Homicide and HaloHalo, Mia P. Manansala
Homicide and HaloHalo, Mia P. Manansala
2 Rating(s)
List: $17.50 | Sale: $12.25
Club: $8.75

Homicide and Halo-Halo

Author: Mia P. Manansala

Narrator: Danice Cabanela

Unabridged: 8 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/08/2022


Synopsis

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.

About The Author

Mia P. Manansala is a writer from Chicago who loves books, baking, and badass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.She is the winner of the 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the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy scholarship. She's also a 2017 Pitch Wars alum and 2018-2019 mentor.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on August 09, 2022

For the love of my watering mouth and my extra stimulated taste buds: Food, sweets, even descriptions of drinks in this book made me famished and pushed me search local Filipino restaurants! The first book of the series was so entertaining, smart, delicious example of cozy mysteries! I’m so happy to......more

Goodreads review by emma on December 15, 2022

I have never really THOUGHT cozy mysteries were for me, but allegedly "you never know until you try" or something. So now I have tried, and I think they still probably are not. When I first got back into reading, I was so excited that I was 99% sure I liked everything that could legally qualify as a b......more

Goodreads review by Mai on September 12, 2024

$4.99 audiobook sale @ Libro.fm API Month This series is not without its problems, but I'm here for the Southeast Asian rep. And food. If the Brew-ha Cafe existed in real life, I'd be there right now. This series is, at heart, a mystery. But because the people murdered sort of deserved to be murdered,......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on March 21, 2022

Isn’t this cover adorable? Homicide and Halo-Halo is the second book in the Tita Rose’s Kitchen Mystery series. Tita Rosie’s Kitchen is a Filipino restaurant owned by Lila’s aunt. Summer is just starting (Lila’s least favorite season), and it’s hot and humid in Shady Palms. Lila used to compete in pa......more

Goodreads review by Safee-Naaz on February 22, 2022

Like Arsenic & Adobo, this was a decent cozy mystery but not very well crafted. The plot was gentle. Not stupid but not inspired in any way either… It also had a plot hole and, as with A&A, Lila didn’t catch the killer, the killer caught her. The author shines with her descriptions of food (albeit t......more


Quotes

"While the follow-up to Arsenic and Adobo is a cozy mystery, it’s darker, dealing with PTSD, predatory behavior, dismissive attitudes toward mental health, and other issues. Filipino American food and culture, as well as family and community, remain essential elements in the story."—Library Journal, starred review