chocolate, coffee, and crime

Times have been troubling in Shady Palms, Illinois. There have been a rash of burglaries around town that seem to target women-owned businesses. That’s why Lila and her partners in the Brew-ha Cafe, Adeena and Elena, are opting to install a security system. Safe & Secure Solutions come highly recommended and are the choice of many of the local businesses. Lila and her partners don’t want to take any chances. Especially with so many opportunities opening up to them.

Lila’s boyfriend Jae has a cousin who is opening a new designer chocolate shop, Choco Noir. Hana and her friend Blake have ideas for pairing their chocolates with Lila’s pastries, Adeena’s coffees, and Elena’s teas. The chocolatiers are also planning on pairing with a local winery and hotel, offering their unique flavors all over town. Hana in particular is looking for a fresh start after a bad divorce from a controlling man, and the financial strain of opening a new business is draining. But they are determined to make a splash in Shady Palms.

Until they are the next business hit.

Choco Noir was burglarized, and both Blake and Hana were attacked. Blake didn’t make it, but Hana is in the hospital. She can’t offer up any clues to who it was, so Lila takes it on herself to investigate. with the help of her family and friends, she gathers a list of suspects and tries to find clues that will lead her to the answer. Could it have been Hana’s ex-husband who did it and made it look like a burglary? Could it have been a competitive nearby chocolate shop? Or was it really a burglary gone wrong?

And when Brew-ha Cafe gets hit as well, Lila and her business partners know they can’t stop until they find all the answers to the crimes against the local businesses. But will finding the answers cost them too much?

Death and Dinuguan is the sixth and final mystery in Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series. Like the other books in the series, this one has a well plotted mystery along with a lot of family (like, a lot) and some international recipes at the end, including for Dinuguan, a savory pork stew known as “chocolate meat” to the Filipinos who love it.

Lila and her business partners have been through some tough times before, and they’ve learned to survive and thrive. But it is sad saying good-bye to this lovely series. I have loved getting a glimpse into this extended family and seeing how they’ve grown as individuals and grown together into a community. I had a lot of fun reading Death and Dinuguan, and I’m happy to know I can take a visit to Tita Rosie’s Kitchen whenever I need a good meal and a mystery to solve.

Egalleys for Death and Dinuguan were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.