Arsenic and Adobo (A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery)

Arsenic and Adobo is the debut novel by Mia P. Manansala. This is the first book in a series called "Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries". In this book, Lila Madricapal has returned home from Chicago after spending a few years trying to escape from the small-town she grew up in. After not being able to finish college and a recent breakup, she finds herself trying to help her aunt save the failing family restaurant. As soon as she is trying to unravel how she has gotten herself in this situation, she finds herself as the main suspect in a murder of her ex-boyfriend who also happened to drop dead right in front of her as she is in the middle of her work shift at the restaurant. Along with her best friend, her dog, and a group of nosy aunties, we later continue on a journey to investigate and find out who the real culprit is. This book was wonderful. As soon as you open the book, you are greeted by several terms and definitions of words that you will encounter in the book. I was instantly intrigued by the cultural fest that I was going to embark on. FYI, at the end of the book, you are also given some of the recipes for the meals that you hear about within the book. As a fellow woman of color of African-American, Latinx, and Caribbean descent, I was highly fascinated to read about a culture other than my own and to see a cozy mystery that veered away from the stereotypical white female middle-class sleuth from a community lacking any diversity and who knows it all. Lila was far from perfect in this novel but was very relatable as she stumbled through her novice detective madcap adventures. The community that this novel is set in also is rather multicultural and I enjoyed hearing about the different types of families and their relationships with each other in the community. It was also great to see the similarities with the families and traditions that I know/have despite coming from a different culture. Of course, this dog lover was happy to hear about Lila's dachshund and see it as being part of the story. This was a very cute and entertaining book. However, it also covered some serious topics/concepts such as murder, drug abuse, and police dishonesty. I sped through this book in a very short time and laughed throughout. I am already highly anticipating the next installment in the series.

This was a fun introduction to this author’s work and to Filipino cuisine. From page one, you spend your time salivating over the delicious food… the title is not overstating the immersion into the culinary culture of the protagonist. Lila loves food and it comes through on every page. Indeed food is almost a character and a setting for this book, it’s so integral to the plot. The premise is that when Lila’s high school boyfriend dies while eating at her aunt’s restaurant and is deemed to have been poisoned, Lila and her family come under suspicion. It’s up to her and her zany family and friends to solve the mystery and absolve themselves of blame. This was a fun, mostly light-hearted read that had the feel of a romantic comedy… not that this was a romance per se, but it had that energy to it. I enjoyed getting to know Lila and her family from her aunts to the suite of cousins and family friends, to her best friend, Adeena and Adeena’s brother, Amir. I think there was a good introduction to the potential love triangle between Lila, Amir and Jae, the local dentist and younger brother of town detective, Jonathan. Even though Lila was a mostly incompetent interviewer, it was fun to watch her work and figure things out for herself even making amateur decisions. Though in fairness, it also good me a while to figure out whodunnit (perhaps 2/3 to 3/4 of the book). This book would have been perfect to me apart from it did a few things I didn’t love. First of all, there was the shaming/villainising of the heroine for having dreams beyond her hometown and wanting to leave- it felt very much like a small-town Hallmark movie in that sense. I got where the author was coming from around themes of home and family, but I also think Lila was made to feel bad by her friends who should have understood, for wanting to leave. Also I never quite understood why Adeena had such a strong reaction to Lila being strongly anti-drug. There’s a scene in the book where Adeena tells of Lila for having a hard stance against drugs and it’s never quite clear to me why. To be honest, Adeena seemed quite a difficult friend to have as she needed a lot of tiptoeing around. It wasn’t quite clear why Adeena had a problem with Lila and Amir as a concept. The provided explanation that “Amir was the golden child” didn’t make sense to me- what does that have to do with Mia who doesn’t even have her life together? To me, this was something that needed unpacking. Finally, I think there was an unevenness with the way certain characters would just disappear mid-book. Jae for example is prominent early in the book then we suddenly stop hearing about him. Amir feels like he would be a significant part of the investigation early, also more or less disappears. The police acted uncharacteristically as well, e.g. giving her all the details of the investigation and letting her be part of the investigation. Was it unrealistic, yes, but it was it a delight to read, bigger yes. Overall, I really enjoyed this book despite the things that were not quite perfect. Excited for this series and catching up with other books in the series that are now also out.

I like this book because of the mystery story. However the mystery story got lost in all of the culture and food explanations about the Filipino culture. Had a lot of characters to keep track of but it was an easy entertaining read.

Great book

The main character is a delightful ditz but fiercely loyal. A good murder mystery with some quirky twists and comedy sprinkled in for a good, warm, fun read.

I bought 3 of these books to give to friends who have Filipino relatives. I was impressed with all the recipes in the book and the author was extremely funny throughout the book even though it was a murder mystery story. I bought the second book and am listening to it now.

I am so confused at all the hype for this book. Yes it’s a cozy mystery that incorporates unique food and culture, and I appreciate that, but for me it falls flat. The dialogue is basic and conversations unbelievable. With the exception of the Aunties the characters just seem flat and one dimensional. If you like basic cozy mysteries it’s a great start to a series. If you’ve read the hype and think this is going to be a next level cozy, it’s not.

J'ai vraiment aimé ce livre

If you love culinary and mystery, this one is for you.. this suspense / murder with friendship goals, diverse read, oh love the calendar crew 😄 Get to know philipino dishes and thanks for recipes attached.

Good read, enjoyed the scenery, the characters and could not put it down because it was so nicely written. Already preordered the next one. Only downside: be prepared to get really hungry due to the mouthwatering food descriptions

Love the book, got the sequel 10/10 would read again

Loved this book. Really great read. Highly recommend!