Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala Narrator: Danice Cabanela
Series: Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1
Published by Penguin Audio on May 4, 2021
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 20 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
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The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer....
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…
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to pick up this series. I love culinary cozies, especially when the food featured is not a style I’m familiar with. Lila has returned to her hometown after a bad breakup to help her Aunt Rosie run the family Filipino restaurant. It’s not going well, though, and then a local restaurant critic/Lila’s high school boyfriend ends up dead, poisoned after eating at the restaurant. Lila becomes the primary suspect, which is her reason for investigating. Every amateur sleuth needs a legitimate reason to nose into the investigation, at least for the first couple of books.
Lila’s family and friends, mostly women, are wonderful- supportive and quirky. We have tons of yummy food and a couple of recipes in the back. Lila herself is not my favorite, yet, but has potential. I need her to be a little more focused and I don’t like the potential love triangle forming for her.
The mystery itself was not fabulous, but it’s the first in the series. The cops focus on Lila way too quickly and not know what’s going on in town. Most of the book, she’s actually out of jail on bond. Lila’s sleuthing consists of mostly asking other restaurant owners the same questions over and over and getting the same responses. It does all pull together in the end, but I hope the next one in the series is a little tighter.
About Mia P. Manansala
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. Her debut novel, ARSENIC AND ADOBO, garnered starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness, hit the ABA Indie Bestseller List, and has won multiple awards. The New York Times stated, “Manansala peppers the narrative with enough red herrings to keep readers from guessing the killer, but the strength of the novel is how family, food and love intertwine in meaningful and complex ways,” which are common themes in her writing.
She is the winner of the 2025 Agatha Award for Best Children’s/YA Mystery, 2022 Anthony Award for Best First Novel, 2022 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, 2022 RUSA Reading List for Mystery, 2021 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, 2021 Chicago Reader’s Best New Novel by a Chicagoan, 2018 Hugh Holton Award, the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck – Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy Scholarship.
A lover of all things geeky and cozy, Mia spends her days procrasti-baking, gaming, reading, eating, and staring adoringly at her dog, Gumiho. Her husband is pretty cool too.
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