Homicide and Halo-Halo (A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery)
Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.
Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.
Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.
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Community Reviews
Not as strong a showing as the first book in the series, but still very enjoyable and Iâll read however many books follow Lilaâs journey.
Starting with the biggest positives: The food descriptions are out of this world. I want to eat everything and itâs so awesome that Filipino food is getting representation in such a popular book series (itâs under-appreciated and has so many unique flavors). Manansala is also great at not giving the mystery away until close to the end of the book and giving lots of potential suspects that make it fun to guess both the who and the why. Multiple motives being suggested really helping with this. Also the addition of the cafe is great because it gives Lila an accomplishment separate from solving the murders, offering some balance and plausible rationale for all the baked good descriptions (which are some of the best parts). I will eat anything Manansala describes.
Some things that could use a little more work: the romance pieces of the book feel like afterthoughts and itâs unclear if thatâs by design or not. Would love to see them integrated a bit more into the future novels.
Another good one for Tita Rosie! :)
Starting with the biggest positives: The food descriptions are out of this world. I want to eat everything and itâs so awesome that Filipino food is getting representation in such a popular book series (itâs under-appreciated and has so many unique flavors). Manansala is also great at not giving the mystery away until close to the end of the book and giving lots of potential suspects that make it fun to guess both the who and the why. Multiple motives being suggested really helping with this. Also the addition of the cafe is great because it gives Lila an accomplishment separate from solving the murders, offering some balance and plausible rationale for all the baked good descriptions (which are some of the best parts). I will eat anything Manansala describes.
Some things that could use a little more work: the romance pieces of the book feel like afterthoughts and itâs unclear if thatâs by design or not. Would love to see them integrated a bit more into the future novels.
Another good one for Tita Rosie! :)
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