{"id":22523,"date":"2023-11-13T19:48:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T00:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22523"},"modified":"2023-11-24T20:22:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T01:22:08","slug":"murder-and-mamon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22523","title":{"rendered":"Murder and Mamon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murder and Mamon<\/em><\/a> (2023) Mia P. Manansala<\/a> (A Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery)<\/p>\n

\"Murder<\/a>Lila Macapagal’s godmothers are getting ready to open their new business–a laundrymat–but it seems like their gossiping ways are finally going to cause them trouble, as the business is vandalized with the message “Mind Your Own Business”.<\/p>\n

On top of that Ninang April\u2019s niece has been sent to her for reasons that aren’t clear, but Divinia has made Lila and her friends suspicious, so they assume it was something bad.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations for this book, which is why I waited for it to become available at the library. Despite that, I feel like this book failed to reach even those very low expectations.<\/p>\n

SPOILERS AHOY<\/p>\n

The author went out of her way to make Divinia unlikable.<\/p>\n

According to the other aunties, Ninang April\u2019s family was loaded, so going to a prestigious art school was no big deal for someone like Divina. But like most families in Shady Palms (including mine), Bernadette\u2019s family toed the line between working class and middle class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ninang Mae said, \u201cYou didn\u2019t help with the cleaning at all, but you show up in time to eat?\u201d <\/p>\n

Divina kept her eyes on the food she was piling on her plate. \u201cI was helping your son with his errands. Remember? That long list you gave him to do?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but I gave it to him. He didn\u2019t need your help, we did.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut you had so much help already, it\u2019s not like there was anything for me to do,\u201d Divina said, gesturing around the room. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to do any of this. And you\u2019re the one always saying I\u2019m in the way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Lila’s friends repeatedly suggest Divinia is going to be trouble.<\/p>\n

When Divinia was killed, this completely lessened the impact of her death. You were left to feel like perhaps she deserved what she got, rather than shock and horror at her murder.<\/p>\n

In fact, we’re made to feel far worse about Ninang April’s injury and hospitalization than at Divinia’s murder.<\/p>\n

That really lousy.<\/p>\n

Next, we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Lila’s godmothers, but they’re pretty awful at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cNinang Mae, I heard you sent Divina out on a lot of errands in the lead-up to your opening. What did you have her do?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just me! June had her do things, too,\u201d Ninang Mae said, childishly throwing Ninang June under the bus to divert attention away from herself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI know you all like to think that your gossip is harmless\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because it is\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have to consider that maybe something you\u2019ve said had consequences you hadn\u2019t intended.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ninang Mae shrugged. \u201cIf people don\u2019t want to be talked about, they should\u2019ve behaved better. Why shouldn\u2019t there be consequences for their actions?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And almost everyone seems to let their behavior slide.<\/p>\n

Ninang June nudged Ninang Mae, who quickly said, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, April. Please let us know how we can make this right.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t put the burden of forgiveness on April\u2019s shoulders,\u201d Lola Flor cut in. \u201cYou\u2019re the ones who wronged her. You be the ones who figure out how to fix this.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then I had to read this:<\/p>\n

\u201cI panicked, OK? It\u2019s not like I meant for this to happen! I\u2019m a good person. I go to church every Sunday. I was protecting Tita Ultima. I\u2019m not a murderer! I don\u2019t deserve to go to jail for someone like Divina de los Santos!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On top of that, I couldn’t believe Lila failed (repeatedly) to see who the murderer was.<\/p>\n

At least she stopped purposefully doing stupid and dangerous things.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Berkley<\/p>\n

Rating: 5<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murder and Mamon (2023) Mia P. Manansala (A Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery) Lila Macapagal’s godmothers are getting ready to open their new business–a laundrymat–but it seems like their gossiping ways are finally going to cause them trouble, as the business is vandalized with the message “Mind Your Own Business”. On top of that Ninang April\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[190,292,24,204,8,148],"tags":[585],"class_list":["post-22523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-food","category-good","category-mystery","category-queer","tag-mia-p-manansala"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5Rh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19950,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19950","url_meta":{"origin":22523,"position":0},"title":"Homicide and Halo-Halo","author":"Michelle","date":"April 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Homicide and Halo-Halo (2022) Mia P. 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