Arsenic and Adobo

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (2021, 336 pages) 

Life happens and Lila moves back to her midwestern hometown of Shady Palms for a bit of a reset and to help with her aunt's restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. Her ex Derek has become a food critic that's making his way around the local restaurants, and her best friend Adeena is a barista at the cafe next door. With an untimely death, Lila and Adeena become detectives to solve a small town murder. There's a cast of characters with varying involvement, small businesses, and family drama. With Tita Rosie's Kitchen closed until the murder has been solved, Lila has nothing but time on her hands to snoop!

What I liked:
✨Cute cozy mystery! Love a small midwestern town with a murder rate of 1 per capita.
✨Filipino culture, food, and language lessons!
✨Just straight up fun! I love watching a pair of besties solve crimes. They have dreams to open their own cafe, have their own dreams and desires, and have the best friend fights like anyone else. I love these two!
✨Realistic characters in this silly world: they had outbursts, acting outside of their norm, but coming back into themselves logically.


What I didn't like:
💤Pretty love triangle-y, or maybe even a square! At one point I swear there were three men interested in our main character. Just felt a little excessive, like every man was a potential love interest.
💤A lot of characters, got a little confusing at times
💤Some high school level drama

Favorite quote: "But knowing something logically, doesn't take away the guilt."

⭐⭐⭐⭐