It was a cute cozy read, Seems like I should explore this soft mysteries more

I thought mysteries are not for me but turns out I was wrong :>

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley publishing group for the ARC.

A truly delicious and delightful cozy mystery. I must read them all now!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love this cozy mystery! It’s so cute and fun. There are so many moments that I laughed out loud. Yes it’s a little crazy, but I think that’s what made the book so enjoyable!

Lila Macapagal is pulled back towards her prior experience with a local beauty pageant when her judging leads her to encounter another dead body and a mystery to solve.

About the Book

It's summer in Shady Palms, IL, and Lila is processing the events that happened in the last book, Arsenic and Adobo. Lila is still caught between two love interests, local dentist Dr. Jae and Adeena’s brother Amir, though she doesn’t feel up to a relationship after everything that happened.

Lila and her best friend Adeena are working to open the Brew-ha Café with Adeena’s new girlfriend Elena. Adeena brings her barista expertise, Elena uses her Mexican background with plants, herbs, and healing to develop homemade beauty and wellness items. And Lila should be helping with the baked goods and sweet treats. If only her brain wasn’t completely blocked from creative ideas in the wake of the traumatic events a few months prior…

But Lila has more than baked goods on her mind, as she’s been asked to judge the Miss Teen Shady Palms beauty pageant that she herself won as a teenager. The pageant helped her pay to move to Chicago after graduating, but carries with it unpleasant memories of her late mother who was a former beauty queen herself.

Despite her reluctance to join the pageant judges, Lila is pleased with some of the changes made to make the pageant more progressive and supportive of young women outside of their looks.

But when the head judge, Rob Thompson, is found murdered and her cousin Bernadette is the main suspect, Lila realizes she needs to put her sleuthing cap back on and solve another mystery, before someone else winds up dead!

Themes

For Lila, the central theme of this book is hearing the many people in her life champion that it’s ok to struggle with mental health. We really see Lila struggling, with panic attacks and unresolved trauma. Her healing growth arc through the book is lovely.

Lila talks a lot about both the things she loved about her mother and the painful things that made her feel not good enough. With Lila being pushed into beauty pageants from a young age, it was clear she felt her mother wanted her to fit a certain mold that she didn’t always identify with.

Her Tita Rosie brings her a recipe for her mother’s special chicken that she found. This recipe was one of the purest ways Lila’s mother showed love. It was the only recipe she created, kept close to herself, and made for Lila every day after school. Lila has mentioned before that food is love in Filipino culture, and her memories of this chicken are clearly integrated as a way to remind her of her mother’s love, not just of her perceived failings.

The Mystery

The mystery revolves around—in classic cozy mystery fashion—the death of a character who we won’t go so far as to say “deserved it”, but who we certainly aren’t shedding too many tears over. While Lila’s cousin (and rival) Bernadette is the main suspect, let’s just say that Rob Thompson gave a lot of people in Shady Palms a reason to want him dead. This man was not the upstanding business man he tried to project.

Meanwhile the list of characters with motives was long. Very long. In addition to Bernadette, there’s his sister who will inherit the family business now after being scorned for being a woman, there’s his wife who he flagrantly cheated on, and there’s the countless people who are deeply impacted by his shady business dealings and personal dalliances. Bernadette herself isn’t the most sympathetic character at times, but it’s clear she is family for Lila, even if not by blood.

Other Happenings

Aside from the mystery, I also loved seeing the progress on the Brew-ha Café. Adeena is an underused character in my opinion—though I loved seeing her in a relationship with Elena, who was only a very minor character in the last novel. This felt organic and I was thrilled when the book opened with the three in business together. Lila’s issues with her creativity block are holding the opening up, and it becomes clear they are heavily linked to her trauma. Seeing them open back up as she processes her feelings surrounding her mother was beautiful.

There is also a bit of a romance! We (and by “we” I mean “I”) didn’t forget about the love triangle that was just beginning to brew (ha) in the first book. On the one hand, we have smart, logical, teen crush Amir—Adeena’s older brother and an attorney who not only fancies Lila, but protects her and her family during the investigations. On the other hand, we have the new hottie in town Dr. Jae who is not only intimately familiar with Lila’s mouth after a biscotti-incident-gone-wrong in book one, he is also thoughtful, caring, and shares the same dairy sensitivity as her. A match made in heaven!

Fittingly, Lila isn’t ready for a relationship. But let’s just say that may or may not be the case by the end of the book and after all of that healing she does. But who will pull ahead?? I can’t spoil it for you!

An absolute delight—I do think this book is best read as a follow up to Arsenic and Adobo, but I think you could enjoy it on its own too.

I enjoyed this but a little less than the first. In the beginning the author mentions this book is a bit heavier in topics than the first due to when she wrote it. The main character is the same from the first and so dealing with mental health issues and her trauma response. I didn’t love the mystery as much in this one, I don’t know how to explain. But really enjoyed the aunties and grandma of course and all the family/ friendship relationships.

Absolutely and adorable. While I prefer my mysteries a bit darker, this is a super fun read and the series is going to be pure entertainment.

Another cute cozy mystery by Mia P. Manansala. Although Arsenic and Adobo was my favorite of the first two in the series, this one was still charming. My love for Lila grew with this book, but I felt like the storyline was less exciting this time around.

Homicide and Halo Halo by Mia Manansala is the second in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series and is out today! Thank you @berkleypub for this review copy!

This series is a cozy mystery so not a lot of violence per body found. I did find this one started hot off the heels of the first but wasn’t overly connected to it overall so I would say you could read them in any order. Just don’t go in hungry, both are focused a lot on the food everyone is eating or baking or thinking of. Lots and lots of descriptions too.

These books are fun and easy to read but I did find this one a little slower than the first. Less mystery and more character development and talk of pageants and food.

Loved the first 2 and this one did not disappoint! Sooo good! One of my faves to read! Definitely would recommend picking this one up if you see it in the store

I really wanted to like this book because I loved the first one, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. The author gives a heads up about her mindset in the author's note, and she's right that it has a different tone. I didn't expect to mind that, but I just couldn't get into the story. It just didn't have the energy of her first book.

Homicide and Halo-Halo is the highly anticipated sequel to the hugely popular Arsenic and Adobo. The author, Mia P. Manansala includes a note that this book is a darker sequel to the first, dealing with the trauma and issues that came from the murder and crime of the first and that she herself was writing from a darker place. Although I do appreciate the note, I didn't feel it was necessary. It makes sense that Lila is dealing with her past trauma and that she was almost murdered in her own soon to be coffee shop. Anyone would feel the same way. But we have learned from the first story that Lila doesn't deal with grief/trauma/emotions in the healthiest of ways.

Although I didn't like the story line as much as the first story, Manasala excels in her sense of community and culture. Her descriptions of the food and drinks make you salivate for more. And even though the beauty pageant scene isn't my favorite, the well-drawn characters were interesting and added much to the story. I appreciate the growth Lila has shown and her development with the other characters. I'm looking forward to the third installment.

I'll continue to recommend this mystery to my readers who enjoy a mystery with food and family.

Despite having all the elements I love in a cozy mystery, Homicide and Halo-Halo fell flat for me. The characters are immature, often acting like tweens instead of adults in their late 20s and 30s. The mystery wasn’t particularly engrossing, probably because I struggled to care about why this beauty pageant and it’s drama should matter to the adult characters. While this is an easy-breezy read with delicious food descriptions, it is ultimately a forgettable read that won’t entice readers to continue in the series.

Very cute cozy, loved the details surrounding Filipino culture from the mannerisms (overbearing yet lovable aunties) to the food. I did feel the number of details were cramped, meaning the author added too many details at once but was still appreciative of the effort. Great cozy read and am excited to see a Filipinx author emerging in the cozy mystery genre.

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala is book 2 of the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series and follows much of the same structure as the other books in this series (there is currently 3 total, and I am anxiously waiting for the 4th). This also happens to be Manansala's sophomore novel, and it was just as solid as her debut! Again, we get those amazing descriptions of Filipino food which are nothing if not mouthwatering, and I especially loved that Lila has to team up with her cousin Bernadette to solve the mystery. There is a decent amount of animosity between the two which makes things really interesting, and I enjoyed watching the two of them try to work things out and work together. And I don't know why I haven't mentioned this yet, but there is also a completely adorable dog owned by Lila, and that little guy is my favorite.

I loved how Lila's story continued from the first book so seamlessly, and Homicide and Halo-Halo takes place just a few months after Arsenic and Adobo ended. Lila's character is dealing with some things from her past as well as the more recent occurrences in book 1, and she ends up being a very relatable character in that respect. She could be anyone dealing with these things, and I love the way Manansala can make the reader feel seen through Lila. I really enjoyed Lila's growth in Homicide and Halo-Halo and it really just makes you want to give that girl a hug. There are recipes at the end, along with a glossary of terms and the TWs at the beginning, and I love that these are things Manansala always includes. I feel like I am getting to know this family thoroughly, and the author's quick wit and personal experiences just add that much more. I was shocked by how the mystery turned out, and it left me wanting the next book right away! I highly recommend reading this series in order to get character development, but it would be fine as a standalone as well.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Extremely enjoyable! Compulsively readable! I love this cozy mystery series, and will be reading each new volume as soon as it's available. You don't necessarily have to have read the previous books, though of course it gives you some additional context and background.

If you liked Arsenic and Adobo, then I'd definitely recommend picking this one up! This story revolves around the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant and is full of laugh out loud moments, mystery, and entertainment. This one was definitely a little darker than the first book in the series, but still a fun cozy mystery to pick up!

This is the second book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series following up Arsenic and Adobo last year. In this one our heroine, Lila Macapagal and her cousin, Ate Bernie, work to squash their beef and solve the murder of the head judge of the Shady Palms beauty pageant. Lila is also trying to juggle her personal and professional commitments while trying to figure out her love life.

My thoughts:
Overall, I liked this one. I think because the first book did a good job establishing the characters and making them lovable (especially the Macapagal family) it was fun to get into their world again.

I must say that I did enjoy Arsenic and Adobo more, largely because the pacing was quicker and I felt more of a sense of urgency while reading. However, I love that Manansala writes diverse characters, shares Filipino culture, talks so much about mental health, and writes Lila as a flawed, whole person

This book was a bit too cheesy for me. I really enjoyed the first but this one seemed to be lacking in the romance that the first one had. I also didn’t like that it centered around a pageant.

I did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this book

The second book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series finds Lila Macapagal involved in the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant. As a former winner, she is asked to serve as one of the judges. Even though there have been a few vague threats directed towards the pageant, all seems to be going well until one of the judges is murdered and Lila’s cousin, Bernadette, becomes the main suspect.

Homicide and Halo-Halo is a cozy mystery about family loyalties and rivalries, good food, and an added bit of romance. All in all, a good formula for a cozy mystery. However, it just didn’t resonate with me. The sniping between some of the characters became tiresome and it was reminiscent of high school behavior. The dialogue was sometimes awkward and, while the food references were interesting and enjoyable, they eventually became repetitious and were a distraction from the overall plot.

I would give Homicide and Halo-Halo 2.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.