Another clever installment of the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series. Revisiting the series feels like hanging out with old friends.

Short synopsis: When there’s a murder at the grand opening of the new laundromat, Lila bands with her Titas to find the culprit.

My thoughts: This is book 4 in a series, I haven’t read all but I have read a few. Expect silly shenanigans and family bonding mixed with great Filipino treats and culture.

This was a quick easy read, nothing overly exciting or unexpected but definitely entertaining.

Read if you love:
- Cozy mystery
- Filipino culture
- Great families

The first book in this series is one of the books that got me back into reading. So now, every time I pick up another one, it just feels so comfy and cozy, and that I'm getting back in touch with a friend I haven't talked to in awhile. I felt the same way with this one.

Murder and Mamon
Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #4

This was definitely the best novel out of the 4. I really enjoyed this one from beginning to end and the main character, Lila Macapagal was smart and wasn't making dumb choices.

In this book, Lila's god mothers are at the heart of the story. When tragedy strikes again when not only is their new business vandalized but Ninang April's neice is also murdered! Was it karma for all the trash talking that the nosy God mother's are always doing?

Lila and Jaes relationship is developing but it's not the main part of the story which makes me wonder why is it moving so slow! Tita Rosie and Detective Jonathan's relationship is also blossoming. So cute!!!

Pacing was great with intriguing details. The food and dessert descriptions is always leaving me hungry. I really liked this story. Best one yet! Can't wait for the next one!!

This is the strongest entry in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series so far. MURDER AND MAMON features an interesting, complex mystery, and main character Lila Macapagal really comes into her own in this book. Lila's grown a great deal from books one to four, becoming more confident in her sleuthing abilities, baking, and relationships. Lila's friends and relatives are fun, supportive characters that make this series even more enjoyable, and MURDER AND MAMON features many of them heavily. This is a fun, fast-paced cozy--very enjoyable.

Another great millenial cozy mystery filled with drugs, LGBTQ+ issues and other real life scenarios which makes it more real and gives it that urban vibe that's so missing from pretty much all cozies. It's a fresh change from your typical cozy.

Another wonderful adventure with Lila and her family and friends! I love catching up with all of these characters with each book released. The food descriptions are amazing and I never know how it's going to end.

Once again back with my old pal Lila and the deliciously sounding food from Tita Rosie's kitchen mysteries. Only this time we switch to a laundromat, sadly?. This series have made me so interested in filipino cuisine that I actually tried some of the recipes myself. The calendar crew once again made me laugh and almost cry too! I love these characters, they feel like old time friends since book one and it always deliver a solid murder mystery which I enjoy a lot. Expect the same good stuff from the past books, I think book one is still my favorite of all but I truly enjoye the character growth.

Another cozy and fun mystery from Mia P. Manansala! As a Pacific Islander, I love the representation she gives for islanders through food and innerworkings of a islander family. These stories are all so fun to read and really help you to escape into another world. They are absolutely precious! If you enjoyed the others in this series, you;ll love MURDER AND MAMON as well.

Like its predecessors, the fourth book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series is full of family drama, delicious Filipino food & treats, and a murder mystery. In MURDER AND MAMON (out on 9/18), the story revolves around Lila's godmothers, collectively known as the Calendar Crew.

Just as their laundromat business is about to take off, tragedy strikes when Divina, Ninang April's niece from the Philippines, is found dead in their laundromat with a note that says, "Mind your business." Lila is afraid her nosy godmothers, who love to gossip, finally have it coming for them, and she is determined to find the culprit and protect them.

⭐️☕️WHAT I LIKED:
•All the cozy vibes.
•Small-town atmosphere.
•The strong friendships. What makes this series stand out are the supporting characters.
•Exploration of family dynamics.
•Lastly, the descriptions of Filipino food and desserts (though sometimes there were too many)

📝🤔NOT SO MUCH:
•The murder mystery plot was a bit dull. While I know it's a cozy mystery, it could use more excitement and a little oomph without losing the cozy vibes. I felt like we get more about food than the murder plot, especially in this book.

•I would like to see more focus on Tita Rosie & Jonathan, and Lila & Jae. I know it's not a romance novel, but these two couples, for as long as it took for them to end up together, have little to no romance/chemistry. Nothing. I'm a prude, but even I need a little bit of steam.

•After the fourth book, I must admit, the series needs a little spice or something added to change up the formulaic series. Also, the mentioning of food is something I LOVE about the book. But I did find it to be a bit too much in this one
—
Despite some criticism, will I continue to read Manansala's books? Absolutely! This one, in particular, made me drive to Seafood City and walk out with a few cheese mamons (from Red Ribbon bakery) which I LOVE! 💜🙌🏼

📖I will always have a soft spot for cozy mysteries, especially one that features food and family. But perhaps next time, more on the mystery and less on the food.

Lila Macapagal, the crime-solving Filipina baker, returns in all all-new mystery with the focus on The Calendar Crew, her godmothers April, Mae, and June. The notorious gossips have decided to open a laundry mat. At the same time, April’s niece, Divinia, arrives in Shady Palms under the whiff of scandal. She doesn’t seem to mind attracting trouble; she even openly flirts with Lila’s boyfriend, handsome dentist Jae.

On the eve of the laundry’s grand opening, Divinia is found in the facility—murdered—with the words MIND YOUR BUSINESS nearby. When the Shady Palms PD fails to find evidence at the scene, unable to determine even if the intended target was Divinia or one of the Calendar Crew, the very people who in the past have dissuaded Lila to investigate now not only ask her to get involved but join forces with her to find the killer. But that might require asking difficult questions of the Calendar Crew, maybe even putting herself in danger.

• Like other books in the series, this includes delectable descriptions of drinks and dishes, with several recipes at the end.
• The Calendar Crew got to understand how being the butt of gossip and rumors could be hurtful! This book also had them more developed as individuals.
• Lila and Jae’s investigative partnership is fun, as are Adeena and Elena’s attempts to acquire intelligence.
• As much as I enjoyed the inclusion of the interesting food, sometimes (not always!) it felt more like a list instead of rich descriptions.
• Every installment adds new characters which is exiting but also means there are many to keep track of and they each have less “screen time.”

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series because of the sympathetic narrator, her dog, who is usually dressed in a cute costume, and the integration not only of Lila’s Filipino culture but those of her business partners and boyfriend. I was very thrilled to read an advanced electronic copy, but I also preordered a physical copy!

Main character Lila's gossiping godmothers, the Calendar Crew, are very busy. They're about to open their new business, a laundromat, and one of the women's nieces, Divina, has just arrived from the Phillipines. Though they don't explain the reason behind Divina's sudden arrival, they imply that Divina doesn't have the best reputation.

Lila does her best to welcome Divina, while the godmothers put Divina to work, helping them with myriad details necessary for the laundromat's opening. Everyone gets a rude shock when someone sprays a nasty message all over the front of the business, and as Lila soon learns, also sends the godmothers daily letters with nasty/threatening messages enclosed.

When Divina ends up murdered one morning in the laundromat, Lila immediately knows she has to find out who killed her as April, one of the godmothers and Divina's aunt, is devastated.

Lila soon discovers that the godmothers penchant for airing gossip they learn in their church has infuriated various people around town, including a woman who found out through the Calendar Crew's words that her husband was cheating on her. Lila also discovers that gossip is at the heart of what brought Divina to Shady Palms, and eventually caused her death.

This series is so fun! Yes there's murder, but Lila's bubbly and positive personality keeps pulling me back, including her and her business partners' culinary explorations.

I'm so glad that this time around, Lila's boyfriend Jae insisted on getting involved in her snooping, and he was actually quite helpful. It shows progression in their relationship, as well as widening Lila's circle of amateur sleuths. Together, they're adept at ferreting out information about possible suspects in both crimes.

The story moves at its usual fast and funny pace. And, there is so much fantastic food featured throughout the story — I always get so hungry reading books in this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.

3.5/5 stars -- rounded up

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book!

NOTE -- MURDER & MAMON is the fourth book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen series. I believe this can be read as a standalone, as I did, but I think there were some minor spoilers to previous books. However, a few weeks after finishing this one I can't remember any details from other stories, so I think you'd be totally fine reading this on its own if you want to.

SYNOPSIS -- The Calendar Crew, made up of April, Mae and June, are celebrating the opening of their new laundromat in the tiny town of Shady Palms. This happy event soon turns dark when the business is vandalized, and a body is found inside. Everyone knows The Calendar Crew can gossip, and there are plenty of people who could have done this. While the police case moves too slowly, the Calendar Crew's goddaughter, Lila, is hot on the case, just as she has been in Shady Palms in the past. Lila has to figure out whose vendetta against the Crew is the strongest, and stop them before harming the store -- or another person -- again.

I've heard great things about the Tita Rosie's Kitchen mysteries, and my first dive into them did not disappoint. First of all, I loved that the book included both a pronunciation guide and recipes for the dishes mentioned inside. What a cool glimpse at another culture and a way to feel more connected as a reader!!

The mystery itself was really intriguing. There were tons of red herrings and suspicion was thrown all over the place. I enjoyed all of the characters and felt connected to Lila's, especially. I really felt for the Crew when bad things were happening to them, and they made great secondary characters throughout the book. My main qualm with this one is that it as just a bit long. I think a lot of details could have been cut out and the book would have ended just the same. I don't always love cozy mysteries because of all of the fluff, and this was no exception. If cozies are your thing, you'd love this one. It was surprising and cute and fun and kept me on my toes. I'd definitely read more of this series in the future!

I was so excited for the opportunity to read this book as I had previously read and enjoyed the first three books in the series. This fourth book did not disappoint!

If you haven’t read any of the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries I highly recommend them! The characters are hilarious, the descriptions of food and drinks are incredible and the mystery is just cozy enough for my taste!

Murder and Mamon had a great story and all of the other fun pieces I’ve come to love from the series. The descriptions of food and drink make my mouth water. I only wish there was some way to send them through the book for me to taste!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,

This was another very fun installment in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries series (with another delicious looking batch of recipes at the end that I'm itching to try). If you enjoyed the previous installments, or just like cozy mysteries in general, I recommend it. Did I guess the murderer almost immediately upon being introduced to them? ....Yes, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment at all. I love reading along to see if I'm right, after all. I can see where, if you're reading these books back to back all at once, the constant asides to explain who a character is or their relationships to the other characters could get tedious, but I'm reading them as they came out, so I find it terribly helpful. All in all, a nice, quick read that was fun, and, as is always the case with these books, made me so hungry,

Murder and Mamon is the 4th-book in Mia P. Manansala's Culinary Cozy Mystery series, Tita Rosie's Kitchen.
Set in the town of Shady Palms, this series follows Lila Macapagal and is full of food, friends and family drama. I have vibed with every book in this series so far and have really enjoyed getting to know Lila, her family and friends.

In this installment, Lila's godmothers, April, Mae and June, lovingly known as the Calendar Crew, are embarking on a fresh business venture; a new laundromat. Also new is that Ninang April's niece, a recent art school graduate, gets sent from the Philippines to Shady Palms by her family. She'll be staying with Ninang April and the plan is for her to help out at the laundromat.

Instead of the Macapagals celebrating their grand opening though, they find their building vandalized and April's niece lying dead with a threatening message scrawled beside her.

Devastated by all that's occurred, the Aunties are beside themselves with grief and fear. Who would target them like this? According to the threatening message, it appears that perhaps their well-known meddling and gossip may have finally pushed someone over the edge.

With the local police making little progress, Lila feels compelled to begin her own investigation. She'll do whatever she can to protect her family. With one family member dead, Lila isn't willing to just sit back and risk more.

I really enjoyed this. It was exactly the fun-spirited story that I needed right now. There's just something about returning to a beloved Cozy Mystery series, reuniting with characters that feel like friends and solving oftentimes OTT-cases with them, that I will never grow tired of.

I'm a true sucker for this series. I will never stop reading them. As long as they're published, I'll be picking them up. It's just my kind of Cozy. While this wasn't my favorite in the series, I do think it is a super strong installment. I liked getting to know even more about the Aunties, as Lila is forced to dig a little more into their personal lives in this one.

I also found the conversations regarding why the victim came to the United States in the first place rather interesting. It involved a bit of a scandal and Lila had to try to figure out the ins-and-outs of that as well.

The mystery had me stumped. I had a lot of suspects, everyone seemed suspicious and I even questioned if the victim was who the killer intended to take out. At the end of the day, it was just a lot of fun. Pure entertainment.

I would recommend this series to any Cozy Mystery fan, particularly if you enjoy Culinary Cozies. There's a lot of food talk in these books, with vivid, mouth-watering descriptions. If you don't walk away hungry, you may not have a soul.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I'm such a fan of this series and am already anticipating the 5th-installment. I cannot even begin to imagine what sort of craziness the Macapagal family is going to get involved in next, but you better believe I want a front row seat!

Murder and mamon did not disappoint for the next book in the tita Rosie’s kitchen series. Lila is back to her detecting and trying to solve yet another murder her family finds themselves right in the center of. This book will keep you guessing what’s going to happen next right down to when everything starts to unfold. How one family can find themselves wrapped up in so many murders is beyond me. But, keep em coming!

In this fourth edition another murder has occurred in Shady Palms and this one is closer than ever.

This is a fun story as we continue to follow Lila and the calendar crew. This time their secrets and pasts may catch up with them!

I like these for the cozy vibes and the food descriptions! Everything always sounds amazing!

I look forward to more with these characters soon!

This was another cute installment to A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series. I really enjoy reading these books in between heavier ones. And these stories always make me hungry with new recipes the characters come up with.

I really enjoyed this book! I found it super entertaining and love all the characters in the series. Cute story with a little bit of murder.