This culinary cozy mystery explores misdeeds and murder in a small Chicago suburb, and features Felippino cuisine.
It is an enjoyably light-hearted murder romp!
There was only minimal character development. Most of the plot centered around eating, and therefore, the characters seemed detached from the murders going on around the town. ( )

I wanted to really like this, but it just fell flat for me. I read a similar book to this I believe in 2022, Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A.L. Herbert, and gave it a 2 star rating as well. In similar content you have a murder mystery that is surrounded by cooks. Maybe mysteries involving food is not my thing, I don't know but maybe less focus on detailing the food and more focus on the characters, some emotions especially revolving death and betrayal would be better however in this instance I got none of that. It may be an unpopular opinion but it's mine.
In Arsenic and Adobo the focus seems to be about a family from the Philippines and their restaurant, the author gives you translations of words and many, many descriptions of food. Now don't get me wrong I love food but did she want to make a cookbook but decided to go with a murder mystery instead, I really don't want to be mean or cruel this is absolutely not my intention but it just didn't pull me in. You get this murder mystery starting of with the death of a food critic (and I use food critic loosely here), then somehow a drug ring gets in the mix, a cop that has a chip on his shoulder, and some glossed over racism. I mean I am having even difficulty describing it because it's like someone telling you a story, talking for 2 hours and not saying anything concrete and that is how this book felt to me. So much was written but I got nothing out of it, well maybe some craving for food that's about it.
I'm sorry to anyone who enjoyed this book and my apologies to the author because I am sure they worked hard on this, but this book was not for me. ( )

I am not a professional book reviewer, I just enjoy reading and sharing my thoughts with others. I also cuss like a sailor and have no sense of what a spoiler is, so read this review at your own risk!

There's so much I need to say here that I don't even know where to begin lol I guess I can start by saying I think this is the FASTEST I've ever finished a book that wasn't a manga. Less than two days to finish 300+ pages, which may not seem like a lot but if you look at my history, it usually takes me a while to finish books because I tend to read a little between doing other stuff. But this book was just... wow. It flew by so quickly, it feels almost surreal.

My first thought when I started reading this book was that it didn't waste any time. Murder on page 18, now that's what I'm fucking talking about man. No wasting time with boring scenes for 50 pages, it got straight to what we all came for - murder. Getting right down to the juicy bits is a smart move that I can definitely appreciate.

I don't personally think the dishes described in this book sound the least bit appetizing because I don't like half the ingredients they use because I'm a literal 5-year-old, but it's still interesting to hear about them and try to butcher the pronunciation of the dishes c: I don't typically care for female protags because most of them are annoying and I just prefer male protags because, while I am a woman, I can relate more to men than women. This main character, though? She's pretty cool. I love her personality. She's really likable and her witty remarks make the story a lot easier to read.

Before starting chapter four, I made a prediction. I didn't have any suspects, but by the way Derek was sweating and shit, I'm guessing he was poisoned before coming to their restaurant. Maybe by that coffee he was drinking? After finishing the book - Fuck yes, I am a motherfucking super sleuth ya'll. I called it! Where's my medal? Or my cookie. I'd settle for a cookie.

Can I just say she has perfect comedic timing? Just look at this shit, man:

{I put my hands on my hips. "Oh, come on. Would it kill you to say something nice for a change?"
He responded by convulsing violently, then face-planting right into the dish.}

So yeah, I guess it WOULD kill him to say something nice, hey =D

{That was a mistake.
All five wheeled around as one. I don't know if you've ever been stared down by an elderly Asian woman, but It. Is. Terrifying. Don't be fooled by the cute florals and jaunty visors - these women will end you, wielding nothing but their sharp tongues, bony elbows, and collapsible shopping carts.}

Why is this the best line in the entire book? I lost it with the shopping carts, man.

Now, I'm a white woman from a white family. To us, family don't mean shit. All of them are liars and only come around if we can offer them something. It's nothing but fighting and arguing between us and we never see each other, not even on holidays. To me, my only family is my mom that I live with. The rest of our blood relations aren't family to me, they never have been and probably never will be. So, reading about how tight-nit Asian families tend to be... it makes me both sad and happy at the same time.

I enjoy the look into the lives of others, so different from the one I've led, and I envy how strong their familial ties are. To them, family comes first. Family is everything. I sometimes wish it were like that for us, too, but it's not. I don't think it ever has been. The love just isn't there for us but the hatred certainly is. So for me, seeing these strong family bonds and these big families who, despite their problems and differences, still love and support one another no matter what... it really enhanced the story for me.

{"Did you know that rice has higher levels of arsenic than other foods?"}

I'm fucking sorry, sir??? Rise has mother fucking ARSENIC in it?! That can't be true... I'm never eating rice again, man. After I read this, my anxiety decided it wanted to be its usual self and I freaked out, googling if this was true and it IS.

Quoted from healthline.com: "There is no doubt about it, arsenic in rice is a problem. This may pose a health risk to those who eat rice every day in considerable amounts." It also recommends that you use plenty of water while cooking it, wash the rice before cooking it because it may remove 10-28% of the arsenic, and that brown rice contains higher amounts than white rice. It says to choose aromatic rice such as basmati or jasmine. This honestly freaked me out and I wish it wasn't true so I'll probably avoid rice for a while before forgetting and just saying feck it.

{I raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Since when do you know Japanese?"
He ducked his head, not meeting my eyes. "I, uh, watch a lot of anime. Like, a lot. I can't speak it or anything, but I can understand a basic conversation."}

MARCUS, MY MAN. He became my favorite character with this one line, let's go~!

Prediction 2: the contractor is the killer. He, Derek, and the health inspector were doing business together and something went wrong. After finishing the book - eh, I was half right. Do I still get points? No? What about half a point?

{Dr. Jae, that coward, stuck with the mild tomato salsa.}

I... feel very called out by this statement lmfao I can't do spicy food, like at all. I don't know why, but it triggers my fucking anxiety and I hate it. So whenever we order Chinese food, I have to request my food without peppers and avoid all the spicy stuff, and honestly, even the non-spicy stuff is usually still spicy. I think that's why I haven't been able to enjoy Asian food like I hoped I could, because they use lots of peppers and onions, both of which I despise.

So, the scene where the restaurant is vandalized and everyone comes to help clean up... I couldn't stop smiling because it was so fucking precious. They really do have a great family, people who will always come to help out and not even fucking charge for it. Like, Amir is this bigtime lawyer that would normally charge out the ass for his services but he's doing all this for his family FOR FOOD. I mean, same really, but he's not charging them, he just wants Rosie to feed him which she is more than thrilled to do. Where can I get a family like this? Someone adopt me.

{"What, is your name pronounced LY-la or LEE-la? Because I've been saying LY-la, but your grandmother just called you..."
I smiled at him. "Yeah, I know. Technically, it's LEE-la, but only my family pronounces it that way. In school, my teachers would always pronounce it the other way and I got tired of correcting them. I just started introducing myself that way since it was easier."}

Not gonna lie, I've been pronouncing it LY-la, too. Even after reading this, I tried to correct myself by saying it properly every time her name came up but my brain just couldn't seem to process this at all. It was a struggle for my brain to read it that way so I just ended up continuing to pronounce it that way, I am so sorry Lila ._.)/

Okay, so... after getting farther into the book I was so damn sure Mr. Long was the one who was behind everything, but then he done did deaded. I couldn't help but wonder who the fuck was behind it all, assuming it was just one person. I did not, for one second, suspect that his wife did it. Okay, that's a lie. When they first found the body, I did think it was weird that she was walking around the house with her hood up. It was SUS man and then it turns out she did do it, but it was in self-defense. I'll be damned. And it's not like he was innocent, he WAS responsible for some of it, just not the murder.

{"We were happy to see him at first. It'd been a while and even though we heard about what he was doing with those other restaurants, we never dreamed he'd do that to us. He was like family! But nobody lets you down like family, I guess."}

Girl, preach that shit. If you can't trust you family which, in my case, you can't, who the fuck CAN you trust? It's a damn shame, lemme tell you.

Now, I would like to say that I figured out who the killer was long before he revealed himself, but then I'd be a big liar pants, wouldn't I? I figured it out about one page before he revealed himself pft I never would have thought Kevin would be behind it all and I genuinely liked him. He seemed like such a nice guy, but that tends to be my curse, you know? Whenever I watch or read something, I always fall for the guys who A - die, or B - end up to be total psychopath murderers with a serious god-complex that you just kinda wanna nudge off the edge of a building. It's a real problem and I don't know how to fix it someone send help.

The author of this book, Mia Manansala, wrote an amazing book that I didn't want to put down, with an amazing main character that was super likable, relatable, and really witty. I have nothing but praise for this book and I hope to read more from her and Lila.

Also, I can't stop thinking about Nisa sprawled across the ground posted on Instagram every time the dog is mentioned, so thanks for that lmao ( )

This is a fun cozy mystery that revolves around a young woman working at her family's Filipino restaurant. When her ex-boyfriend dies while eating at the restaurant, Lila is the main suspect. In order to clear her name, she begins investigating to discover who really killed Derek. There was a lot of great diversity of people and culture in this book. The characters did strike me as a bit one-dimensional but that is the kind of thing that can evolve within a series. The descriptions of the food served in the various local restaurants were great and made me want to try more of the local restaurants in my area. The murderer was easy to guess early in the story and much of the clues and information seemed spoon fed to the reader, but the characters were fun with a lot of potential for future stories in the series.

I borrowed this from my local library. It's a book club read for November.

This is a fun cozy mystery that lovingly utilized Filipino-American culture, especially around food. Lila Macapagal is a twenty-something recently moved back to her Illinois hometown after trying to make it in Chicago. Newly single, she's trying to help revitalize her aunt's restaurant. When her high school ex-boyfriend-cum-nasty-food-critic falls over dead as he eats lunch at the place, a bundle of drugs in Lila's locker sets her up for the crime. It's bait that an overly-enthusiastic local detective can't resist. Lila must clear her name and the reputation of her family's restaurant.

I really enjoyed the cozy food angle of this book and the complex family dynamics. It seems that the series is setting up a love triangle, though, and I'm not a fan of those. I found the end of the book surprisingly easy to predict from a ways out, too. Even so, it's a fun read, and I can see why it garnered so much buzz. ( )