I definitely enjoyed this book, but the Spanglish threw me off at first because I didn’t read the first two books. I’m not sure if I would continue with the series, but definitely found it entertaining.

Miriam receives a gift from her husband Robert to go see her parents at the resort they manage. While there she has to fly to Puerto Rico for work and all hell breaks lose.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance read

3.5 stars

This is the third book in the 'Caribbean Kitchen' cozy mystery series, featuring Miriam Quiñones-Smith, a Cuban-American food anthropologist and amateur sleuth. Miriam and her husband Robert Smith live in Miami, Florida and have a four-year-old son named Manny. The couple are also expecting, and Miriam has nicknamed the seafood-craving baby La Sirena (the mermaid).

Miriam hosts two Caribbean culinary shows, a Spanish version called 'Cocina Caribeña' on the morning program UnMundo, and an English version called 'Abuela Approved' on YouTube. In the past, Miriam has helped the Miami police solve crimes, and Detective Frank Pullman likes to call her Jessica Fletcher or Veronica Mars.

As the story opens, it's Christmas season and Miriam is going to visit her parents in the Dominican Republic, where the Quiñones' manage a small vacation rental resort. The resort, called Punta Palma, features attractive villas, a pool, and a patio surrounded by fruit trees like guava, fruta bombas, banana, guanabana, tamarind, and passion fruit.

When Miriam arrives at Punta Palma she meets a guest named Jules Howard, who says he's in commercial real estate. Miriam asks a real estate broker about Jules, and is told 'Golden Jules' has a talent for finding properties and getting the owners to sell. Jules then turns the properties into mix-use luxury developments, with lots of restaurants.

As Miriam settles in at Punta Palma, her Papi goes off to fix a broken pipe. Miriam is told her dad repaired a pipe yesterday, only to have another one break today. Other things are also going wrong at the resort. The Wi-Fi keeps going out, the satellite dish is broken, a rat was found in the water tank, and a visitor left a scathing review online. Miriam begins to think someone is sabotaging Punta Palma, to force the owners to sell, and she suspects Jules is the villain.

Before Miriam can investigate the suspected vandalism, her boss at UnMundo calls to say Miriam is expected in San Juan for 'Día de Los Tres Reyes Magos' (Three Kings Day), a Puerto Rican celebration that marks the end of the Christmas season. Miriam is scheduled to interview food vloggers, film a clip about cooking tostones de pana (breadfruit) on an outdoor stove, demonstrate traditional headwraps, dance a Bomba, and more. Miriam's friends Alma and Jorge are in San Juan as well, and Miriam gets to meet Alma's new mega-rich boyfriend Herbie, and Jorge's new beau Lucas.

While Miriam is in San Juan, a man is shot near her hotel, and an elderly building owner falls down his stairs and dies. Miriam also finds a piece of paper in her hotel room that reads 'You'll sell or you'll be sorry.' Miriam hears that americanos come to Puerto Rico to buy up property and build luxury developments, and she suspects the natives are being coerced.

At UnMundo festivities, Miriam is surprised to see real estate developer Jules Howard, who she last saw in the Dominican Republic. Jules is hobnobbing with American Bitcoin mogul Brandon Pickles, and Miriam suspects the men are colluding to buy up Puerto Rican properties. Miriam fears Jules and Pickles might do anything to get their way, even murder.

In between filming appearances for UnMundo, sightseeing in Old San Juan, going to parades and dances, socializing with her friends, and shopping, Miriam tries to investigate the real estate hijinks and suspicious deaths. This puts both Miriam and her friends in grave danger.

The story refers to many Caribbean foods that came with the African diaspora, such as Alcapurrias (fritters), Pollo en salsa criolla (chicken with Creole sauce), and more. For her seafood-craving La Sirena, Miriam also samples dishes like Mofungo de mariscos (plantain mash and shellfish) and Ensalada de pulpo (octopus salad). Several recipes are included at the end of the book.

In addition to a compelling plot, the novel contains colorful descriptions of Puerto Rico. There are also references to interesting Caribbean traditions, such as protecting a pregnant woman and her baby by throwing a watermelon into the ocean, and dousing the pregnant mother with a stinky rinse made of plants. The story also includes many Spanish phrases, which adds to the Caribbean ambiance of the novel.

Readers who enjoy multicultural cozy mysteries will like this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Raquel V. Reyes, and Crooked Lane Books for a copy of the manuscript.

Miriam Quinones, pregnant food anthropologist with her own TV show, finds herself in the Dominican Republic with her preschool son as her husband gifts her with surprise tickets to visit her parents. When it seems as if someone is sabotaging the property they manage in order to purchase it cheaply, Miriam flies to Puerto Rico for a work assignment. There's a lot going on for a cozy mystery: anger over rich outsiders buying local property, ill gotten gains from money laundering, bitcoin money, corrupt cops, and FBI involvement. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Great story. I love the history and scene setting. Characters are engaging and relatable. I really enjoyed this book.

This was my first book by Raquel V. Reyes and I definitely enjoyed it. Her ability to mix the fun of a mystery with the relevance of current social issues and a diverse cast of characters, all while adding in cultural facts, traditions, and recipes, was a combination I've not experienced and didn't know I needed. This story had a quick pace and plenty of action, a loveable cast of characters, and it flowed very nicely. Being the third in the series, I thought there may be events from the first two books that might make it difficult to understand the backstory of the characters but even references to events in previous books were explained and that was a nice touch. I truly enjoyed Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal and will be reading more from Raquel V. Reyes in the future!

3.75⭐️

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the point in the series where our cozy amateur sleuth leaves their hometown to solve crime elsewhere. In Miriam's case, mostly Puerto Rico.

There seems to be much more Spanish/Spanglish in this book than previous installments, probably due to setting, and that did slow me down a bit as I worked out context clues and googled.

The setting was absolutely gorgeous, abd you *will* learn so much about Puerto Rico's past and present in this book! It's fir anyone who wants to travel & try new things without the hefty price tag.

The story took a minute to pick up pace initially, but once it got going it really took off! I loved every second. There were no "wasted" characters, everyone served a purpose & I could hold them in my minds eye.

I received an ARC of “Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal. A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery” from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.

I recently read author Raquel V. Reyes’ first book, “Mango, Mambo, and Murder,” in her Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. I acknowledge that I haven’t read her second book in the series, but I didn’t get lost at all. Reyes gave me just enough backstory to keep me up to speed without bogging me down in unnecessary details. In fact, she made one statement in the first chapter—about being locked in a freezer by a murderer—that it made me want to go back and read the second novel in the series. Later in the book, Reyes alluded to her second book in the series.

I love the author’s writing style, her guts, and her social consciousness. But I need to be completely honest with other potential readers: There were some ***serious issues*** with this book—ones that likely won’t be ignored by Cozy Mystery readers, namely:

GENRE BENDING
This novel is billed as a “Cozy Mystery,” but by the time I had read a third of the book, it had morphed into a “Hangry Mystery.” Instead of being able to escape from the realities of the harsh world with a light, easy, read, Reyes offered up a novel jam packed with sociopolitical and socioeconomic diatribes about ongoing American injustices in the Caribbean.

Now don’t get me wrong! People in the United States need to fully understand how the history of U.S. colonialism has, and continues to be, a source of problems. This applies to both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic specifically, and to the entire Caribbean in general. If this was just a general mystery novel, it wouldn’t be a problem. But it’s not. It’s a cozy mystery.

A cozy mystery is supposed to allow readers to escape from the real world. Why? Because all one has to do is look around to see the political and social dysfunction. The abusive and discriminatory language hurled by racists and neo-Nazi’s can be heard around the world, not to mention the atrocious acts committed by them. And in the United States, the government is still divisive. So, what do you do when the everything becomes too much? You escape into a book.

The Cozy Mystery genre provides a safe haven for readers—readers who want a light read, something that’s not scary; a book without all of the political drama that can be seen on the streets and listened to on MSNBC every evening. And, if that’s not good enough, I can pick from a wide number of non-fiction books that have already been published that highlight all of the current (and past!) atrocities committed against peoples around the world by the U.S. government. But it’s only in a Cozy Mystery where I can escape from all of that.

By the time I had finished the thirteenth chapter, I wasn’t just angry. I was (almost quite literally) foaming at the mouth about the injustices. The MC’s parents in the Dominican Republic and her aunt and uncle in Puerto Rico are under fire. Why? Because millionaire American realtors are swindling poor, elderly islanders out of their property. Instead of a light novel, readers are confronted with,

“…the same old colonial plunder and pillage song and dance but sung to a new tune….” (Reyes 2023: 90) that made her, “…blood boil…” (Reyes 223: 117)

The whole issue of America’s colonialism wasn’t just peppered here and there but permeated the entire book. But what really horrified me was a conversation that the MC and her friend Alma had:

“…She corrected me. “U-prree. U-P-R-I. Unidos para un Puerto Rico Independente [United for an Independent Puerto Rico]…”
“Wouldn’t that be u-poo-pre? U-P-U-P-R-I.”
“…“Prima, it was named before I joined it. If I had named it, I’d have called it M-L-C. Muerte a los Colonizadores.” [Death to the Colonizers]…” (Reyes 2023: 119).

Really? As an anthropologist, I don’t need to be reminded about America’s colonial past and present. What the U.S. has done and is doing is completely unacceptable. And while a lot of readers or potential readers might not be aware of this aspect of our nation’s history, a Cozy Mystery isn’t the proper avenue for it.

Cozy Mystery readers don’t want to be afraid. They don’t want to read a novel and become angry. And they don’t want to be deceived.

I recently reviewed another of Crooked Lane’s books by Sennefelder “How the Murder Crumbles” (2023). Before I even had a copy of that novel in my possession, I knew what I was getting. Other than the usual murder and the mysteries surrounding that murder, there were no unexpected OMG’s! What I mean is that Sennefelder wrote within the genre’s conventions. Sennefelder kept me engaged with the story, kept me guessing about ‘whodunnit’, and throughout the novel, she ticked off all of the necessary boxes that one expects with Cozy Mysteries. There were no raw political emotions. It was a ‘Feel-Good-Read’ that left me emotionally satisfied in a world where that often doesn’t happen.

To be completely honest, I felt tricked. When I read Reyes’ first novel, “Mango, Mambo, and Murder,” there were a few slight issues with the manuscript, but overall, it was what I expected from a Cozy Mystery. I admit that I didn’t read her second novel, but when I read the first 3 chapters of this book, everything seemed fine. However, my feelings were sound deflated when the author forced me to delve into American imperialism. Once again, I know American history. And I’m not proud of it. But when I pick up a Cozy Mystery, I don’t expect to experience internal drama that affects me to the point where I have to go out into the garden and do some weeding just to calm myself down.

My biggest concern with Reyes’ genre bending in this novel is that it might discourage readers to not read any of her future works. For me, this is unbearable because Reyes is ***such*** a good writer. She’s talented with great ideas. But let’s face it: No matter how many times an author mentions Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars in their novel (all 3 of which I stream on Disney+), it is not going to guarantee that a Cozy Mystery reader is going to love, or read, a book.

LANGUAGE
I’ve gone over the use of Reyes’ overuse of Spanish versus Spanglish when I reviewed her first novel. In fact, many other reviewers commented on it as well. But the author apparently thought it unnecessary to make any changes.

Not every American is bilingual. In fact, a large proportion of the population is monolingual, speaking and reading only English. In some cases, Reyes includes large sections of Spanish-only dialogue in the book, but then spends a sentence or even a small paragraph translating that text for the readers (For example, see Reyes 2023: 43; 60; and 86). In other cases, Reyes doesn’t offer a translation at all. Instead, readers have to guess what is being said based on context.

Readers don’t need a translator. Rather, readers need to understand for themselves what is going on in real time. People that read Cozy Mysteries have HUGE imaginations. It wouldn’t be difficult for readers to ‘pretend’ that a conversation is being spoken in Spanish, but appears as English in the text. As it stands, Reyes leaves monolingual and non-Spanish speakers and readers with a feeling that they’re being left out.

Someone who’s immature and selfish might retort, “So learn Spanish!” This type of my-way-or-the-highway reaction never ends up with the desired results. In fact, it’s similar in many ways to the discrimination against Spanish-only speakers. All it does is alienate people.

I thought it was interesting that the author had the MC discuss how people complained about her speaking Spanish. I infer that this might be a novelesque reaction to the complaints that the author received about the use of Spanish in her previous novels.

I get it. There IS language discrimination not just in the United States—Spanish and Indigenous languages as well—but around the world. The United States is unique in that we are one of the only countries in the world that does NOT have a national language. But not everyone is bilingual. And this is an English language book.

In an English language book, an author can get away with Spanglish (or Arabglish or Francoglish), but anything more than that is unacceptable and negatively affects many monolingual English speakers. And book sales.

This isn’t a one-off. This is the author’s third novel. I can only assume (based on comments about the overuse of Spanish from reviewers of the author’s previous two books), that the author just doesn’t give a damn. She’s already been paid and published and that’s all that matters. For now.

Using a written language that is not universally understood by all of the readers can alienate people. And alienation means fewer readers. It means fewer reviewers. And it means fewer copies get sold. In the long run, this means less money for publishers and fewer book sales for authors.

When I first looked for Reyes’ first book, “Mango, Mambo, and Murder,” my library no longer carried a copy of it, even though it is a relatively new book. So, I looked on Amazon and was further surprised I only had to pay $1.99 for the ebook.

I want Reyes’ career to flourish. She is a really good writer. I love how I’m able to connect with the characters. And the voice that Reyes brings to the literary world can’t be understated. I want people everywhere—from metropolitan Florida to the rural Ozark Mountains to the shores of Oregon—to read and fall in love with Reyes’ writing. But in order to get those books into people’s hands, the author needs to use: 1) Spanglish; or 2) English only. No translations. Just write in a way that everyone can understand so that readers will be able to fall in love with the world you’ve created.

WHERE’S THE BODY?
I’m ecstatic that the MC went to Puerto Rico! I am absolutely in love with the Taino!! I remember being amazed at how the Puerto Rican community joined together, allowing anthropologists and geneticists to determine the amount of Spanish, African and Taino DNA in modern populations. I was amazed because many people are fervently opposed to providing genetic samples for various reasons.

I’ve never been to either the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, but Reyes definitely had me dreaming about it. By Chapter 12, the MC was already traveling—but there still wasn’t a body! Of course, this is a “Cozy Mystery,” not a “Cozy Death.” But for many people (like me), a murder is part of the equation. Instead, the mystery that readers are dealing with is: Is the Bitcoin guy, Jules, trying to force the MC’s parents and aunt and uncle out of their businesses so that he can buy them cheap, only to remodel, resell, and raise the rents? The writing was compelling, but the story line wasn’t.

CONTENT
I’ve already discussed some of these issues under GENRE BENDING, but statements like,

“…Okay, but why can’t Mami see that rich Americans are stealing our land?…” (Reyes 2023: 126)

are just way over the top. Are they truly stealing the land? Or are they buying the land? These are questions readers are going to be asking themselves. Once again, I don’t think that a Cozy Mystery is the place for this. I wonder if, by even bringing up these subjects, the author isn’t further alienating her readership.

Earlier in the book, the author made a comment about refuges from Cuba and Haiti fleeing their countries by boat. It seems that Reyes is placing the blame solely on wealthy Americans. However, many of those same wealthy Americans are also Cozy Mystery readers. The point I’m trying to make is that it is not in a writer’s best interests to accuse and/or alienate their readers.

At the 45% mark, I found it increasingly difficult to read the remainder of the novel. Of course, other readers may feel differently. However, I wouldn’t recommend this book to a traditional Cozy Mystery reader. The text incorporates a lot of Spanish, and this will alienate monolingual English readers. The content is highly political and, for some, may result in a read that is **not** a light, fun, read. Other readers may be disturbed by the continuous references to verbal, racial, and/or social abuse. For example, when the MC said,

“…Pero, no. She’s an angry, scared xenophobe that hates that her son married a brown-skinned woman who speaks Spanish…” (Reyes 2023: 139).

I just can’t even finish this book.

This is the first book I've read in this series. The cover was colourful and the plot sounded great. I love reading cozy mysteries. However this book fell flat for me. The excessive amount of Spanish throughout the book was hard to understand (being a Canadian!) The storyline got quite complicated too....too many things going on at once so for those reasons I DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Another wonderful addition to the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. I love that Miriam goes to Puerto Rico and explores the history and legacy of the US there. Highly recommend it!

3.5 stars

What I love about this series is the fully fleshed main character, Miriam. I love the various relationships she navigates--her husband, her mother-in-law, her friends, her own parents...and I love how it immerses me in a culture that isn't my own. The language, the foods, the cultural details, and the job as a TV food star all feels real.

In this book, though, I think there's a little too much going on. Instead of taking place in Miami, this book is set in both the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico, and the number of details about both of these other places becomes a bit overwhelming to me. Then we have so many mysteries. Her parents' resort job, and why that might be being sabotaged; somebody shot in the street; corrupt cops; social revolution; Bitcoin royalty; her BFF's mysterious new beau; Jorge's disappearing new beau...I think it's too many things to juggle and keep clear.

That said, I look forward to the next installment, as I generally love this series and how different it is from most of the cozies I read.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After a slow start, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to another culture in this third book of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series.

Miriam is a Spanish language TV food personality (who is very pregnant in this book) who is sent over to Puerto Rico to film some cooking show segments. Though she is not a chef, she is a cultural anthropologist PhD and is extremely knowledgeable about food customs.

The book presents one of the best casts of characters anywhere and I found myself learning a lot about the Caribbean food and culture.

Definitely a series for me to go back and start at the beginning so I can catch up before the fourth book comes out.

One thing contributing to the slow start, for me, is that I don't speak or read Spanish and there is a lot of Spanish. Once I got my Google Translate app open and switched to Spanish, it was easy to follow along.

Highly recommended!!

I am loving this culinary mystery series by Raquel V. Reyes and the third book is perhaps the most interesting yet. Miriam, the anthropologist who hosts a cooking show for a Spanish language network in Florida, goes to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for Three Kings Day. I learned a lot about Latinx culture without even trying. I am not a cook so the cooking stuff kind of goes over my head but I love hearing about how food shapes culture and deciphering the snippets of Spanish language scattered through the conversations in the book. Most are explained but some must be deduced from context. The light tone of the book is enjoyable and Miriam is a character I can always root for. Her posse of friends and family always come through for her when she needs them. The mystery didn't feel quiet as polished in this book as in the previous two. I feel like the author was putting so much of culture and the current situation of Puerto Rico in the book that the mystery was almost lost. But the book was colorful and interesting, so I didn't mind too much. I was happy to let Miriam be my travel guide. I'm looking forward to the next Caribbean Mystery and hoping that it will be up to the level of the first two books.

I love the food part and recipes. Miriam is a fun character. The setting in this third book of the series is excellent and my favorite so far. A fun entertaining read. Thanks#netgalley and#CrookedLaneBooks for the eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine.

The third book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mysteries was just as excellent as the first two.
Miriam, just trying to enjoy some time with her parents, finds herself first dragged away to do some filming for Abuele Approved, then after by murder.
Though it seems like this death might go even deeper than she first expected.
This was an excellent book, both as a cozy mystery, and as a way to tackle some very serious topics.

Another fun and entertaining read by this author. This one follows Miriam's trip to visit her parents in Punta Cana but that doesn't last long and she is off to film a show. Of course it is not that easy and straight forward and of course there is a murder and Miriam can't help her sleuthing self.

I love the food connection adn the added recipes in the book, loved the setting and found it most entertaining and an easy read. The mystery is a bit of a slow burn but we do get there in the end. The story is good and I enjoyed the characters as well.

A fun and enjoyable read.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

The latest in the Caribbean Kitchen series seemed all over the place to me. Miriam and her son Manny head to the Dominican Republic to visit with her parents and find them worried over a never-ending list of repairs in the resort that they manage. She's only just gotten settled there when she finds out that she's off to Puerto Rico to film a Three Kings Day special for her show. Her BFF Alma, buddy Jorge, and long-lost cousin are on-hand to get caught up in a confusing plot that includes crypto-currency, money laundering, and unscrupulous real estate deals. It seemed like too much for a single book, and I found the ending rather sudden. It wasn't a bad book, but not quite the same as the two previous books in the series. Read the first two before picking this one up.

Thanks to Crooked Land Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

This is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. I have read them all and love them! This latest was just as fun and lighthearted as the others. I appreciate the blend of cultures and the great mysteries. I look forward the next book! Thank you #Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

BARBACOA, BOMBA, AND BETRAYAL, written by Raquel V. Reyes, is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series. Miriam, a food anthropologist, receives airplane tickets from her husband for her and her son to visit her parents in Punta Cana. This pregnant mother, Miriam, ends up going to Puerto Rico where she has adventures and faces danger.

I think this book is more enjoyable if you know how to speak a little Spanish, which is added to parts of the dialogue. Some readers may find the inclusion of a second language to be annoying, but it adds to the story’s realism. There are times, however, when the Spanish seems a bit much and makes it difficult to follow the plot. I like the addition of recipes at the end of the book. My thanks go to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review the e-arc of BARBACOA, BOMBA, AND BETRAYAL.

This was a fun book to read, and I love being in the world of Miriam and her friends. The writing is crisp, the dialogue is engaging, and the narrative was visually descriptive. The author did a great in in this fast-paced and well-written whodunit that had me immersed in all aspects in the telling of this tale. The mystery was laid out so that it was easy to follow with what the author had intended. I love the supporting and guest characters who added flavor to this enticingly inducing story. Who is Alma’s new friend and what role does he play? Is Jules really who he says he is? What is going on with Miriam’s parents’ place? So much mystery to solve and it was interesting and intriguing that kept me in the game from beginning to end. A delightfully entertaining read and I look forward to more adventures with Miriam and her friends.

I read both of Raquel Reyes’ other books in this series and this installment was another hit! I absolutely LOVE the writing style and the bilingual English/Spanish conversations. As someone who only understands some Spanish from my parents, it was so fun figuring it out. The story line was great and I absolutely love the food, the Caribbean vibes, and Miriam is an amazing character! I will absolutely continue reading anything that comes out from this author and this series!