When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…

I’m glad I read book two first, because if I’d started with book one, I might have stopped.

This book has some fun aspects, but it fell flat in several ways for me. For starters, it was frustrating to see so many obvious clues that everyone but the police saw (especially at the end when one character says she has proof on Lila’s innocence, but never told the police). In book two I wasn’t a huge fan of the “best friend” Adeena, and I liked her even less here–her behavior toward Lila shows zero concern for Lila’s situation. I actually feel bad that Lila thinks that’s friendship (and that she wants to save it).

This book reads more like a high school drama (even though Lila repeatedly mentions how long ago high school was). There’s not a lot of tension (as the clues are pretty obvious), though there is a lot of frustration.

Personally, I’d skip book one and go right to book two; I was able to follow along in book two easily enough without having read this first.

Rated PG-13 for mystery/suspense elements and a couple of swear words. Get your copy here!

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