BlackMail and Bibingka Review

It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she’s taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he’s back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.

She’s soon proven right when Ronnie is suspected of murder, and secrets surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer . . . right?

My Review

I hate to say it but this was the hardest Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery for me to get through. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it! I just didn’t really love Cousin Ronnie so the concept of trying to protect him wasn’t great for me. I also wasn’t surprised by the murderer which I usually am with Manansala’s books. I am typically pretty shocked by a last minute twist that I didn’t see coming. This one felt a bit more predictable. Partially because I just couldn’t believe that Tita Rosie’s son could have possibly murdered anyone. It doesn’t matter how bad of a guy he was, Rosie raised him better than murder.

I enjoyed the concept that there was a new winery being started and that Ronnie wanted to use his Filipino heritage to make something special and unique in Shady Palms. I also loved that this gave Lila and Cousin Bernie something to bond over. More than bonding though, it gave everyone some opportunities to heal. I did enjoy the mystery of what it was that Ronnie did that made him so terrible and revealed why Lola Flor really despised him. Lola isn’t a particularly nice person but she seems to have a good judge of character. I thought it was particularly interesting to see the consequences of her harshness play out in the story. Ronnie almost became a self fulfilling prophecy. I particularly liked seeing Lila and her gang of friends working together to support one another.

I read Blackmail and Bibingka last spring and am FINALLY getting around to writing this review. I probably should have waited to read it around Christmastime. I’m a mood reader and the mood was right for a cozy mystery, but when the setting of the book doesn’t match my life it can make things less enjoyable for me. So take my review with a grain of salt. It could easily have been a timing issue. As always, the descriptions of food left my mouth watering. One of these days I am going to spend days just making the recipes from the back of the books.