Length: 336 Pages
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
"My name is Lila Macapagal and my life has become a rom-com cliché.
Not many romantic comedies feature an Asian-American lead (or dead bodies, but more on that later), but all the hallmarks are there.
Girl from an improbably named small town in the Midwest moves to the big city to make a name for herself and find love love? Check.
Girl achieves these things only for the world to come crashing down when she walks in on her fiancé getting down and dirty with their next-door neighbors (yes, plural)? Double check.
Girl then moves back home in disgrace and finds work reinvigorating her aunt's failing business? Well now we're up to a hat trick of clichés."
Trigger Warnings in this book for Evidence Planting and Police Intimidation, Drugs, Racism, Domestic Violence, and some Fatphobia
Where to start with this delightful cozy mystery! Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala came at the perfect time in my life. Recently, I lost a family member. It was sudden, and I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. All I could focus on was how much I wished I had been there, how much I wished I could have spent more time with them. This book helped me in so many ways -- took my mind off the pain, helped me laugh and feel excited again, and felt, in general, as comforting as wrapping myself in a blanket. I was so glad I chose it for my very first Book of the Month! (Not sponsored, btw.)
Lila Macapagal has returned to her hometown of Shady Palms, Illinois, after a disastrous life in Chicago, where she was cheated on be her fiancé, and may have had a run in with the law. Luckily for her, she has a place ready for her in her Tita Rosie's restaurant, and in her home (alongside her cranky Grandmother). Unluckily for them, Lila's high school sweetheart has taken to leaving bad reviews for all the Mom-and-Pop places in town -- and Tita Rosie's Kitchen is top of his list. When he keels over dead in the middle of dessert, the police think they have their murderer: Lila. With the help of her bff Adeena and her hot brother, the lawyer Amir, Lila sets out to solve the case, and to find out who's framing her.
I absolutely adored not only Lila, who had a spunky and sometimes prickly personality, but all of the characters in this novel, from opinionated Adeena, to the gossiping "Calendar Crew", Lila's godmothers, who each have a month name. And who could forget Lila's dachshund, Longganisa, named after the sausage?
It was just a dream for a foodie like myself, and I can't wait to check out the recipes included in the back, to see if I can bring some of Tita Rosie's comfort home!
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