Murder and Mamon Review

Lila Macapagal’s godmothers April, Mae, and June—AKA the Calendar Crew—are celebrating the opening of their latest joint business venture, a new laundromat, to much fanfare (and controversy). However, what should’ve been a joyous occasion quickly turns into a tragedy when they discover the building has been vandalized—and the body of Ninang April’s niece, recently arrived from the Philippines, next to a chilling message painted on the floor. The question is, was the message aimed at the victim or Lila’s gossipy godmothers, who have not-so-squeaky-clean reputations?

With Ninang April falling apart from grief and little progress from the Shady Palms Police Department in this slippery case, it’s up to Lila and her network to find justice for the young woman.

The Calendar Crew have stuck their noses into everybody’s business for years, but now the tables are turned as Lila must pry into the Calendar Crew’s lives to figure out who has a vendetta against the (extremely opinionated yet loving) aunties and stop them before they strike again. 

my Review

Another cozy mystery that this girl struggled to put down. I really loved this book, which was a nice surprise after my experience with Blackmail and Bibingka. I was a bit worried that perhaps the forula and tropes had become too predictable. That is not the case. Manansala kept me guessing through the whole book.

Lila is asked to step back into her investigations after the Calendar Crew are targeted. Not only is someone attacking their business but then Auntie April’s neice is killed. As a part of her investigation, Lila has to confront some of the problems the Aunties have caused with their non-stop gossip.

It was really interesting to see Lila and the aunties come to grips with the fact that their gossip has consequences. While to the aunties they are doing a service to people letting them know that their husband’s are cheating or that someone is being shady, they don’t think through the consequences. What was even better was Lila’s interaction with it. She has never loved the gossip that the aunties get into, but it became clear that she also hadn’t really thought through all of the consequences.

I am so impressed by the character development we got to experience with the aunties. In past books, they have been supporting characters with very little in terms of their backgrounds. That changes in this one. We get to see them have some infighting due to the niece. They then have to reckon with the consequences. They discover that maybe just telling everyone’s business to everyone is not necessarily helping.

We also get to meet some new residents of Shady Palms, including the woman that rivals the aunties in the community. I thought the new characters were a fun addition to the story. I loved that there was someone in the community who rivals the Aunties. I thought this character was so fun. She runs an underground gambling room for heavens sake. I hope we get more of her and her family in the future.

I always talk about the food in the books and this one was no different. Everything sounded mouthwatering good. While I really appreciate the recipes, can these books just come with the food? I don’t want to spend hours cooking. I just want to eat it as it comes up in the story. Is that too much to ask for?