Book Review: "Arsenic and Adobo" by Mia P. Manansala
“Arsenic and Adobo” by Mia Manansala
Synopsis: When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.
With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…
Rating: 4
Review: Fair warning: if you don’t have a Filipino restaurant in your delivery/pick-up vicinity, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book. For my fellow DC readers, I ordered from Purple Patch in Mt. Pleasant, and 10/10 would recommend.
Okay, now that my disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get to the book, shall we?
As I’ve said before, I’m not someone that likes to be scared by books that I read (I also don’t like scary movies but I did survive living in a haunted house for 3 years, so riddle me that?), so a mystery like “Arsenic and Adobo” is right up my alley. Yes, there was murder and intrigue, but it wasn’t scary murder and intrigue, if that makes sense. I never had any doubt that Lila would figure out what happened, and I really never feared for her life — I spent more of the book laughing than I did nervous, so if you’re like me in that regard, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Lila, who definitely doesn’t want to have moved back home, has moved back home and is working in her family’s restaurant — when all of a sudden, her ex-boyfriend drops dead in the dining room and she is one of the prime suspects. She does what any smart accused woman would do: find the killer herself. This sets her on an adventure through her small hometown, where she’s constantly surprised by what has changed and what hasn’t…
Honestly, it’s hard to write about a mystery without spoiling anything, which is why we talk a lot about tone and mood in these reviews. I’ll say that this book is clever and funny, while dealing with very serious topics like the opioid crisis, blackmail, and of course…multiple murders. The synopsis compares this book to one of Agatha Christie’s, and I’d say that comparison is pretty spot on, tonally. The subject matter, however, is a little fluffier than “Murder on the Orient Express” and I don’t mean that as a pejorative. It’s a well-written and thoughtful mystery that thankfully doesn’t err on the side of terrifying. Plus, snacks. All I want in a book.
TL;DR: A fun and funny murder mystery that kicks off a new series.
If You Liked This, Try These:
“Finlay Donovan is Killing It” by Elle Cosimano (Bookshop | Kindle | My Review)
“Dial A for Aunties” by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Bookshop | Kindle)
“A Deadly Inside Scoop” by Abby Collette (Bookshop | Kindle)
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