Get ready for a literary feast of Caribbean delicacies and a puzzle that's as complex as the flavors in every dish.

I absolutely loved, loved, LOVED every bit (or should I say bite) of this delicious and totally captivating culinary cozy mystery.

Boy, oh boy. One twist after another, one suspense after another, this book kept me guessing till the last bite. Don't get me started on all the delicious cuisines - I felt like booking a flight ticket to Puerto Rico right away and spend a couple of days roaming around with Miriam - before she left for Punta Cana, that is.

The denouement was a complete shocker. It became a bit clearer as to what was going on in the backstage but it was not until a chaotic scenario that Miriam realized what's at stake.

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V Reyes is a delightful blend of mouth-watering recipes and spine-tingling suspense, set against the backdrop of South American culinary traditions. If you love culinary mysteries, I highly recommend you give this book a try.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.


I was looking forward to reading this book because I have read books 1 and 2 and enjoyed them very much. This was another cozy mystery.
I loved the story which was based in Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. I traveled to both places so it was nice to hear of the references. Also, as I was reading I found myself getting hungry and wanting to cook Spanish food.

I look foward to more in this series.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me at 20%. I loved books 1 & 2 of this series and found the mysteries to be well plotted and the characters interesting and relatable. I was excited for book 3 but there is too much Spanish dialogue. Almost all dialogue between characters has several total Spanish sentences to the point I do not know what they are saying to each other and there is no sort of translation. I hate that this is the reason to not finish a story by an author I enjoy, but I am constantly feeling like I am missing important information and it is taking me out of the story. I will miss the opportunity to delve into a mystery with Miriam but the amount of Spanish speaking dialogue is killing the book for me.

ARC Review ~ Barbacoa, Bomba and Betrayal~

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When this popped up on NetGalley I was intrigued by the premise and I’m always here for anything that Includes food. This book is the third installment of the series and while I struggled with the first two of the series, this one was a lot better. Set in Puerto Rico, the author paints the Caribbean Island in a beautiful picture that urged me to visit and experience it all for myself. The book delves into racial and gentrification discussion and I was thankful for the perspective outside of my own, it really opens the reader’s eyes to what’s going on in that part of the world. The writing is a bit choppy and though promoted as a cozy mystery it falls more between cozy and general mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for this ARC

I love this series, so I’m enjoyed reading this latest book of Miriam’s adventures. This time, she and her son go from their home in Miami to visit her parents who now manage a guest property in Punta Cana. But work calls so Miriam flies to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to film new episodes for her television program. These books are a wonderful combination of classic cozies, with food and also informative about Latin history, culture and, sadly, addressing social injustices with colonization and more current exploitations. This is an excellent series and one I highly recommend.

Such a good cozy mystery! Loved that the story was based in both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the use of Spanish throughout was very well done and the food references made me drool!

Thanks NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars: This is the third installment BIPOC Culinary Cozy Mystery in Reyes' Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series and Reyes' brings the heat once again. Reyes' has written incredibly likable characters and I love how the cast is so inclusive and diverse. I adore how Reyes weaves so much latinx culture into every book, effortlessly uses Spanish dialogue throughout and introduces latinx holiday traditions. Oh and the descriptions of PR and the DR are lovely. Most importantly, Reyes's mystery balances the clues, red herrings and suspects perfectly and will keep you guessing. But wait, one mustn't forget all the absolutely delicious food described throughout the book, which you can make using the recipes that are included. To get in at the beginning of this series, pick up Mango, Mambo, and Murder.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

In the third book of the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series Miriam heads to her parent's home in Punta Cana for some rest and relaxation before giving birth to her second child. Unfortunately her job soon comes calling to do some filming for her show while on the islands. Miriam begins to notice some shady dealings related to the vacation rentals her parents manage and other local businesses. Her friends Alma and Jorge come to visit as well. Miriam also notices some distressing details related to Alma's new boyfriend and Jorge's boyfriend goes missing. She is quickly drawn into these various mysteries and begins investigating.

I really love this cozy mystery series. Miriam is one of my favorite cozy leads. She is smart and warm to her friends and family. I love getting the details of the islands and the constant delicious references to local food! The mysteries in this series are always really interesting. I can't wait to read the next one!

A surprise visit to Miriam’s parents in Punta Cana should be filled with arroz con pollo and breezy days under the tamarind tree quickly becomes a search for a possible property saboteur. Before she can find the person damaging vacation rentals she has to go to Puerto Rico to film a three Kings Day special. An anonymous gift on New Year’s Eve screams stacker and the 400-year-old guesthouse creaks and moans like something is trapped in its walls. With her BFF Alma and their mutual friend Jorge are in town to keep Miriam distracted between filming cultural segments for the network. Will demon masks African drum beaters and dark alleys lead to Miriam’s demise or will the mysterious events come together to bring everyone home safe. This was a really enjoyable story full of mystery and suspense I would recommend it to everyone.

Barbacoa, Bomba and Betrayal is not your typical cozy mystery, not even your typical culinary cozy mystery. While there are some questionable deaths that are discussed, the central mystery here is not a murder. While this is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, I don’t think it’s essential to have read the first two. The author provides enough backstory information for new readers.

Miriam is gifted a flight to the Dominican Republic by her husband so that she can visit her parents, who are caretakers for a small resort there. She and her son Manny fly there but shortly after arriving, Miriam finds out that her job (tv cooking show host) needs her in Puerto Rico for the Three Kings festivities. So off she goes to Puerto Rico, leaving Manny with his grandparents.

There is a lot of information about how Puerto Rico is being taken advantage of by American businesses/investors, pushing out the locals. This is due to tax laws favoring the investors. There’s quite a bit of anti-colonialist talk, so if that offends you, you may want to steer clear of this book. There’s also a whole subplot about some Bitcoin “bros.”

Also there’s an overabundance of Spanish in the book. Even if you know absolutely no Spanish, you will mostly get the meaning through context. Some of it is directly translated, but some of it is not. Trying to decipher the meanings (looking up words) or just having the sentence repeated in English, interfered with the flow of the story. There must be a better way to convey the bilingualism of the main characters.

Along the way you’ll learn a lot about the foods of the Caribbean, especially those with influences from African and Taino cultures, since Miriam is a food anthropologist. There’s a lot of repetition about Miriam’s pregnancy and her seafood cravings. There are some enjoyable side characters, Jorge in particular, many of whom are familiar from the previous two books.

I felt there were a couple of loose ends. Maybe they will be dealt with in a fourth book.

If you enjoyed reading about the various ethnic foods, don’t miss the recipes at the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I love that the author has taken what could be another delicious culinary cozy with gorgeous descriptions of food and bits of culinary history, especially about the African Diaspora, and turns it into very thoughtful writing about colonialism, gentrification, wealth disparity, the exploitation of Puerto Rico by outsiders, political activism, even bitcoin.

Via Miriam’s El Mundo interviews with Puerto Rican chefs and food producers, the author skillfully weaves in a wealth of information about food traditions, and history.

The writing is colorful and full of vivid descriptions of the places,cultural traditions, and people. I love getting to spend more time with Miriam’s parents and her extended family. Miriam’s two besties from Miami get to join her and help with the investigation.

The plotting was intricate - lots of moving parts with smaller mysteries - that the author skillfully handled. You get a very satisfying ending.

And while it shines a light on social justice issues, there are still plenty of warm, lighthearted and even humorous moments

I liked this book but I just couldn't get into the story. I didn't like the writing style but overall the story was good.

Just loved this! Amazing mystery. The fact that it combines culture and food with a mystery makes for excellent reading!

I adored this cozy mystery! The group of characters were fantastic, and I loved the setting. I enjoyed the plot twists and the mystery. It was well paced and well written!

Summary
When her husband, Robert, surprises her with a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit her parents, Miriam is thrilled! She’s pregnant and soon won’t be able to travel from Miami by plane, so this may be her last chance to see them before the baby is born. However, when she arrives at the vacation complex in Punta Cana where her parents work as caretakers, something seems to be wrong. Things keep breaking unexpectedly and she knows how diligent her father is about maintenance. Just as her curiosity is aroused, her work takes her to Puerto Rico for the week where even more sinister things seem to be afoot.

My Thoughts

This wasn’t really a traditional mystery where you have an established crime, a pool of suspects, and an amateur detective who goes around gathering clues. Instead, there is gentrification, historical and colonial injustices, wealth disparities, and political ineptitude tangled altogether with shady police officers, bitcoin financiers, money laundering, dognapping, disappearing boyfriends, social justice movements, and rumors of deaths. The reader follows as she tries to interweave all of the disparate strands, but Mariam doesn’t know for certain if anything is really wrong or if she is just being overly sensitive. It made for a fascinating mystery and a fabulous read.

This was the third in the series and I will go back and read the first two. The fact that I was new to the series didn’t make a difference to following and enjoying the story.

What Else I Liked

I loved the characters

Miriam is an intelligent woman, a former professor of food anthropology, who loves to geek out over her specialty “Food of the African Diaspora in the Caribbean”. She is passionate about her work, devoted to her family, and an extremely loyal friend. Her compassion and observation skills help make her a great amateur detective.

Miriam also straddles so many different cultures. She is the American-born daughter of parents who fled Castro’s Cuba. Her parents hope to retire in the Dominican Republic because it is as close as they can come culturally to the home to which they will never return. She has a cousin who is a political activist in Puerto Rico and an aunt who sees all political activism as “liberal” and therefore communist. Meanwhile, her husband and his family are very white and her mother-in-law is xenophobic and racist.

This book made me so hungry! The descriptions of what she ate were mouth-watering. Fortunately, there are recipes in the back of the book. I was intrigued enough by the food that I finally bumped Diasporican by Illyana Maisonet to the top of my wishlist.

This author paints very vivid images. At times it felt like I was reading an exciting travelogue. I feel like I could go to San Juan now and feel like I have already been there.

There is a lot of humor in the book! Jorge had some great lines, but my moment favorite came from Miriam: “It’s a tent. I’m a mango tent” (You have to read it in context to get why it’s funny, but thinking about it still makes me giggle)

I love books with well-rounded LGBTQ+ characters.

There is a lot of Spanish in the book, which I think makes the dialogue flow very organically. The majority of it is either clearly explained soon after it is spoken or it can be figured out by context for those who don’t speak Spanish.

I received this book as a free eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I acknowledge that I did not read book one or two of this series. This is book three of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Easy to jump in but I probably wouldn't request another book where I hadn't already started the series unless it's book one. Miriam and Robert have been married 6 years, have one son, Manny, another on the way and a cute kitty named Camo. Robert surprises Miriam and Manny with a trip to Punta Cana to visit her family. Just after arriving, she discovers she needs to be on Puerto Rico in just a few days to film for her cooking show.

The first problem in the story is Miriam's parents place. Someone is sabotaging the restoration and wants them to sell the place. They receive multiple bad and 'planted' reviews, receiving letters, and things keep breaking. The second problem is on New Year's Eve, Miriam receives a mysterious package which makes her think she now has a stalker. Her bestie, Alma, and her friend Jorge keep her afloat whole dealing with multiple issues at once. And not all is as it seems with Alma's new man...

This is the third book in the series. It has great characters that are fun and free spirited. Love that it takes place in a Caribbean kitchen

I have read the two previous books and liked them. Although, I had a problem with all the Spanish, because it interrupted my reading speed and focus, but I could look past it. However, this books had more Spanish in it and that together with all the politics made me DNF it.

I have no problem with social issues in a cozy mystery, but it should not take over too much. I read cozy mysteries to escape. If I wanted a darker or more political book, I would read a thriller or mystery. But cozy mysteries are my escape from the harsh world we live in, they should be more light-hearted and not try to educate the reader without them asking for it.

I am sure this book has an audience that will love it. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you, Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you are in the mood to escape the winter cold or grab a book to take to the beach this next novel in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series is a great one to pick up. Part culinary exploration, part cozy mystery and part history lesson on the islands of the Caribbean this series has proven to be a delight and I'm a big fan.

Miriam is a great character, intelligent and compassionate and her love of the island cultures is compelling and informative, especially the delectable dishes she describes. In this volume Miriam is visiting family when work obligations pop up and being pregnant doesn't stop her from investigating some curious happenings occurring around her and her family. The family component is once again strong in the story from her adorable son to visiting family and her found family.I loved how her being pregnant has an effect on the plot from talking to her baby and having to find clothing that fits, it's a fun plot point that I rarely see.

The setting this time was exotic and more fun than the last book and I loved that Miriam is able to really explore. From roaming the streets of Puerto Rico to visiting cultural monuments Miriam is joined by her two closest friends during the trip that winds up involving way more than she expected from missing boyfriends, bitcoin millionaires, unexplained murders and video chats with her family dealing with a plethora of mishaps at their hotel. My one complaint is once again that there is too many red herrings and the wrap up happens quite quickly but this volume still felt entertaining and I would definitely recommend.

Lots of love for this diverse cozy mystery, thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for access to the digital ARC access.

I give this 4 stars. It was a good book, and I actually plan on buying this for my father and my mother-in-law (son boricuas y encantan leer), as well as checking out the other books. It's not my usual style/genre, but we need to break out of our comfort zone every once in a while! It can't all be romance and magic! Perhaps it is because this isn't my usual style that it felt a little slow for me in the beginning. It felt very slice of life at first, it wasn't until the mystery started to really kick up that I became interested. I usually finish books quickly...this took me a while to finish because I was a little bored (sorry) at first, but like I said, once it picked up I was reading through it without putting it down. But, sometimes entertainment is like that. I have plenty of shows that I tell people "you need to watch this! The first season/few episodes suck but if you power through the rest are great!" So this is like that, power through and then it'll be great.
I loved and appreciated all the research and information she put into this. I try to stay on top of PR news and culture and I was still writing down notes for things I wanted to google later. I also love that there are recipes at the end of the book, it's partially why I want to read the rest haha let's see what other recipes she has! At the end of the book, after the recipes, she also explains the inspiration behind some of the characters and restaurants we saw, I appreciate her promoting people, one of them I have actually bought a cookbook from so I was excited to see her represented! Go follow EatGordaEat.
Now for the actual content of the book, I liked the mystery of who was behind the murders. I wrote down three names and made notes every time they did something weird and tried to figure it out on my own…my guesses were wrong. The murder plot goes deeper than I expected. The main complaint I have is that this is meant to be a stand-alone within a collection. I have read books like that and they make mention of characters or events in the other books, but it's not so central to the current book that you are lost. While I get wanting to entice the reader to read your other books, I think there was just too much mention of the other events and books…to the point where sometimes I was lost or felt like I was missing something. I mean I guess it worked because I am going to look for the other books, but I can't guarantee my father or MIL, or anyone else the reads this will go look for the other books.