Mia P. Manansala serves up another delightful installment of her popular culinary cozy mystery series!
I have been a fan of this series since it first came out, and I always look forward to each new installment! I really enjoyed being back in Shady Palms for book five--the culture, the characters, the mystery and mayhem, and the series' trademark mouth-watering Filipino food. And this one also has wonderful, cozy fall vibes!
Set during the town's annual autumn Corn Festival, Lila must prove the innocence of her best friend, Adeena, who is found unconscious in a corn maze next to a dead body and holding a bloody knife.
This was fast-paced and fun. The aunties didn't play a big role in this one because the focus was more on Lila and her friend group, and much of the action takes place in a nearby town, as the victim was the wife of that town's mayor. But we did get to know Lila's friends better. I appreciated that Manansala wrote scenes where the stress of the situation entered the dynamic between the friends, which lent a realistic aspect.
Lila continues to grow as a sleuth and business owner, as well as with community involvement. I also enjoy her relationship with her boyfriend, Jae, and was happy to see him take on a more significant role in the investigations. The mystery is intriguing and well-plotted, with enough red herrings to keep you guessing. An entertaining whodunnit with an engaging cast of diverse characters and a lovely exploration of Filipino food and culture, this is one that cozy mystery fans will want to check out!
Danice Cabanela narrates the audiobook, and I always love her as Lila! She perfectly captures Lila's personality but also brings the entire cast of characters to life, making each of them stand out as individuals. Her comedic timing is great, too!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted book and audiobook!
My steep was Coconut Milk Black Tea from The Tea Can Company
PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:
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…
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