up and charm the guy's grandfather because they were kids together. And you know that PoPo's a loose cannon...
Well, as usual, Raina gets to the bottom of the mystery, but the explosion has destroyed all evidence of the answers to the family secret. But might her weekend fiance have read the answers before the explosion tore them away?
When all is said and done, there's a sparkling ring on her finger at the end of the weekend, but who's the lucky guy?
So that brings you up-to-date. Now, we just have to be patient. Book #6 isn't due out until September 3, 2017, Murky Passions and Scandals
Ms. Tan says she has ideas to go all the way to #12, but only immediate plans to go up to #7. How far she goes depends on reader interest. So, get to the store whether your feet or your fingers and pick up your copies of all of Raina's adventures with PoPo and find out whose sparkly ring is on her finger! Pre-Order right now on #6 is only $2.99
November 30, 2020
Raining Men and Corpses by Anne R. Tan is the first book in the Raina Sun Murder Mystery series. Graduate student Raina Sun becomes a murder suspect after her college advisor and lover is poisoned shortly after she tries to get back money she had loaned him. An interesting mystery let down by the characters. Raina came across as whiny, self-absorbed and silly and the other characters are just as unlikeable. The investigation was clumsy and proceeded painfully slowly and I was glad when I finally finished the book.
June 10, 2021
TITLE: Raining Men and Corpses
AUTHOR: Anne R. Tan
RATING: 5/5
“The least likely suspect usually ended up being the killer�, aptly sums up the story. The story has everything imbued in the plot, be it complicated relationship, murder, death, mystery, suspense, blackmailing, betrayal in friendship, long investigation or an unexpected murderer.
Raina Sun asks her money back from Holden Merritt and asks her to meet him for paying her back , she gets to know that Holden is dead. She interrogates several possible suspects and learns about some shocking information one by one. In this process, she undergoes several new complications. Despite of that, she successfully catches the killer red handed.
Although the book deals with murder investigation, there is frequent mention of bright colors and warm atmosphere so that the readers show the same zeal in the process of investigation as the protagonist.
The writer has provided the readers with the opportunity to work with the clues and to arrange the pieces of puzzle according to their own interests. The more the readers go deeper into the story the more they find themselves sharing their identities with the protagonist, working with the clues.
The details are so well described that the readers get completely indulged into the world of the book. When Eden is having a tuna sandwich, readers almost feel like having one at that moment.
Raina Sun has been portrayed in such a manner that the reader becomes Raina while reading the book.
Despite being surrounded with several complications Raina never stops smiling and lets her life go on like everyone else. The incidents beautifully present the true essence of human life where complications and happiness go side by side.
The book is definitely going to attract the attention of the mystery lovers. The well-designed plot and beautiful setting intertwined with smallest possible details will definitely transport the readers to the world of Raina Sun.
AUTHOR: Anne R. Tan
RATING: 5/5
“The least likely suspect usually ended up being the killer�, aptly sums up the story. The story has everything imbued in the plot, be it complicated relationship, murder, death, mystery, suspense, blackmailing, betrayal in friendship, long investigation or an unexpected murderer.
Raina Sun asks her money back from Holden Merritt and asks her to meet him for paying her back , she gets to know that Holden is dead. She interrogates several possible suspects and learns about some shocking information one by one. In this process, she undergoes several new complications. Despite of that, she successfully catches the killer red handed.
Although the book deals with murder investigation, there is frequent mention of bright colors and warm atmosphere so that the readers show the same zeal in the process of investigation as the protagonist.
The writer has provided the readers with the opportunity to work with the clues and to arrange the pieces of puzzle according to their own interests. The more the readers go deeper into the story the more they find themselves sharing their identities with the protagonist, working with the clues.
The details are so well described that the readers get completely indulged into the world of the book. When Eden is having a tuna sandwich, readers almost feel like having one at that moment.
Raina Sun has been portrayed in such a manner that the reader becomes Raina while reading the book.
Despite being surrounded with several complications Raina never stops smiling and lets her life go on like everyone else. The incidents beautifully present the true essence of human life where complications and happiness go side by side.
The book is definitely going to attract the attention of the mystery lovers. The well-designed plot and beautiful setting intertwined with smallest possible details will definitely transport the readers to the world of Raina Sun.
January 17, 2022
(2.5 rounded up)
I wanted to like this more than I did. When I read a cozy mystery I tend to expect either cozy vibes or some humor. I didn't really get either tbh. There were times where I think Rainy (the mc) was SUPPOSED to be funny but her jokes all fell flat to me. I also felt that after a certain point we were focused more on her failed relationships rather than the mystery.
I was also pretty shocked at how blatantly Rainy disregarded law enforcement and went ahead to do just doing her own thing, tampering with evidence and breaking and entering people's houses with virtually no type of consequences. I guess since she used to be in a relationship with one of the cops that was investigating, she was able to be let off the hook more???
Idk. There were other things that also left a bad taste in my mouth (aka the way her BFF Eden was described and considered as "high maintenance" because she cared about her hair?) Rainy definitely gave me "not like other girls" vibes because she was essentially a slob who didn't care about the appearance of her house or herself, and for some reason that made her former lover still have the hots for her smh.
I might read book 2 since I got the first three books for a decent price but idk how soon will get to it. Very disappointed.
I wanted to like this more than I did. When I read a cozy mystery I tend to expect either cozy vibes or some humor. I didn't really get either tbh. There were times where I think Rainy (the mc) was SUPPOSED to be funny but her jokes all fell flat to me. I also felt that after a certain point we were focused more on her failed relationships rather than the mystery.
I was also pretty shocked at how blatantly Rainy disregarded law enforcement and went ahead to do just doing her own thing, tampering with evidence and breaking and entering people's houses with virtually no type of consequences. I guess since she used to be in a relationship with one of the cops that was investigating, she was able to be let off the hook more???
Idk. There were other things that also left a bad taste in my mouth (aka the way her BFF Eden was described and considered as "high maintenance" because she cared about her hair?) Rainy definitely gave me "not like other girls" vibes because she was essentially a slob who didn't care about the appearance of her house or herself, and for some reason that made her former lover still have the hots for her smh.
I might read book 2 since I got the first three books for a decent price but idk how soon will get to it. Very disappointed.
July 28, 2022
I struggled with a rating on this one, there were portions I liked but overall I had a hard time with the main character Raina. Starting of my lying or sort of implying a serious issue in order to get her money back, then continuing to lie about it to the police (her ex husband) and allowing herself to be blackmailed over it🙄🙄😑😑 just makes ZERO sense. She complains about needing money but then goes on retail therapy and acknowledges that her credit card will be. “Bloated� when it’s all done, yet she’s pretty judgmental about some other people’s action with money.
Anyway, she had an affair with her academic adviser, another 🙄🙄 who ends up dead, she’s trying to find out who killed him. Along the way her best friend Eden is trying to get the scoop on the story, as she’s a reporter and that could mean a promotion for her. Then Eden starts dating one of the guys blackmailing Raina🫤🫤??? Like huh??? But is pretty judgmental about Raina’s relationship with Matthew, who is both her ex husband and the detective on the case. Are these people in HS or Peyton’s place???
I think this could have been good/better, but it got lost in itself along the way. It appear (🙏) the books got better as the series went along, and I can only hope so, because book 1 was just. Ehhhh
Anyway, she had an affair with her academic adviser, another 🙄🙄 who ends up dead, she’s trying to find out who killed him. Along the way her best friend Eden is trying to get the scoop on the story, as she’s a reporter and that could mean a promotion for her. Then Eden starts dating one of the guys blackmailing Raina🫤🫤??? Like huh??? But is pretty judgmental about Raina’s relationship with Matthew, who is both her ex husband and the detective on the case. Are these people in HS or Peyton’s place???
I think this could have been good/better, but it got lost in itself along the way. It appear (🙏) the books got better as the series went along, and I can only hope so, because book 1 was just. Ehhhh
February 22, 2018
For sure to give you a few laughs!
For sure to give you a few laughs!
When Raina moved away to escape family secrets and a carousel love life, she thought she was in for a fresh start. After getting involved in an interoffice relationship, life takes a bone-shaking turn. Her past comes back to smack her in the face and she is for sure in a compromised position.
As if things couldn't get anymore complicated, her family secrets are being brought front and center, when she comes home to find her Grandma Po Po decided to make an unexpected visit. Relationships are tested, enemies are made and a murderer is on the loose.
Raina just can't seem to keep herself out of the mix. With some unorthodox dectective work and a fair amount of unwanted police interactions the suspect pool dwindles and motives are made clear.
Although there were some editing issues, this made for a great read. The characters were divergent and witty. My favorite character of all would no doubt be, Grandma Po Po. As far as characters go, she was truly a unyielding force with a peculiar sense of humour.
For sure to give you a few laughs!
When Raina moved away to escape family secrets and a carousel love life, she thought she was in for a fresh start. After getting involved in an interoffice relationship, life takes a bone-shaking turn. Her past comes back to smack her in the face and she is for sure in a compromised position.
As if things couldn't get anymore complicated, her family secrets are being brought front and center, when she comes home to find her Grandma Po Po decided to make an unexpected visit. Relationships are tested, enemies are made and a murderer is on the loose.
Raina just can't seem to keep herself out of the mix. With some unorthodox dectective work and a fair amount of unwanted police interactions the suspect pool dwindles and motives are made clear.
Although there were some editing issues, this made for a great read. The characters were divergent and witty. My favorite character of all would no doubt be, Grandma Po Po. As far as characters go, she was truly a unyielding force with a peculiar sense of humour.
August 8, 2018
I didn't find anyone to like in this story. A young woman student, who got divorced at twenty-five which makes her older than I originally thought, has an affair with her college professor. He's still supervising her work. This is so unethical that the man would get fired. To try to get him to repay the couple of thousand dollars he borrowed from her - again highly unethical and I don't know where she would get the money or why she'd give it to him - she claims that she's having his baby and needs money. This is all a fiction but he gets worried, as can be imagined.
This might all pass if it was introducing a crime story and the sleuth had to investigate these people. However, the sleuth is the student. The college is in a fictitious California town and we get references to San Francisco which provides a Chinese connection.
I didn't like or enjoy the tale but others might of course like it better than I did. I would suggest making the main sleuth character someone less morally corrupt. Readers need to be sure their protagonist is on the side of good, or they won't care.
I availed of a free download offer. This is an unbiased review.
This might all pass if it was introducing a crime story and the sleuth had to investigate these people. However, the sleuth is the student. The college is in a fictitious California town and we get references to San Francisco which provides a Chinese connection.
I didn't like or enjoy the tale but others might of course like it better than I did. I would suggest making the main sleuth character someone less morally corrupt. Readers need to be sure their protagonist is on the side of good, or they won't care.
I availed of a free download offer. This is an unbiased review.
September 30, 2023
Raina Sun is a struggling Chinese-American graduate student trying to survive college and her life. Raina works in the computer lab at the University. Raina’s college advisor and ex-boyfriend Holden Merritt had conned her out of two thousand dollars then he left her. When Raina tries to confront Holden to get her money back he is found dead and she is the main suspect. Matthew is the lead detective investigating Raina's case. Matthew finds out that some grant money has also gone missing which may be the reason why someone would want to murder Holden. Raina and Matthew start having romantic feelings for each other. Raina’s grandmother Po Po brings some comical relief to the story. I really enjoyed this impressive cozy mystery novel.
May 25, 2017
I was reading this book almost for a month. Every time I got back I found it tough to proceed. I didn't find it interesting and humorous at all. Everything about it was just ordinary with no tensity, which I need for this genre. Po Po was the only light in this story, the others all the same. And Raina? Sweet stressed annoying student, "nobody's guilty" type. I know this is the first one in series but I think I'm not coming back.
March 8, 2019
This is a fascinating witty mystery with an on/off romance (with lots of history) and lots of suspense as Raina investigates in opposition to detectives, best friends and jealous girlfriends. It's a clean read with great character development and very interesting sub plots. Kept me interested all the way through! I am looking forward to reading book #2!
September 22, 2020
This was an alright read. Raina is just looking to get her money back from her ex. Then he ends up dead. Of course now she is a suspect. Now she has to figure out who is behind it. Thankfully everything is fine for now.
March 23, 2023
It was a good mystery. I had no idea who the killer was and that is great. The last mystery book I read had murder, action, sex, double cross and more. I realized who the bad was after the first five chapters.
In addition I loved Po Po. She made the story more than just a mystery. She made it fun.
In addition I loved Po Po. She made the story more than just a mystery. She made it fun.
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