A great addition to the series. Enjoyed the clever whodunit and the queer representation in particular, as well as the career info on what it’s like to be a culinary anthropologist/TV show host.

Miriam, her son, and a few of her friends leave Miami for a working vacation. Miriam takes her son to the resort her parents manage. She leaves her son with her parents while she goes to Puerto Rico to film episodes of her cable series. There is a murder in the book, Mariam is just on the edges of it. The neighborhood she’s staying in is being bought out by bitcoin billionaire. After a while, she begins to realize that this might have something to do with the going down at the resort that her parents may manage.

I love this series. It’s interesting to read a cozy mystery set within Miami. Lot of us is familiar with Miami from watching the TV series CSI Miami. It is not a place I would imagine a cozy mystery series being set. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Miriam is traveling in this third book of the series. Visiting her parents in Punta Cana with her son then off to Puerto Rico to film a few episodes of her cooking show for Three Kings Day. Much to her surprise her besties join her. Burly death surrounds her and her besties boyfriend’s are suspicious. One is super shady and the other has vanished. Are they involved in the crime? Miriam does her typical sleuthing while explaining and eating fantastic food. I love the bilingual nature of these books. They help me while learning Spanish and are so humorous.

Miriam Quinones, after a stop in the Dominican Republic with her son Manny to visit her parents, heads to San Juan, Puerto Rico to do some work for her Miami cable show as the festivities for the Three Kings Festival begin. There are so many descriptions of yummy food--were there more because Miriam is pregnant and craving things or did they all just sound that good?! Her friend Alma pops up as the guest of a new boyfriend, a bitcoin investor that turns out to be walking on the edge. Properties in San Juan are being purchased and re done as homes and businesses for Miami big wigs. When Miriam catches wind of an elderly man who didn't want to sell and wound-up dead, she enlists her buddies to help figure out if the two are connected and find out a bit about a police corruption case too. It had a lot of layers to follow but was a good mystery read.

This is the third book in the series. It is amazing hoe Miriam stays calm and going flying to see her parents that her husband gifted to her and her son Manny. And then off she goes to work and leaves her son behind with her parents. It is a bit scary here she is pregnant and getting herself caught up in another dangerous escapade, but she makes out well this time with no real danger to herself.

The third installment in the captivating Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes is a delightful culinary mystery. Readers are whisked away to the sun-soaked shores of the Caribbean, where flavours, secrets, and danger intertwine. For those who don’t know, my mother was born in Trinidad and my maternal side of the family (including grandparents) came to Canada in the 1960’s.

Meet Miriam Quiñones. She is a cooking show sensation and amateur sleuth. She has sand between her toes and a murderer hot on her heels. The story unfolds against the vibrant backdrop of Punta Cana and Old San Juan, where palm trees sway, and mysteries simmer.

Reyes had me from the first page! This author skillfully blends culinary delights, cultural richness, and suspense in this page-turner. If you're a foodie, a mystery lover, or just simply seeking an escape to an island paradise, this story promises a tantalizing journey through flavours and secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a while to get through this book, but I did it. I think it was due to the combination of heavier subject matter and Spanish language use. I liked being able to practice my Spanish skills, but it just took more time to work through the text. I wonder what is next for the characters.

I love the mix of Spanish and English in these book, as I'm studying Spanish. This was a really fun read with a lot of twists and turns. Very enjoyable!! Excited for the next book in the series!

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal is the third Caribbean Kitchen cozy mystery by Raquel V. Reyes. Released 8th Nov 2023 by Crooked Lane, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is a fun cozy mystery full of food, culture, and (as the author herself refers to it) "Spanglish" phrases. The amateur sleuth is also a cultural anthropologist with a specialization in food culture and also the host of her own youtube channel and network cooking show. The plotting moves along at a good clip and I never found myself yanked out of the story by clunky dialogue or uneven writing. There is a fair amount of Spanish in the story, more than usual for a mainstream cozy, but almost all of it is either easy to understand in context or explained by character responses.

The central characters are appealing, well rounded and largely female. There are a phenomenal number of food descriptions included and the author has an impressive grasp of ingredients and history for the relevant dishes and their importance to the different cultures who developed them. There's a lot of really interesting food history to be found here.

This volume sees MC Miriam traveling to visit her parents in the Dominican Republic. She's soon dragged into a multi-thread mystery with property sabotage, potential stalking, and disappearances. She's also 5 months pregnant and the shenanigans she gets up to are not, strictly speaking, medically sound. The climax, resolution, and denouement are self contained in this volume, so it works well as a standalone. The violence is mostly off-page and not extreme, given that it's a cozy mystery.

The book includes several delicious and intriguing recipes which are also featured in the media scenes from her cooking show.

The unabridged audiobook runs 9 hours 1 minute and is very well narrated by Frankie Corzo. She has a rich alto voice and does the accents and Spanish parts (and "Spanglish") perfectly well.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Good cultural foodie cozy. The center section of the book in Puerto Rico veered slightly to madcap while still going heavy on the cultural mores and the food. Seemed a little frantic there, and I got a tad confused. But as with her other books Reyes has a firm hand on her book. Besides an interesting mystery, the secondary characters are just delicious without being over the top.

This is a fun southern feeling story full of mouthwatering fun and mystery. I loved the travel and feeling of being transported in this story to a beautiful island. This is a very reliable mystery for those who love a good puzzle, along with some laughs and yummy food!

This is a great cozy mystery series that I have full enjoyed, however this one just didn't quite hit the spot.

This is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery - the second one I have read and I enjoyed returning to Miriam Quiñones world of Caribbean cooking and young family life. In this book set from Christmas to early January, Miriam is visiting her parents in the Dominican Republic when she gets called away on a quick work trip to Puerto Rico. Miriam is a food anthropologist, very pregnant with her second child - one last assignment before maternity leave.
As host of a Latin food and culture program based in Miami, Miriam is committed to using her voice to raise awareness of the role of food in cultural heritage.
Miriam explores the rich and delicious foods of Puerto Rico and has to unravel a mystery surrounding real estate investments that are putting her friends and family in danger.
The book paints a fabulous picture of Puerto Rican culture, food, and landscape. I was lucky enough to spend time in Old San Juan a long long time ago as a teen with my parents. Reyes' prose transported me back to blue skies, tropical greens, wonderful fruit and small family-run restaurants as well as historic architecture while also diving into problems before and after hurricane Maria.
I loved the way language was used in this book!

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal: A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery
By Raquel V. Reyes
Crooked Lane Books
November 223

Review by Cynthia Chow

A surprise Christmas gift from her husband has cooking show host Miriam Quiñones-Smith whisking off to the Dominican Republic, where her Cuban parents recently moved to as the managers of vacation rentals. After arriving at the Punta Cana compound Miriam is alarmed by the number of sudden leaks and repairs that are needed in the Punta Palma and begins to wonder if they may be due to something other than just wear and tear. Miriam barely has time to visit with her adoring parents before she is called away to San Juan, where she has been asked by her producer to spend a week filming segments for her “Abuela Approved” cooking show and UnMundo’s “La Tacita” cooking segments. They are stocking up footage before the 5-months pregnant Miriam goes out on maternity leave, so she will be tasting and exploring the best of Puerto Rican cuisine.

As the Three Kings Day celebrations begin Miriam once again is greeted by a crime scene and a series of disconcerting events. Fortunately, she is guided by a former police officer and then unexpectedly joined by her best friends Alma Diaz and Jorge Trujillo. Both are dealing with their own romantic complications, with realtor Alma dazzled by a billionaire and Jorge feeling ignored by an actor not yet out of the closet. Miriam worries that Alma may be a little too seduced by the private jets and extravagances that are the perks of a wealthy lifestyle, while Jorge seems convinced that boyfriend is cheating on him. Even as duffle bags full of cash and cryptocurrency fortunes are lost and made Miriam is still able to explore and promote the cultural wonders that have resulted in the blended cuisine of the Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic Islands. Mofongo, chillo frito, and sorullitos are but a few delights that will have mouths watering even as the suspense ratchets up and Miriam finds herself in a situation right out of a police action movie.

This third in the series is as much a travelogue as it is a mystery, vividly exploring a multitude of cultures and cuisines. Miriam considers herself to be more of a cultural anthropologist than a chef, as she loves to showcase how a country’s history affects the foods of today. In both the Dominican Republic and San Juan, gentrification and colonialism has resulted in meals that are the blends of different nations but still unique to each area. Indigenous people being pushed out by wealthy outsiders is something that has cycled through history, and Miriam is determined to educate and help to preserve her own culture. Humor is brought to the table through the antics of Alma and Jorge, who are supportive of Miriam’s goals even as they obsess over their ever-growing concerns. One of the greatest achievements of this series is how it incorporates Spanish throughout in such a way that those not fluent in the language can still easily understand through the context. The author’s skill means that readers won’t need Google translate, but they may want to immediately research where they can find the mouth-watering foods that are so tantalizingly described. Once Miriam is joined by her husband and son the novel becomes a joyful and often very funny adventure that weaves in timely topics while never straying too far from the focus on food and family. Since the setting takes Miriam and her family out of their home in Miami new readers to the series can easily jump in without missing a step, but all will be wanting to plan a holiday in one of the glorious islands of the Caribbean Sea.

Miriam Quiñones takes a surprise trip to visit her parents in the Dominican Republic over the Christmas holidays. But instead of a relaxing reunion, Miriam finds her parents dealing with odd events damaging the vacation rentals they manage. Then Miriam is sent by her TV show crew to Puerto Rico to film a Three Kings Day special.

When Miriam finds an anonymous personal gift for her son, she fears there is a stalker interested in her family. Fortunately, Miriam's BFF Alma & her friend Jorge arrive in town to provide support. But then Jorge's new telenovela lover goes missing & they find Alma's new rich boyfriend is working on some shady deals.

This book provides a fun, tasty view of the Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic culture through the lens of food and cultural events.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own.

The third in the series, Miriam Quinones goes first to Punta Cana to see her parents and then to Puerto Rico to shoot episodes of her cooking show. Along the way she begins to investigate mysterious happenings centered around the real estate industry and property developers in both places. Great characters, and fun to see how Miriam's personality develops. The book is an interesting look at people and communities that are not traditionally represented in mysteries, as well as a glimpse at how TV shows are produced. The mystery itself was quite slow to develop and easy to solve. Between 3 and 4 stars, but will round up to 4 because of how much I liked the characters. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC. #BarbacoaBombaandBetrayal

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal is Raquel V. Reyes’ third novel in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. It is the first that I have read. Miriam Quinones-Smith is surprised by her husband with a trip to Punta Cana to visit her parents. While there, Miriam discovers that someone is sabotaging her parents’ resort property, but before she can investigate it, she is sent to Puerto Rico. Miriam is a cook show anthropologist and is filming a special Three Kings Day for the network. Her BFF Alma and fellow telenovela makeup artist friend Jorge are there to keep her distracted between takes. Unfortunately, there has been a suspicious death, a guesthouse with odd creaks and moans, and Jorge’s love interest has disappeared. Now Alma’s boyfriend is found to have a duffle bag full of cash. What in the world is going on in Puerto Rico?

I loved the mixture of English and Spanish languages. It helped me to remember my long Spanish lessons, but it could be difficult for someone who doesn’t have that education. I also really liked the setting. Sometimes, writers stick with the “travel” locations, but Raquel gave the reader more than that. She also gave some fundamental problems that the locals were going through. I felt that made the novel more realistic. There’s also the matter of Bitcoin. I admit that this made it slow for me as it is not something I care for or feel like is worth learning.

I related to Miriam in regard to her husband. I often have to remind myself that he is trying, but it can be hard. Not everyone has a good Mother-in-law either. Thankfully she is not in this a lot, and the author avoids the whole messy relationship trope (Thank God!) While Detective Pullman is only characterized with phone calls, it is clear he is not against Miriam, but he’s also not for her either. It's a fine line for authors in the cozy mystery genre when writing law enforcement representatives.

Overall, I rate this novel 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Great as always! I just love this series. I love the mix of English and Spanish speaking. Reyes brings the settings to life. I can almost smell the food and see all the colors of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. I cant wait for the next one

In this third Caribbean Kitchen Mystery, Raquel V. Reyes continues to blend cozy crime with Latinx culture in compelling ways. By this point, main character Miriam Quiñones-Smith feels like a confirmed fixture of the cozy food mystery scene; she has solved multiple crimes and still never misses a beat when it comes to presenting delicious cultural dishes on her cooking shows. Reyes knows that these series have a danger of becoming a bit like Cabot Cove—where suspicious deaths begin to outnumber residents—so this time relocates Miriam to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico with a holiday visit to extended family. The Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series is filled with diversity that feels authentic and the various criminal activities Miriam stumbles upon are not so far-fetched they require the reader’s leap of faith. Without preaching or getting too pedantic, this book—and the whole series—teaches readers a part of our history that is often overlooked. Reyes embraces her culture fully and wants to bring readers into the fold without compromise.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal! All opinions in this review are my own.

I ended up listening to this one as an audiobook and I'm glad I did. There is a lot of Spanish in this book and I liked hearing the language spoken. As a cozy mystery, I loved the focus on food and how it contributes to the culture that Miriam is studying. I would have loved even more of Miriam's show incorporated into the book.

The only thing I couldn't stand was her husband and his mother. Although I haven't read the previous books in the series, it sounds like her husband makes questionable decisions at best, and his mother is absolutely horrible to Miriam. I would rather just have her and her friends as the main characters of these mysteries.

Overall, I appreciate that the mystery deals with a current issue in Puerto Rico and that the author is able to weave important information into the mystery. I look forward to reading the other books in this series!

It's always a risk to take a cozy series outside of its usual setting as the community becomes an important character, but it works well in this one since so many of Miriam's friends and family members make the journey with her, and we're still getting to read about her behind the scenes of her series. Clever storytelling and an immersive setting work well here.