A review by karenchase
Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala

4.0

I think I heard about this author's next (or a subsequent) book and I couldn't think about reading that without reading the first in the series first. So, I picked this up. I think I read that it's sort of a rom-com/cozy mystery mash-up, and that pretty much sums it up. Lila (I hate names like this, where the pronunciation is ambiguous, but it is actually explained) returns from Chicago to her home town of Shady Palms (totally weird name for a midwest town -- also explained) to help her aunt and grandmother with the family restaurant. She becomes entangled with an ex-boyfriend, who ends up dead, and Lila becomes the prime suspect, pursued by an annoying but handsome detective. She is also nursing an attraction to her best friend's brother, and becomes enamored of the detective's charming and handsome dentist brother. So there's the romance part. Apparently Lila fancied herself an amateur detective in her younger days, and becomes determined to clear her own name and figure out who killed her ex -- a nasty food critic who had been going around town trashing local restaurants. This story moves at a brisk pace, with lots of Millennial culture, and definitely fills the romance and mystery bill, with a healthy dose of foodie in the mix. Will I pick up more of these? Maybe, but my library pile is pretty huge right now.