Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

ARSENIC AND ADOBO by Mia P. Manansala was a LibraryReads selection in May 2021 and a GoodReads Nominee for best mystery/thriller that year.  Honestly, it has been on my “to-be-read” pile for quite a while, especially since it had received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.  The first in a series (Tia Rosie’s Kitchen) of what is now six books, I just finished it over the holidays. The main character is named Lila Macapagal and she is devoted to her Filipino family and their restaurant. The story is cute (Lila owns a “chubby” dachshund called Longganisa, a type of sausage) and reminded me of Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes (although the later has a Chicago location versus being located two hours outside the city in fictional Shady Palms), particularly since the livelihood of each restaurant is threatened after an unexpected death. I was grateful for the glossary and pronunciation guide which the author included, although I still struggled to differentiate some of Lila’s family members, especially the older generation, like Tia Rosa and Lila’s grandmother. I clearly enjoy a cozy culinary, often with  enclosed recipes like those found in ARSENIC AND ADOBO, but my favorites in that category remain the Goldy Bear ones by Diane Mott Davidson.