By Samantha Diaz
In the fifth installment of Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series, Lila and the Brew-ha crew are centered on another case. This time, Lila’s best friend Adeena is accused of murdering the wife of the neighboring town’s mayor. Lila doesn’t believe her longtime friend did it, so who did? Manansala creates a maze of mystery in her newest novel, Guilt and Ginataan, a cozy autumn mystery with delicious fall treats and a dedicated cast of problem-solvers.
Lila has been friends with Adeena for over a decade; besties for life. Then Adeena started dating Elena, and that made the duo a trio. Now as best friends turned business partners of the popular Brew-ha Cafe, the crew partake in the Shady Palms Corn Festival. From their booth offering corn themed treats like elote, mais ube sandwich cookies, mais kon keso bars, mais kon yelo, ginataang mais (which perfectly pairs with atloe), ginataang mais latte, and oksusu cha, it’s no wonder that their supply runs out so fast.
The Corn Festival is in partnership with the neighboring town of Shelbyville. Mayor Gunderson, the Shady Palm’s mayor, glares intensely at Mayor Reyes of Shelbyville throughout their interactions together; however, Mayor Reyes is thrilled for the collaboration. During a walk through the festival, Mayor Reyes stops by the Brew-ha Cafe with her wife, Yvonne, and assistant, Zack. First impressions come off strong as Yvonne appears to be flirting with Elena. As the group parts ways, Adeena seems to not be jealous over the matter and even pokes fun at the situation.
When the Brew-ha booth closes early after selling out of their products, Adenna decides to wage a competition: the winner who finishes the corn maze the fastest chooses the next day’s festival activities and doesn’t have to pay for any of them. It is all fun and games until a sharp scream rattles the cornstalks followed by a shout for help. Lila darts to where the sound comes from and finds a crowd staring down at Adeena’s unconscious body holding a knife next to Yvonne’s dead body.
Another murder in Shady Palms, and it’s up to Lila to clear her best friend’s name.
Guilt and Ginataan is as delicious and twisted as her previous novels. In this book, the author takes the murder investigation into dead ends and misleads, mimicking that of a corn maze. The theme truly works perfectly for a cozy murder mystery.
With multiple viable suspects holding slippery secrets, personality quirks, and possible motives, finding out the killer is difficult. Praise for the author’s ability of misdirection, which led to my disappointment in my own detective skills for not figuring it out sooner. Right from the start the author foreshadows the murderer, and yet it is written so seamlessly that I read it as any other perfectly crafted line. In fact, the author ties in hints from across all the books in the series.
I greatly appreciate the diversity in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series. The main character, Lila, is Filipina American, while her best friend is a Pakistani American who is dating a Mexican American. They have friends who are Black, Korean, Puerto Rican, and LGBTQ+ as well. There are characters who have gluten sensitivity/allergies, are vegetarian, prefer savory over sweet, drink tea rather than coffee, etc. For a food centered series, the diversity opens up to more cuisines and food alternatives.
In this installment, the Corn Festival is a great theme to introduce corn food like mais (corn flour) and ginataan (glutinous rice and corn porridge). If only there were an actual cafe near me that shared a display like the Brew-ha Cafe. No worries! In every book there is a recipe for some of the treats mentioned at the end of each story. This recipe addition is perfect for those (definitely talking about myself) who enjoy snacking when reading. I can almost taste the treats Manansala describes when she writes:
“Corn as a dessert ingredient may seem strange to some people, but Filipinos absolutely live and embrace corn in all its salty-sweet possibilities.”
Food had been a focus around family life in previous books, yet Guilt and Ginataan leans towards friendship instead, highlighting Lila and Adenna’s relationship and that of their friends. This shift is a refreshing take on the series. Each character holds a special connection to Lila, and to involve someone so dear to her in a murder investigation opens up new feelings and revelations.
Adeena is thrown into this traumatic situation for the first time, while Lila had been caught up in several murder investigations before. With her experience, Lila immediately takes it upon herself to clear her best friend’s name. As Lila cares for Adeena’s reputation, Elena cares for Adeena’s feelings. Since the incident happens, Elena’s personality changes She snaps and argues with Lila over the investigation, even hiding information from her. This change in character causes a rift between the business partners.
“Usually, she was the cool, calm one, the peacemaker of our trio, so it was weird to be the one trying to pacify her.”
Having a best friend is special. Yet, when a significant other comes into the group, the best friend role starts to fade away. Lila knows Adeena. She knows her favorite dishes, her quirks, and her dislikes. Lila also knows how to make Adeena feel better. Now that Elena is dating Adeena, Elena knows everything about Adeena too. After the couple run off when Adeena has a breakdown, their friends remind Lila that she shouldn’t come between their relationship. In this moment, Lila comes to the saddest realization, when she asks,“But they don’t need me?” Best friend and spouse butting heads for the good of their other half. How many times have we heard a story about that?
Since Manansala has built this friendship steadily since book one, there is a solid, genuine character foundation between the friends by this latest installment, providing more history to longtime fans than a standalone novel could possibly provide. Manansala creates a realistic world with a town and townspeople as real as anyone reading this review. This is just to say that Lila, Adeena, and Elena are characters to root for and empathize with.
Guilt and Ginataan captures the importance of friendship and the significance it evokes. Manansala convincingly argues that, through the test of time, friends can withstand it all—even during a murder case. Told with sincerity and adoration, this book will have readers defending the characters. Deliciously written and engagingly mysterious, the fifth book of Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series has heart and charm perfect for a cozy read.
Samantha Desirae Diaz is a writer who explores true crime, paranormal, and romance stories. Born and raised in Chino, CA, she earned her B.A. in screenwriting from California State University, Northridge, and her M.F.A. in creative writing from Chapman University. She is a marketing and media coordinator at Red Hen Press.