a maize maze of murder
When the annual Corn Festival came to Shady Pines, Lila Macapagal and her friends were there. The three women who own the Brew-Ha café got a booth at the festival and set up there to sell their popular coffees and pastries along with seasonal treats to festival goers. But Lila, Adeena, and Elena also want to have some fun. They want to try out some of the other corn treats and challenge each other to be the fastest through the corn maze, the second largest in Illinois.
But their time in the corn maze doesn’t go quite as planned, and they find Adeena passed out next to the mayor’s wife, who is dead. Adeena is holding a bloody knife.
Lila and Elena know that Adeena would never hurt anyone, but they will have to find out who did kill the mayor’s wife to clear her name. Yvonne was married to Judy Reyes, the mayor for neighboring town Shelbyville, where she had also owned a small boutique with her best friend. Now she was gone, and Lila’s best friend was a murder suspect.
After a rip to Tita Rosie’s Kitchen for a sustaining meal, they make their plans to start the investigation. It was decided that Lila would be the one to go to Shelbyville and ask around, while Adeena and Elena stay in Shady Pines and run the café. So Lila makes an appointment at the boutique for herself and her boyfriend, the handsome dentist Dr. Jae, so she can ask some questions. She also asks about a local internship program that the mayor had set up, getting a chance to ask questions at City Hall and with the mayor’s clingy assistant.
The closer Lila gets to finding the real killer of Yvonne, the better it is for Adeena. But it means that Lila is putting herself closer to danger. Will she figure out who the killer is before she gets too close, or will she be the next victim?
Guilt and Ginataan is the fifth book in Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series. These books follow a large family of entrepreneurs who celebrate their Filipino heritage through food. They are filled with delicious dishes and a few murder investigations and lots of love, friendship, and laughter.
I really enjoy these mysteries. In Guilt and Ginataan, I loved all the corn dishes the women came up with for the festival. The mystery was well plotted and smartly written. And I love that there is a glossary in the front for anyone who is struggling with the recipes, with guides to pronunciation. This was a fun read with an entertaining corn twist, and I think other fans of Manansala will enjoy it as well.
Egalleys for Guilt and Ginataan were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.
