Review: Homicide and Halo-Halo and Interview with author 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 cafe 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.

• Title: Homicide and Halo-Halo
• Author: Mia P. Manansala
• Publisher: Berkley
• Publication Date: February 8th, 2022
• Genre: Cozy Mystery, Romance
• Targeted Age Range: Adult
• Content Warnings: Ptsd, fatphobia, fertility/pregnancy issues, predatory behavior, unresolved grief, parental death (occurred in childhood), dismissive attitudes toward mental health, death, murder, mentions of a car accident, mentions of prison, panic attacks, guns, mentions of suicide, police
• Rating: ★★★★★

Immediately after finishing Arsenic and Adobo I began counting down the days until the release of Homicide and Halo-Halo. You can read my full review here, but Arsenic and Adobo really meant so much to me as I had never seen myself and my childhood so well represented in literature before. 

Homicide and Halo-Halo picks up a few months after the conclusion of Arsenic and Adobo. Lia Macapagal is busy working with her best friend Adeena and Adeena’s girlfriend Elena on getting their cafe – Brew-ha Cafe –  up and running. The town of Shady Palms has started to recover from the horrible events that happened months prior, and they’re doing so by bringing back the Miss Teen Shady Palms beauty pageant. Although the soft launch of Brew-ha Cafe is quickly approaching, Lia agrees to be one of the contest judges. When the head pageant judge is found dead, Lia’s family once again finds themselves at the center of the investigation, and Lia must work with her cousin and rival to find out who the murderer is before one of them is next.

This book has all the same fun family dynamics and intriguing mystery plot as Arsenic and Adobo, but with a slightly darker tone. I really appreciated that at the beginning of the book, Manansala informed readers of the darker tone, supplied content warnings, and reminded readers to only continue reading if they felt comfortable and to prioritize their mental health. I’m a firm believer that it’s so important to give content warnings so readers can prepare themselves for what they’ll be reading, and I hope that more authors follow Manansala’s lead and make that the norm.

I love that Manansala doesn’t shy away from important and heavy topics. In Homicide and Halo-Halo she discusses misogyny and power imbalances between men and women in the workplace, harmful beauty standards, predatory behavior and abuse of power, and the stigma surrounding therapy in communities of color. All of these topics were explored in a way that, in my opinion, were truthful and added more depth to the story and characters. Nothing felt like it was thrown into the story at the last minute; each topic had a purpose and I appreciated how some character’s prior beliefs were challenged as the story went on.

“Never blame yourself for how someone mistreats you. Especially when it’s an adult in a position of power”

I’m not a big pageant person, but I think that having the Miss Teen Shady Palms contest at the center of the mystery was a great choice. It not only provided us with a variety of characters (and motives), it also added another layer to Lia’s character and allowed us to get to know her better. I really liked learning about Lia’s relationship with her mother through her memories of participating in pageants as a child at her mother’s insistence. I thought the mystery itself unraveled in a natural way and that the reveal of the killer made sense. 

The pacing felt extremely fluid to me. Manansala’s writing is very easy to get lost in because it flows so smoothly. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down. I barely even realized that I was about to finish the book until I was on the last chapter. 

The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series is quickly becoming one of my go-to comfort series, which I know is kind of an odd thing to say about a murder mystery series, but these cozy mysteries are exactly that. Both Arsenic and Adobo and Homicide and Halo-Halo feel like getting a hug from my grandmother. In fact, if my grandmother were still with us today I would tell her to read this series because I can guarantee that she would love it. I’m very thankful to Manansala for writing a series that makes me feel so at home. 

Homicide and Halo-Halo had all the ingredients for the perfect cozy mystery and I know that it’s one I’ll be revisiting very often!

Links for Homicide and Halo-Halo: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Today we have an extra special treat for you all! I’m so excited that Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series author Mia P. Manansala is joining us on the blog today! Keep reading to check out our interview and learn more about Mia and her books!

Hi Mia, thank you so much for joining our tea party today! We’re so happy to have you here. For those that may not know you, can you share a little bit about yourself and the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series?

As someone who absolutely loves tea and tea parties, thank you for inviting me! A little about me: I’m Filipino American, born and raised in Chicago, and am a huge geek. My interests outside of books/writing are food and video games, and though I love all kinds of tea, I’m partial to oolong. 

The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series centers a Filipino family restaurant in a fictional Midwestern town, and while the books involve solving murders, the stories are fairly light and humorous, there’s nothing graphic or gory on the page, and I guarantee a happy ending. There’s also an adorable dachshund named Longganisa (and don’t worry, nothing bad will ever happen to her).

Food plays a HUGE part in this series, which Filipino dishes are your favorite? I’m partial to lumpia because I used to make it with my grandmother when I was a kid, and of course, adobo!

Kare-Kare is probably my favorite Filipino dish, though it can be difficult to describe to a Western palate. For those who don’t know, it’s a peanut-based stew (similar to massaman curry) filled with oxtail, offal, and vegetables and traditionally served with bagoong, a fermented shrimp paste, and lots of white rice. It’s such a delicious, comforting dish. I’m also a huge fan of Filipino soups–while it’s hard to choose just one, I’d have to go with sinigang. I love the tangy broth and how it’s both filling yet refreshing.

What inspired you to write Arsenic and Adobo? How did it evolve into the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series or was it always intended to be a series?

My mom and I love reading culinary cozies, but none of the ones I was reading at the time reflected me or my experiences. I started that first book for me and my mom, essentially writing the story I’ve always wanted to read but couldn’t find. And cozy mysteries don’t really do standalones, so it was always intended to be a series.

Lila is such an inventive and creative baker! Is this a trait that you share? Which of Lila’s desserts is your favorite?

I’m not as talented as Lila, but I definitely enjoy baking and thinking up fun Filipino fusion desserts. I have a long Google Doc of all the sweets I’d love to include in my books and I just know there’s no way I can get to all of them. I think the one I’m most intrigued by is the calamansi-ginger pie with a coconut shortbread crust that she makes in the first book. I haven’t made it yet but I know I will eventually.

Lila’s family (and extended family) remind me SO MUCH of my family on my mother’s side. Were these characters inspired by your family and your own experiences?

Most characters are an amalgamation of people in my life and stories I’ve heard (particularly regarding the aunties), but none of them are strictly based on any one person. The closest one is the Lola Flor character to my maternal grandmother (who I grew up with) but even then, I took a lot of liberties with her personality.

Which character would you say is the most/least like you?

The character I wish I was most like is Adeena, but I’m not nearly so brave and sassy. I’d say the character I’m least like is Lola Flor and the most would be Lila. Even though I was careful to make us very different (I didn’t want her to be a self-insert character), I did give her a few of my characteristics to help me better understand and empathize with her.

Which scene (or scenes) from Homicide and Halo-Halo was your favorite to write? 

The most fun to write were any scenes involving Adeena and Elena. The most interesting were the ones involving Lila’s relationship with her deceased mother. There’s a lot of pain and grief and guilt inside of Lila that she’s pushed down most of her life, and the events surrounding the town beauty pageant means she finally has to deal with them. It wasn’t easy to write those scenes, but I loved how each one peeled back another layer on a character that I thought I knew inside and out. Discovering new things about my characters is one of the best parts of writing.

The third book in the series, Blackmail and Bibingka (I’m obsessed with that title!) is supposed to come out this October. What can readers look forward to in the third book of the series?

Thanks! Coming up with the titles is honestly so much fun. Anyway, Blackmail and Bibingka is set at Christmastime (for those who don’t know, bibingka is a rice cake traditionally served at Christmas) and Lila’s cousin, Ronnie, who ghosted the family fifteen years ago, has returned to Shady Palms to open up a winery. Tita Rosie is overjoyed to see her only child again, but Lila knows that where Ronnie goes, trouble follows. She’s proven right (which she loves, but also ugh) when Tita Rosie starts receiving blackmail letters, and one of his investors is murdered, leaving him one of the main suspects. For Tita Rosie’s sake, Lila gets involved in the investigation to clear her cousin.

What flavor of tea would your main characters be? 

Adeena is a strong, spicy masala chai, Elena is calming yerba/hierba buena, and Lila…she’s a bit more difficult to pin down. Maybe calamansi honey iced tea. A little sweet, a little tart, a tiny bit bitter, yet still refreshing–a perfect Filipino American fusion.

And lastly, what do you want readers to take away from your books?

The importance of family (blood or not) and community, and that a plate of food is rarely just a plate of food–it has so much more meaning and nuance attached to it.