Death and Dinuguan

Death and Dinuguan (2025) Mia P. Manansala (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #6)

This is the sixth and final book in the series, and oddly, the one I liked best.

A series of break-ins have hit the small businesses of Shady Palms, made all the more upsetting as all the victims were women.

Adeena said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the burglar or burglars turned out to be part of the chamber of commerce. For the last few years, when the top ten most successful businesses in town were announced, they’ve all been woman-owned. Makes some of the old guard big mad.”

But when one of the break-ins results in the death of one woman and the other in a coma while the police have no leads, Lila and her friends start investigating.

There is a lot of racism and sexism in this story, which is unfortunately a reflection of the world we live in right now.

“Another burglary and this time a murder? What is this town coming to?”

“Another woman-owned business got hit? Maybe this’ll finally put them all in their place.”

“Shh! That’s a terrible thing to say.” The smaller man looked around nervously. “You never know who’s listening.”

We were only ten minutes into our dinner with Blake’s ex-husband, and I already wanted to punch Patrick Murphy in his stupid, smug face.

On the happier side, this book is full of food, so don’t read it while hungry.

(twelve) different desserts: chocolate chess pie, hummingbird cake, cherry pie, plain cheesecake, carrot cake, key lime pie, coconut cream pie, vanilla cake with sprinkles, baklava, citrus pound cake, banoffee pie, and the day’s special: mocha fudge brownie cheesecake

A LOT of delicious sounding food.

(S)lightly crisp honey butter biscocho. To achieve the perfect texture, I had to bake the day-old bread slathered in softened honey butter low and slow to remove the moisture without browning the top too much.

This series has so much that I love: food, queer rep, female lead, and almost everyone in the story is a person of color–it’s even got a dachshund! So I’ve been pondering why I don’t love it more, and why it isn’t a favorite series, because it should be.The only thing I can come up with is that the dog gets dressed up in clothes; that is something I honestly can’t stand, but does it bother me that much?

Maybe.

Perhaps I’ll reread the series in a bit and see if I can figure it out, because there really is quite a lot to love about it.

Characters: Lila Macapagal, Adeena Awan, Elena Torres, Dr. Jae Park, Jonathan Park, Mama Park, Papa Park, Hana Lee, Aria Lee, Blake Langrehr, Isabel “Izzy” Ramos-Garcia, Ronnie, Tita Rosie, Lola Flor, Ninang April, Ninang Mae, and Ninang June, Marcus and Joseph, Bernadette, Ben Smith, Vinny Bianchi, Hector Diaz, Rita, Yuki Sato, Naoko, Sana Williams, Beth Thompson, Valerie Thompson, Helen Kowalski, Detective Feliks Nowak, Millie Barnes, Isaiah, Helen, Chuy, Leslie, Stan and Martha Kosta, Diane Kosta, Mr. Walter Whitmore, Ms. Gladys Stokes, Nettie and George Bishop, Charlene Choi, Britney Smith from the Grab N Go., Natalie Nguyen from Natalie’s Nails, Terrence Howell, Zoey Hong, Shawn Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Langrehr, Patrick Murphy, Vince Carter, Anita Carter, Erin, Mary Ann Randall, Father Santiago, Greg Sanders

Cover design and illustration by Vi-An Nguyen

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Rating: 8/10

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