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Readers say *Arsenic and Adobo* blends Filipino culture, family ties, and culinary passion into a cozy mystery with likable characters and a charming ...
Lila has a breakup with her boyfriend, so she moves home to help her Philipino aunt (Rosie) save her restaurant that is going broke. The financial troubles began when Lila's old high school boyfriend, Derek, who is a food critic, gives really poor reviews to the restaurant, seemingly as a way to get revenge on Lila. Derek dies suddenly and mysteriously after eating at Rosie's. The cops think that she did it, and the landlord wants to kick them all out.
Lila accepts the help of her family, her best friend and local barista, to investigate the mystery.
Arsenic in the Dobo tells a story of a mid 20s filipino woman who comes back to her hometown after several years of being away following a nasty break up with her boyfriend.
Lila is trying to find herself again and mend her broken heart while working at her aunts, restaurant and reconnecting with her aunties and her cousins and her grandmother. Things aren’t easy as her ex-boyfriend, now the small towns food critic, Derek, is targeting her family restaurant for, it would seem, no good reason.
But one day when he visits the restaurant he ends up, passing out while eat and is sent to the hospital. Later Lila finds out that he has passed away, and that the main detective on the case is targeting her and her aunt’s restaurant for wrongful death charges.
As Lila tries to get to the root cause behind Derek‘s death, she finds out that not only was her restaurant being targeted with nasty reviews, but a whole slew of other restaurants in the town were also targeted.
She dives deep into Derrick’s life to figure out where to figure out why he was doing all of these nasty reviews around town. And who was actually behind his death to save her aunt’s restaurant and clear her name. There’s a lot of lies, secrets, and insidious intentions that are connected to Derek’s death. And Lila is just beginning to scratch the surface of them.
Reading this book, I really enjoyed the character development, the way the friendships and family characters storyline is woven into the main story.
I love that Lila is trying to find herself after coming back to her hometown and re-integrating with her family and extended family. I was cautious about giving this a full five star rating just because Detective Park was so annoying and he really did harass Lila and her family. It wasn’t really just about the case.
He had her as his main suspect and did everything he could to twist all of the other situations that happened following the death of Derek against her and her family. But things that happened outside of his investigation really cinched it for me, as a cozy, mystery reader. I found the narrative to be intriguing, funny, mysterious, and it’s a great book for other foodies and food lovers.
I loved Lila and Adeena’s enthusiasm when it came to food and trying out new recipes. That was something that I really could relate to as a novice Baker and cook myself.
Lila is trying to find herself again and mend her broken heart while working at her aunts, restaurant and reconnecting with her aunties and her cousins and her grandmother. Things aren’t easy as her ex-boyfriend, now the small towns food critic, Derek, is targeting her family restaurant for, it would seem, no good reason.
But one day when he visits the restaurant he ends up, passing out while eat and is sent to the hospital. Later Lila finds out that he has passed away, and that the main detective on the case is targeting her and her aunt’s restaurant for wrongful death charges.
As Lila tries to get to the root cause behind Derek‘s death, she finds out that not only was her restaurant being targeted with nasty reviews, but a whole slew of other restaurants in the town were also targeted.
She dives deep into Derrick’s life to figure out where to figure out why he was doing all of these nasty reviews around town. And who was actually behind his death to save her aunt’s restaurant and clear her name. There’s a lot of lies, secrets, and insidious intentions that are connected to Derek’s death. And Lila is just beginning to scratch the surface of them.
Reading this book, I really enjoyed the character development, the way the friendships and family characters storyline is woven into the main story.
I love that Lila is trying to find herself after coming back to her hometown and re-integrating with her family and extended family. I was cautious about giving this a full five star rating just because Detective Park was so annoying and he really did harass Lila and her family. It wasn’t really just about the case.
He had her as his main suspect and did everything he could to twist all of the other situations that happened following the death of Derek against her and her family. But things that happened outside of his investigation really cinched it for me, as a cozy, mystery reader. I found the narrative to be intriguing, funny, mysterious, and it’s a great book for other foodies and food lovers.
I loved Lila and Adeena’s enthusiasm when it came to food and trying out new recipes. That was something that I really could relate to as a novice Baker and cook myself.
I wanted to really like this, but it just fell flat for me. I read a similar book to this I believe in 2022, Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A.L. Herbert, and gave it a 2 star rating as well. In similar content you have a murder mystery that is surrounded by cooks. Maybe mysteries involving food is not my thing, I don't know but maybe less focus on detailing the food and more focus on the characters, some emotions especially revolving death and betrayal would be better however in this instance I got none of that. It may be an unpopular opinion but it's mine.
In Arsenic and Adobo the focus seems to be about a family from the Philippines and their restaurant, the author gives you translations of words and many, many descriptions of food. Now don't get me wrong I love food but did she want to make a cookbook but decided to go with a murder mystery instead, I really don't want to be mean or cruel this is absolutely not my intention but it just didn't pull me in. You get this murder mystery starting of with the death of a food critic (and I use food critic loosely here), then somehow a drug ring gets in the mix, a cop that has a chip on his shoulder, and some glossed over racism. I mean I am having even difficulty describing it because it's like someone telling you a story, talking for 2 hours and not saying anything concrete and that is how this book felt to me. So much was written but I got nothing out of it, well maybe some craving for food that's about it.
I'm sorry to anyone who enjoyed this book and my apologies to the author because I am sure they worked hard on this, but this book was not for me.
In Arsenic and Adobo the focus seems to be about a family from the Philippines and their restaurant, the author gives you translations of words and many, many descriptions of food. Now don't get me wrong I love food but did she want to make a cookbook but decided to go with a murder mystery instead, I really don't want to be mean or cruel this is absolutely not my intention but it just didn't pull me in. You get this murder mystery starting of with the death of a food critic (and I use food critic loosely here), then somehow a drug ring gets in the mix, a cop that has a chip on his shoulder, and some glossed over racism. I mean I am having even difficulty describing it because it's like someone telling you a story, talking for 2 hours and not saying anything concrete and that is how this book felt to me. So much was written but I got nothing out of it, well maybe some craving for food that's about it.
I'm sorry to anyone who enjoyed this book and my apologies to the author because I am sure they worked hard on this, but this book was not for me.
I love a good cozy mystery and Arsenic and Adobo didn’t disappoint. The characters were very likable and every time I thought I had it figured out or thought I knew what was going to happen I was wrong. The ending was rather surprising! And who doesn’t love a book that has recipes included?
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