Homicide and Halo-Halo

A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, Book 2

By: Mia P. Manansala

Narrated by: Danice Cabanela

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy-mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started. 

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago - a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin-slash-rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case - because it looks like one of them might be next.

©2022 Mia P. Manansala (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"While the follow-up to Arsenic and Adobo is a cozy mystery, it’s darker, dealing with PTSD, predatory behavior, dismissive attitudes toward mental health, and other issues. Filipino American food and culture, as well as family and community, remain essential elements in the story."—Library Journal, starred review

Good read

Still loved the voice actor!! Enjoyed listening to it while reading the book! It’s a cozy murder mystery and I can’t wait to read more on Lila’s adventure!

Ooh, recipes are included!

Lol, a reporter was named Wilson Philips. I guess that's what happens when the writer is a millennial 😝 I totally enjoyed this cozy mystery and especially loved the recipes!

Loved it

Loooved it. Great story, I love the food, culture and mystery. I can’t wait to listen to the books in this series.

An sequel that's even better than the first!

I loved the continuation of Laila's story and especiallu the exploration of the different relationship dynamics of her family, both past and present. A fabulous who-dun-it with some cultural flavor and food! #pinaysrepresent!

Love this

I love thé story and the story Teller. All the recipes as well sounds really good. I definitely gonna listen to the next one.

Cute story

While the storyline was cute, My recommendation is complicated. Culturally I learned a lot. The narrator is awesome. The one thing that bugged me was all the detail given to cooking and the recipes. I don’t like to cook so that is a me thing. I would have appreciated this book as a Plus Catalog offer rather then spending a credit. I read the first book felt the same and now without a doubt I know I will not buy the next one.

Another Fantastic Book

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series! I can’t wait for more books in this series. I’m already going to start the 3rd book after writing this review!!

Loved it!

I really liked this story, it’s really nice to have a Filipino character! So excited about the food in the story, and the recipes!! Can’t wait to read them all!

Lighthearted Amateur PI series

Thus far, I’ve enjoyed this series. It is like the book version of Veronica Mars with references to really good food dishes. I wanted to sample every dish they mentioned. Some parts were a bit far fetched but still fun. I’m committed to finish the series with book 3

Super entertaining!

Loved it! I like the way the recipes are incorporated within the story. Very entertaining!

Excellent Narration!

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book. Glad Mia was able to touch on the topic of mental health and how it is seen within Filipino culture. Hamilton references are always plus too.

Another great story from Lila and friends

I appreciated the author's note at the beginning where she says she was also struggling through the pandemic like the rest of us.
Lila got herself into a little less trouble this time, but still managed to come out of this bruised and shaken up. A great story overall, but felt a bit out of sync, the events felt glued together by sheer force and the whole story had a weird flow to it, very uncoordinated somehow.