Homicide and Halo-Halo

A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, Book 2

By: Mia P. Manansala

Narrated by: Danice Cabanela

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

Quick, light and fun listen

I liked this book as a sequel. You get to learn a lot more about Lila and some of her 'whys' and you have a whole lot of folks helping out throughout the book to gather info/inverstigate. Maybe improbable that the detective asks everyone for help in one breath and then says don't spread or share stories but I didn't put that much stock into it. Good for a light, fun and quick listen. Interested in what future adventures everyone gets into.

Super entertaining!

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

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.

Proud Pinoy Reader

Love the series and I look forward to more. Filipino details on food is well researched.
Although I think the Aunties' diction could be improved, they do sound like that sometimes.

I just realized there’s a genre in a big fan of!

FilAm suburbian culture + food + drinks + murder mystery + framily + more food = BEST audiobooks for travel (for me)

Highly Entertaining

Homicide and Halo-Halo is a highly entertaining cozy mystery with engaging characters and an interesting plot. I look forward to the next book.

Much slower than first book

I really enjoyed the first book in this series. Struggling to keep going on this one. Likely won’t continue the series

A little messy but fun cozy

I was so excited for this one after loving Arsenic and Adobo and enjoyed it and look forward to the next installment to the series but this one was a less compelling than the first. I would still recommend it.

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!

Beauty padgent.

Disliked all the recipes. To much self indulgence. 25 words for the Customer Review are way to many.