By Meghan Mazzaferro
Content warning: murder, violence, minor gore
After a breakup, Lila Macapagal returns to her small hometown to recover and to help save her family’s Filipino restaurant. Unfortunately, her high school ex-boyfriend Derek seems to have taken it upon himself to run their restaurant out of business—along with most of the other restaurants in town—with his vindictive, slanderous reviews. Lila, unwilling to let her family’s restaurant remain at risk, gets into a fight with Derek and his father. Then Derek dies, right in the middle of the restaurant.
Derek’s stepfather, who happens to be the restaurant’s landlord, accuses Lila and her family of poisoning Derek. Now it’s up to Lila and her best friend to solve the mystery and save Tita Rosie’s Restaurant—before Lila finds herself next on the chopping block.
Arsenic and Adobo is the first book in Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries, a new cozy murder mystery series featuring a diverse cast of characters and enough mouth-watering descriptions of food to make up for all the dead bodies. Until reading this book I wasn’t aware that “cozy murder mysteries” existed, but this book really captures the essence of the subgenre; it is full of crime and murder, while also maintaining an atmosphere of comfort (in large part aided by the most delicious descriptions of food I have ever read). While the book obviously features murder, and Lila often finds herself in dangerous situations, things are never overly gory or violent. As someone who likes the intrigue of a good mystery but doesn’t want to deal with serial killers or mutilated corpses, this was perfect for me.
This book is an absolute delight. Lila is spunky and compelling, and each member of her family is distinct and colourful. The entire cast stands out, each with their own fleshed-out personality no matter how much they feature into the narrative. The vibrancy of the characters is complemented by Manansala’s rich descriptions of the town, particularly the local restaurants that factor heavily into Lila’s investigation. This book’s love language is food, and through food Manansala creates a rich and diverse tapestry of Lila’s hometown and the people who live there, all while developing the mystery narrative.
I obviously can’t talk about this book without discussing the mystery plotline. Now, I will admit I don’t always enjoy mysteries, since I find it easy to predict plot twists. This book, however, is just the type of mystery I love. The pacing of Lila’s investigation works perfectly to set up the world of the series while keeping the investigation moving quickly. Each clue revealed made me feel closer to discovering the culprit, and yet I was still surprised by the twists and turns. Manansala crafts the mystery in such a way that there are a number of possible suspects, and when it comes down to the final reveal, I was both surprised and satisfied. The true strength of a mystery, in my opinion, is when the conclusion of the case makes such perfect sense that you kick yourself for not figuring it out sooner. All the clues are there, but hidden enough that they’re easy to overlook, making the investigation exciting and satisfying to read.
The writing style of this book is fun and quick, the descriptions mouth-watering, the mystery shocking and satisfying. There are moments to sit and savour the delicious flavours of Lila’s newest culinary creation, and sections that fly by as she gets pulled closer to danger. As someone who hasn’t read the genre in a long time, this book has everything I want: a compelling mystery, a likeable and clever amateur detective, and an external world that complemented the mystery storyline. Everything came together to create a world that I am eager to get back to.
Luckily, I don’t have to wait long. The next installment in Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries will be out February 8, and I’m excited to say that a review of Homicide and Halo-Halo is coming within the next few weeks. If you’re a fan of cozy murder mysteries and are looking for a book that will make you absolutely starving, now’s the time to pick up Arsenic and Adobo.