When murder mars the grand opening for Lila Macapagal’s aunties’ new laundromat, she will have to air out all the dirty laundry in Shady Palms to catch a killer…
Lila Macapagal’s godmothers April, Mae, and June—AKA the Calendar Crew—are celebrating the opening of their latest joint business venture, a new laundromat, to much fanfare (and controversy). However, what should’ve been a joyous occasion quickly turns into a tragedy when they discover the building has been vandalized—and the body of Ninang April’s niece, recently arrived from the Philippines, next to a chilling message painted on the floor. The question is, was the message aimed at the victim or Lila’s gossipy godmothers, who have not-so-squeaky-clean reputations?
With Ninang April falling apart from grief and little progress from the Shady Palms Police Department in this slippery case, it’s up to Lila and her network to find justice for the young woman.
The Calendar Crew have stuck their noses into everybody’s business for years, but now the tables are turned as Lila must pry into the Calendar Crew’s lives to figure out who has a vendetta against the (extremely opinionated yet loving) aunties and stop them before they strike again.
- Title: Murder and Mamom
- Author: Mia P. Manansala
- Publisher: Berkley
- Publication Date: September 19th, 2023
- Genre: Cozy Mystery
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: police, vandalism, death, grief, mentioned past attempted suicide (chapter 13, not graphic, not main characters), infidelity (not main characters), coma, threats, mentions of cancer, mentions of parental death
- Rating: ★★★★.5
It’s a well-established fact here at teatimelit that I love the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series — you can read my reviews for Arsenic and Adobo, Homicide and Halo-Halo, and Blackmail and Bibingka to confirm. I always look forward to the next release in this series, and typically, once I start one of the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen books, I don’t put it down until I’ve finished it.
It’s also a well-established fact that I love a good cozy mystery, and for me, these are the coziest of cozy mysteries! I love the town of Shady Palms (though honestly, a lot of murders have been happening in a very short amount of time. I probably would’ve left after the second one — the first could’ve just been a fluke, you know — but to each their own!), and most importantly, I love Lila and her family. Now that we’re four books into the series, we’ve gotten to know Lila, Tita Rosie, Lola Flor, and the Calendar Crew (Ninang April, Ninang Mae, and Ninang June) so well that they’ve started to feel like members of my own family.
I loved that Murder and Mamon focused more on the Calendar Crew than the previous books have — while they’ve always been big parts of the books and very involved, the mystery hasn’t centered around them, but they get their chance to shine in this book. I’ve always thought that April, Mae, and June were fun characters and I loved their antics, and this book made me realize just how much I’ve really come to adore them. It was heartbreaking to hear about their business being vandalized, and while they’re definitely busy bodies and probably interfere in other people’s lives more than they should, they didn’t deserve anything that they went through in the book and I really felt for them. Without spoiling anything, there’s something that happens around the last third or so of the book that really made me emotional and I found myself crying a few times.
Something that was really nice to see was how all of our main and supporting characters banded together to solve this case. Typically, it’s just been Lila (with some assistance) poking around the investigation, but this time around everyone was more involved. I especially enjoyed seeing Lila, Jae, and Jonathan all work together and personally, I just love how much the Park brothers care about Lila and her family. I loved all the group dynamics in this one (especially Lily, Bernadette, and Marcus) and the continuation of the large group meals that turn into investigation brainstorming sessions. As the books have progressed I’ve loved watching the dynamics shift and relationships grow — I’m excited to see how they continue as the series goes on.
As always, the food descriptions were amazing. I was talking to some friends about these books a while ago, and I mentioned that I always have to have some sort of snack, or have already eaten when I read these books because they make me so hungry. The Filipino dishes always sound wonderful and bring back childhood memories — when Izzy added the sardines in tomato sauce over her rice I just about died because that was one of my favorite things to eat when I was a kid. The little things like that make this series so special for me; the fact that it can bring back such vivid moments from my childhood, those moments always feel like being wrapped in a warm hug.
Overall, Murder and Mamon was another fun edition to the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series that made me laugh, cry, and of course, made me very hungry. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series progresses and if you’re a lover of cozy mysteries and haven’t read these books yet, what are you waiting for?
Links for Murder and Mamon: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and certified book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She is the author of the multi-award-winning Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series, and uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.
A lover of all things geeky, Mia spends her days procrasti-baking, playing RPGs and dating sims, reading cozy mysteries and diverse romance, and cuddling her dogs Gumiho and Max Power.
