Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….
When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.
With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…
This was fun and I’m glad I had book two to go right into.
Most of the characters were really likeable with a few exceptions. I really liked Lila. She definitely seems like a confused mid twenties girl out of college. I can’t imaging leaving Chicago for a small town two hours away on purpose. The city of Joliet was mentioned and I’m about thirty minutes south of there is a tiny village (I hate it). I used to live and work in Joliet and would have killed to live in Chicago. Then there was her breakup that sounded terrible. She had to come back and see her ex who was not a nice person. And then he dies in the family restaurant. It’s a lot. Lila ends up being the prime suspect since he was eating the desserts she brought out. There is another attack and another murder. Things just keep getting worse but Lila is determined to talk to everyone and figure out the case before the family restaurants is closed for good.
I enjoyed all the food in this book and pretty much made my husband pick up some Asian food for us last night. I got cravings for that and good Mexican food. Maybe even bbq a bit. This book has a lot of food. The book isn’t too serious being a cozy mystery, but there are some topics like drug addiction. Overall, I just enjoyed this.
I gave this book 4 stars.
Have you read this? Is it on your TBR?
