Jane Pek has taken the very best of noir detective tradition and skillfully brought it into the age of internet dating. While her debut detective is still wet behind the ears in her career, the character of Claudia Lin pulls you along with her drive to understand the tangle of her firm’s client relationships with the same doggedness needed to unknot a shoelace. Only those familiar with New York City, its weather, and the challenges for cyclists will fully appreciate Claudia’s athleticism.
When the story has fully unfolded the reader is left with their own knot to untie: Ms Pek invites us to consider the challenges of inherent in sharing ourselves and seeking out relationships online. What do each of us risk? And what do we risk collectively when data drives all the decisions around us in increasingly subtle and insidious ways? Not to be slighted, her characterization of an immigrant family where every relationship is emotionally layered adds personal depth. At times, the introduction of so many additional family characters felt ponderous, but I hope this just serves as groundwork for a series. If so, then the investment will surely pay off.

Claudia Lin is a recently graduated, mystery loving, lesbian, Chinese-American New Yorker who after a brief stint in a corporate job (thanks to her older brother) has landed at a dating detective agency. Unfortunately, she can’t tell anyone she works there, or that it exists.

Veracity is a “personal investments advisory firm,” bluntly speaking they verify the person you met online is really who you think they are or who they are advertising themselves to be. When a new client starts to throw up red flags, and then turns up dead Claudia can’t help but to question the circumstances. What use is a lifetime of reading mystery novels if not to prepare you to find out the truth?

I really enjoyed Claudia as a protagonist, in this high tech world she was an old school amateur detective, in fact this book almost reads as a modern version of a noir mystery novel. This story asks a few soul searching questions tied to the matchmaking industry, cyber security, and the role technology plays in our daily lives.

The Verifiers by Jane Pek, narrated by Eunice Wong: Always here for a mystery featuring a woman of color, because I feel like they are too few and far between. Kyle got me this book for my birthday, and as usual I half listened, half read the print book, and thoroughly enjoyed both reading experiences. Claudia herself is such a great portrait of a woman in her 20s, and I especially loved her dynamic with her family. I also appreciated how much she loved what she does, and how clear-eyes and driven she was — it felt really unique!

Engaging story with an interesting mystery that goes beyond the superficial dating site algorithms to get at larger existential questions. Reels you in and hooks you.

I really liked this unusual mystery that somehow incorporated data mining into the world of internet dating. Claudia Lin is the youngest daughter of a Chinese immigrant who has been raised by a single mother, as well as with her older siblings. Family dynamics are a bit odd because although her lifestyle doesn't seem to fit into any box conceived by her mother (she hates dressing up, she is not anxious to marry a nice and wealthy Chinese boy, and she doesn't want to have 9-5 job in a prestigious firm), her mother also seems to favor her, at least in her siblings' eyes. Even odder in their family dynamics, both of her siblings are doing very well in their jobs, dress for success, and seem to be in steady relationships. At the beginning of the book, it's clear that Claudia has a secret job after quitting the job in a firm that her brother got her, where she gets to channel her love of detective stories by checking on the veracity of people who use matchmaking internet services.

When one of her clients ends up committing suicide, Claudia suspects that there may be more going on and that's where we get drawn into a mystery that keeps you guessing. While this mystery had some of the elements of a typical locked room mystery, there were plenty of unique elements that kept me reading. And no, I did not guess the who either, but I enjoyed following Claudia to the truth.

There were many discussions about data mining which I found really interesting, and I love how relevant it is to current events. Even if what she is proposing here does not yet exist (but I do wonder), the possibility is very real and gave me an unsettled feeling.

But what I enjoyed the most was reading about her family dynamics, some of which I identified with (although I am not a queer woman). Although I was hoping for a bit more development in her family members, especially with her sister, I am hoping that this book marks the start of a series and that we will see them develop further during the series. The ending gives me some hope for their family, and also for Claudia herself, especially regarding the romance front. I also want to see what happens with the company she works for and what her future role will end up being.

I decided to read this book because something about the cover caught my eye, and after reading the blurb, it seemed just enough off the beaten path that I wanted to give it a try. It ended up being a nice surprise, so I look forward to more from this author.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Verifiers is a immensely detailed crafted novel. I enjoyed the themes of the novel: family, secrecy, success—but it never felt like it reached its fullest potential. I kept getting distracted from the main story by extraneous details that didn’t further the plot. The middle of the book fell a little flat and I found myself skimming parts. I think the book had a lot of potential and didn’t quite hit the mark for what I imagined it would be.

The Verifiers is part mystery, part family drama. The heterosexual agenda is the goal of Claudia's mother, despite the fact that Claudia is a lesbian. This drama plays out against corporate wrong doing and a missing client.

Claudia is a literature lover and wrote her thesis on Jane Austin.

Literature, LGPTQ issues, Asian American family dynamics and a mystery thrown in for good measure.

The plot isn't as involved or compelling as I generally liked but has good moments if you ride it out

Claudia Lin isn't the perfect Chinese daughter as her mother tells her often. She wants to work at a job she likes even if she doesn't make large amount of money. She will not find the perfect Chinese man to marry, and she's hasn't told her mother why that is. Currently, Claudia is working for Verify, an online dating detective agency verifying people's dating profiles. She also lives in her fantasy world of being a first class detective like in her favorite novels. So when a client of Verify is killed, she sees herself solving the case without police help. As she pursues this, she is fired from her job and puts herself in danger. Claudia realizes finding the killer may not be what she really wants after all.

This was an interesting, attention grabbing book. I enjoyed reading about Claudia's life, her work in the matching industry, and her family dynamics.
She single-mindedly works to solve a mystery related to her work as a verifier of information provided by users of various online dating sites. At the same time she has various family issues to try to resolve.
The characters are very well described and intriguing. This is one of those books where you really feel like you are there, not like some books that seem as if someone is telling you about the characters and story, but not making it come to life. The interwoven topic of data collection by various on-line companies is a real-life fear that most people have these days.
Overall, this is an intriguing and thought-provoking novel.

Mixed feelings about this book. This book is a miss to me. I can't really enjoy it because it's too slow and sometimes the shit just stalled. The mystery is just too slow and what's the point if it's just going to be out till it hit 90%. This book can be better. It's just too flat and bland.

What a fun, enjoyable book.

The story centers on Claudia, an Asian woman who gives up a job in finance to become a verifier, or someone who checks out online daters for their veracity.

When their newest client kills herself and the agency finds she lied about her name, Claudia decides she will step in and become a lead investigator.

While at times hilarious, there is a real heart to the book which also deals with the expectation of parents and families and features New York as almost a side character.

I really, really enjoyed the voice of author Jane Pek and everything about this fresh spin on the mystery genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I ended up really enjoying it. I loved the idea of the Verifiers’ job, and found it to be highly relevant for our modern times. I also LOVED how Claudia drew all of her inspiration from her favorite fictional detective, Inspector Yuan, and constantly thought about what he would say or do in a particular situation. I also particularly liked the glimpses into traditional Chinese society and how details about Claudia’s home life were interspersed throughout the novel. I did feel as if things got a little convoluted towards the end, when the mystery really started to unravel and the various layers of motive were revealed. However, it was well done and seems set up to become a series. If so, I will definitely be reading book two.

A fun, techy mystery about a secretive detective agency that investigated people on dating apps. Claudia knows she'll have to lie to everyone about her new job when she joins Veracity, but living out her childhood dream of being a detective seems worth it. But when one of their most recent clients winds up dead of an apparent suicide, Claudia is suspicious and continues digging. What she finds is a conspiracy going to the very top of the dating app industry and possibly even Veracity itself.

I LOVED this book. Seriously so so so good. A great mystery, interesting main character and family drama. Most importantly it was different than anything I've ever read and I will 1000% be thinking about it for the rest of the year. Will definitely recommend to friends and family (in fact I already have).

This is such a unique story about a detective for an online dating agency. What a fun idea! The book is beautifully written and I cannot wait to read more by Jane Pek! Highly recommend!!

Great read about a woman working for a company with the mission of verifying information provided to online dating platforms. It manages to combine the aspects of a techno-thriller with commentary on privacy rights, as well as cultural and generational differences. The story is a genuine page-turner with a female protagonist to root for.

A timely and captivating story. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the voice of Claudia. Actually, I liked all characters! For me, this book was refreshing: the pace, the humor, the lack of romantic drama. I enjoyed it very much. No book is perfect (well, maybe some), and this one is not. But rather than pointing out the things I didn’t get, I rather say the things I liked about this one. Because I didn’t “love it” per say, but it is different in a positive way.

Here's an ingenious quote - "through the arrivals hall teeming with migrants carting along the bags and boxes into which they had stuffed all their hopes and fears and misconceptions...."
Obviously, the author is brilliant. Here's another quote - "...and prone to panicked disquisitions on his PhD research in organic chemistry."
The characters are intelligent, educated, and siblings who don't get along.
You get the idea. This author is brilliant, a wordsmith, and a poet.
So why the debasing language? I got into chapter 3 before I quit reading. Can't tell you how many fuck or shit (or shitty) words I had already read. I'm done. Might be a really good book, too, but I'll never know. The characters are intelligent, educated, and siblings who don't get along.
I could understand the crude language if the narrative was with criminals but I don't understand this.

Claudia works for a service that verifies people on dating apps are who they say they are. One day, a woman shows up and asks them to look into two different profiles. Soon, Claudia and her coworkers find out this woman lied about her name, and moreover, she’s died under mysterious circumstances. Piqued by this mystery, Claudia starts to investigate, discovering there is maybe more going on with the apps than she thought.

I really liked this book! The writing style was good and I liked the pace. I didn’t love the solution of what was going on behind the scenes but that might be more of a personal preference. Def a good read!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was…cute. It sort of reminds me of The Maid. I liked the main character and family story was interesting but I wasn’t engaged with the mystery. There were too many characters and too many unnecessary details. If you like light, cozy mysteries and work in the tech industry, you might enjoy this one. **Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing (Vintage) for my advanced copy.