Death and Dinuguan by Mia P. Manansala

Foodies will rejoice in the delicious offerings of Death and Dinuguan, a cozy mystery.

Favourite Quote:

As Jae openly wept next to me, I made a silent promise to Hana: I’m going to find the person who did this to you and Blake.

Cliches be damned, but this time, it was personal.

Book Synopsis:

Love is in the air for the citizens of Shady Palms, but Cupid’s arrow isn’t the only thing striking the town—not with another killer on the loose.

Things are looking up for the Brew-ha Cafe, and Lila Macapagal can’t think of anything that could break the spell, especially with Valentine’s Day coming up—she can’t wait to celebrate with her boyfriend, Jae Park. Adding to the lovey-dovey atmosphere is Hana Lee, Shady Palms’s newest resident. She’s also Jae’s beloved cousin and chocolatier at Choco Noir, the latest addition to the town’s culinary offerings. Everything is coming into place for Hana, who left her old life in Minnesota behind to work at Choco Noir, owned by her best friend.

Unfortunately, beneath the sweet surface of Shady Palms runs a bitter undercurrent, as a series of attacks against women-owned businesses in the area escalates from petty theft to assault and murder when Hana is found knocked unconscious inside Choco Noir, and the chocolate shop owner is put out of business—for good.

With Hana left in a coma, a murderer hiding amongst them, and the safety of the women entrepreneurs of Shady Palms at risk, the Park brothers team up with the Brew-ha crew to put a stop to the villain before they strike again.

Review:

The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series has been on my list to check out for a very long time. In fact, I recently came into owning almost all the books just a couple of months ago, courtesy of a lucky find at a church rummage sale. So when I saw this ARC come up, I knew I wanted to dive in. This is the sixth book in the series, so I’m reading out of order. I did find myself not lost exactly (Mia does a pretty good job of catching readers up), but I did get the sense that I’d have a much better understanding had I read at least some of the previous books. In particular, the backstories of the key characters and their relationships with each other likely would have felt more fulsome ,I’m sure. There are a lot of characters to get caught up on, and so there is quite a bit of info dumping through the first few chapters. It’s a lot to absorb, and I found myself going back and rereading a few times just to keep all the characters straight. Sadly for fans, this is also the final book in the series.

One of the things I was most looking forward to about this series was the food talk. As someone who loves cooking and exploring the flavours of various cultures, I had high hopes of learning more about Filipino food, a topic I know almost nothing about, through the story. I was not disappointed! There is pretty much non-stop food talk in this book, and I loved it. So many of the flavours (not just Filipino, btw) were new to me, and hearing about them had my mouth watering. I was extra delighted to discover a number of recipes at the end of the book, and I’m looking forward to trying them. It’s a fun way to keep the story alive in your mind, long after you’ve finished reading it. I also really appreciated the glossary and pronunciation guide included at the start of the book. It helped me better understand some of the relationships, food names and other details.

The mystery itself was okay. Fitting for the last book in the series, this crime is more personal for Lila than the previous books. Her boyfriend’s cousin, Hana and her business partner, Blake, are attacked, and their chocolate shop is robbed. Blake is killed, and Hana is left in a coma. Lila and her friends set out to investigate. I’d call this a cozy mystery as it isn’t particularly graphic, and it moves at a slower pace. I had the culprit figured out pretty quickly, unfortunately. For me, the mystery isn’t actually the draw here. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and the exploration of the challenges of being a business owner and a woman of colour. There is a string of robberies, and all the victims are women business owners. Through the investigation, we learn about the misogyny at the local Chamber of Commerce. That discussion was more interesting to me than the actual solving of the mystery. And of course, all the food talk was another highlight, as I already mentioned.

In the end, I found this a worthwhile read, and I look forward to more adventures with Lila and her crew as I work my way through the previous books in the series.

Thank you, Berkeley Publishing Group, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.