Puss Reboots: Blog: February 2023: Blackmail and Bibingka

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Reviews
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell
Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand
Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala and Danice Cabanela (Narrator)
Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely and Lisa Reneé Pitts (Narrator)
A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas and Kate Reading (Narrator)
Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman and George Guidall (1973) (re-read)
Deck the Hallways by Kate Carlisle
A Design to Die For by Kathleen Bridge and Vanessa Daniels (Narrator)
Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook and Marilyn Levinson (Narrator)
Fly Me to the Moon, Volume 2 by Kenjiro Hata
The Game is a Footnote by Vicki Delany
High Spirits by Carol J. Perry and C.S.E. Cooney (Narrator)
Into the Windwracked Wilds by A. Deborah Baker
Komi Can't Communicate, Volume 3 by Tomohito Oda
Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 2 by Jun Mayuzuki and Amanda Haley (Translation)
Lore Olympus, Volume Two by Rachel Smythe
Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker
Monkey Prince by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang (Illustrator)
The Neapolitan Sisters by Margo Candela
Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon
No Judgments by Meg Cabot
Seven-Year Witch by Angela M. Sanders
6 Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe
Soul of a Killer by Abby Collette and L. Malaika Cooper (Narrator)
Steeped to Death by Gretchen Rue and Kristin Price (Narrator)
A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron
Vampiric Vacation by Kiersten White
Wined and Died in New Orleans by Ellen Byron and Amy Melissa Bentley (Narrator)

Miscellaneous
January 2023 Sources

January 2023 Summary

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Blackmail and Bibingka: 02/22/23

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala and Danice Cabanela (Narrator) (2022) is the third book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen mystery series. Lila Macapagal is in full Christmas mode until her cousin Ronnie makes an appearance after fifteen years. He has come with news of opening a new winery, featuring coconut wine. Unfortunately one of his partners dies of poisoning and it looks like Ronnie did it, either deliberately or through negligence.

The dynamics between Ronnie and his partners reminds me of the family tension in Death by Espresso by Alex Erickson (2018). It's really like watching a shell game but with people, or in this case, fictional characters.

While not usually a fan of holiday themed books, the focus on Filipino traditions and recipes saved the mystery from falling into the usual Christmas sentimentality. I especially like how Lila works through updating recipes to work in her coffee shop to be both traditional tasting but also cross-culturally inviting.

The fourth book is Murder and Mamon. It releases on October 17, 2023.

Five stars