With her family’s livelihood and quite literally her own life on the line, Lila takes matters into her own hands to track down the killer. All of a sudden, not only is Lila unsure of what to do with her life, but she’s also accused of murder. Things go from not great to worst case scenario when an old boyfriend turned nasty food critic dies while eating at their restaurant.

She left her small hometown and aggressively loving filipino family to move to Chicago for a shiny new start, but those dreams are dashed by a rough breakup that sends her back home to help out at her Tita Rosie’s restaurant.

This one criticism did not impact how much I enjoyed this book overall, and I’m very glad I read it! It’s quick, pleasant, and FULL of food. Having said that, I could not imagine how difficult it must be to write a cozy mystery book, and I’m not very familiar with the genre. However, the story itself seemed a bit choppy and rushed at times, and some elements felt a bit too convenient. Manansala also includes a Tagalog glossary and pronunciation guide, which is fantastic and adds to the realness of her characters by allowing them to speak their native language occasionally while giving the non-Tagalog-speaking readers a chance to understand and learn a snippet of the language. It’s always a plus when the characters in a story feel like friends. I felt like I knew Lila, the main character, and her family. Manansala is also fantastic at creating characters. You really get the feel of how passionate Manansala is about food’s role in her culture, other cultures, and the human experience in general. She has some great book review and recipe posts!įor me, the food was the best part of this book. Be sure to check out the rest of her blog too. It was also my first buddy read! Megan over at The Hungry Bookworm and I read this book at the same time, and you can see her review and dish here. Manansala includes a selection of recipes in the back of her new release cozy mystery, Arsenic and Adobo because the food in this book practically constitutes a character itself! I’m a sucker for a recipe list at the end of a book.

Adobo and arsenic