Sugar and Vice — Melissa Yi

I've always known that if someone wants to murder me, the easiest way is through my stomach. I just hadn't expected anyone to kill me today. ―Hope Sze Felony and the FeastHope hurries to Montreal's first Dragon Eats Festival, a combined dragon boat fest and mukbang eating contest that starts out delicious (Pho King Awesome! Tart of Darkness!) and winds up deadly. While Hope pursues the killer, dragons begin to haunt her in an increasingly fatal game of Eat/Prey/Lose. Will Hope's gluttony lead to her doom? Ever heard of Mukbang? Neither had I, until reading this truly unique book, Sugar and Vice. From the opening page, Yi throws the reader into the fast-paced world where participants not only eat in front of a rolling camera for a mukbang, but this time, murder is on the menu, fueled by a descent into the dark side of social media. Hope, a medical resident dedicated to her calling, is a hugely likeable character, one I cared about from the very beginning. The dialogue between Hope and her colleagues is full of wit, but never detracts from the seriousness of the danger she and her friends face.  Dragons cross over with dragon boating, as Yi ramps up the suspense with a soupçon of the supernatural.  This book is one of a kind—a fun and fascinating read.Melodie Campbell, award-winning author of The Merry Widow Murders Sugar and Vice: A Mystery of Death, Dumplings and Dragons is most deliciously and aptly named! I thoroughly enjoyed this action-packed adventure featuring one of my favourite amateur sleuths, Hope Sze. Come for the dim sum delights, the sassy humour, the mile-a-minute action and the sizzling chemistry – this luscious feast has it all! Add a dash of fascinating historical background and some truly sinister villains and you, dear Reader, like me, won't be able to tear yourself away! Lisa de Nikolits, author of Everything You Dream Is Real