are all things I researched on my own as an adult.. thank u :,) , This sounds fab!!!!! Along with today's excerpt, we're delighted to be premiering the cover for Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala and forthcoming from Berkley Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Butter boards, Last chance to join GCashs Lucky Load Promo for a chance to win 100K, Kanye West takes shots at Pete Davidson after Kim Kardashian breakup, Academy names new CEO after years of Oscars drama, reforms, Someday, Gay Marriages Will Become Unnecessary. Are all lolas the same?? Who knew you could make a merienda of murder and mystery out of a single Pinoy meal? Food is a love language. Those conversations are hilarious. 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Lila Macapagal returns to her hometown of Shady Palms after a broken engagement to help out at her aunt's restaurant. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Instead of being upset over her injury and stressing over it, she took it as an opportunity to demand that Kevin gives Adeena, her best friend who works at the coffee shop, a huge opportunity, and says, Oh, and I might need her to sneak out a little early for the next couple of weeks without you docking her pay. This would never happen. In light of these issues, ARSENIC AND ADOBOs saving grace (in my eyes) is the fact that its wildly entertaining so entertaining and funny that I gave it a 3-star rating rather than a 2, despite all my complaints. These are not topics to laugh at, but ones I hope to approach with respect, despite the humor surrounding it. Arsenic and Adobo also exemplifies the value of Filipino American representation in new genres of literature. That. It's even worse when hot, silver-fox Detective Park accuses Lila of Derek's murder. My best friends are Cambodian, Korean and Puerto Rican Americans. At one point near the end, a tertiary character makes a decision that absolutely baffled me in context, to the point where I thought Id missed a chapter, but it was toward the end, so it was one more shrug in a long, long line of them. Can you guess before she does? Domestic violence. Your email address will not be published. Derek just happens to be Lila's former high school boyfriend, and when he dies of food poisoning after eating "the Filipino culinary equivalent of hygge," Lila is the prime suspect. Arsenic and Adobo was a perfect mystery to help me dip my toe back in the mystery novel waters. Mia P. Manansala. Make sure to check out the podcast, too. 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MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | Besides Lilas own extended Filipino clan, the cast features Pakistani Muslim and Korean main characters in addition to a truly multicultural supporting cast. I needed to figure out who killed Derek Winter. Tonally, the novel is intense, violent, and mysterious. Im not Filipino American myself, so I clearly cant speak to this representation as a Filipino American person can, so take what I say here with a grain of salt! It took Manansala about a year and a half to finish the book, facing down all the rejections she had received in the past as well as keeping motivated after the death of her father. Different dishes and the serving of them is a complex code that reveals so much about cultural variations in hospitality. Not as substantive as I would have liked it to be and could be kind of cringey at times. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture. Mia P. Manansala does an amazing job of planting red herrings as the bodies pile up and the pressure rises on Lila to find a murderer without losing her own life. Lila isnot great at detecting. Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. The novel explores how much people can get done when they act as a team. cant wait for the rest of the series. Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2021). A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please. I adored how Filipino this book is, with all its sayings, cultural references, and emphasis on family relationships, and loved how diverse Manansalas larger cast of characters is our main characters are all various shades of Brown and Yellow, with Adeena being a Pakistani Muslim lesbian and a love interest being half-Korean. And because of that, you just get to go along for the ride of trying to figure out what really happened when Lila Macapagals ex-boyfriend Derek drops dead in front of her at her familys restaurant. Lila is helping out in the family restaurant when her ex-boyfriend dies of what looks like poisoning. That's essentially why I jumped to get a review copy of. Many of his subjects have Latin American roots and all the stories in the collection take place on the border of Mexico and Texas. So to be able to correspond in an email interview was a rare opportunity to unravel the, Eye-catching views, sights, and attractions are vital to tourism. I mean A cute, cozy mystery with lots of food descriptions. The food descriptions were the only substantial thing in the book and now I know I don't care about food descriptions. As the police learn about Lila and Dereks dating history and discover (planted) evidence in Lilas locker at the restaurant, she realizes that shes in real danger of being charged with crimes she didnt commit. I am speaking from personal experience, so I recognize that I am a sensitive party in this discussion, but I do not appreciate when a diabetic character dies and every other character thinks it's their business to say he deserved it because he was eating dessert. arsenic and adobo sounds SO good, and im sorry about the lack of concern from characters, because that doesnt sound ~great~ but im definitely going to pick this up for the entertainment sometime soon!! Nettled by several errors in Heavners analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. This would never happen; a cop would never tell a lead suspect that theyre being watched. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If not, read it in your backyard or on a shady porch with a nice meryenda nearby. A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if its been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Lila often talks directly to the reader, often with timely insights: Why do they always serve a soggy slice of white bread with barbecue? So it's a shock when Derek is later pronounced dead of arsenic poisoning from something he recently ingested. Deciding that her only option is to investigate the murder herself, she and her best friend, Adeena, set out to prove her innocence. also this is 100% without question going to be my lola's fave read of 2021. blessings all around and my heart is so very full! 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