Guilt and Ginataan
by: Mia P. Manansala
Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery - Book 5
- Rating: (4.0/5)
What happens when murder hits so close to home?
Brew-ha crew is back. Lila Macapagal with the help of boyfriend, Jae Park and his brother, former Detective Jonathon Park, are doing what they can to clear cafe partner Adeena’s name after being found next to the dead wife of the mayor of the neighboring town of Shelbyville at the annual Shady Palms Corn Festival.
This time with best friend as the prime suspect, investigating is complicated. Lila and Elena are butting heads and Adeena’s parents are trying to wrap her bubble wrap.
The story was very well written. The growing relationship with Jae, had him being more involved in the sleuthing. There was less Calendar Girls, Tita Rosie and not that much of Det. Park despite him being hired by the Shelbyville mayor. This one has more emotional challenges than previous stories. We are introduced to Gladys, a vendor from Shelbyville and we find out that Shelbyville and Shady Palms are more connected than they thought.
While there was sleuthing, there was more introspection and discussions about relations. There were a couple of suspects for me all along but I struggled with the “why”.
It was a good story and enjoyable reading about the progression of the Brew-ha crew from book 1. Just miss Tito Rosie.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story.
Happy Reading!
Plot Summary
Autumn is in full swing for the town of Shady Palms—the perfect time for warm drinks, cozy cardigans, and…dead bodies?
The annual Shady Palms Corn Festival is one of the town’s biggest moneymakers, drawing crowds from all over the Midwest looking to partake in delicious treats, local crafts, and of course, the second largest corn maze in Illinois. Lila Macapagal and her Brew-ha Cafe crew, Adeena Awan and Elena Torres, are all too happy to participate in the event and even make a little wager on who can make it through the corn maze the fastest—but their fun is suddenly cut short when a dead body is found in the middle of the maze…and an unconscious Adeena lies next to it, clutching a bloody knife.
The body is discovered to be a local politician’s wife, and all signs—murder weapon included—point to Adeena as the culprit. But Lila knows her best friend couldn’t have done this, so she and her crew put on their sleuthing caps yet again to find the killer who framed Adeena and show them what happens when they mess with a Brew-ha…