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Books to Devour: Murder and Mamon and The Nameless Restaurant

20 Sep

Murder and Mamon
Murder and Mamon is the latest in Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series. I have reviewed two of the previous entries including the first book Arsenic and Adobo. The series resolves around Lila Macapagal and her friends and family. Her aunt who raised her is the owner of a Filipino restaurant, which is where the series name is derived from. I think this may have been my favorite novel in the series so far; it focuses on her godmothers, a gossipy bunch who have just opened a laundromat. Lila must discover whether the threating letter’s they are receiving are due to vengeance for the rumors they spread or an angry competitor. The mystery kept me guessing till the very end. The food featured sounded mouthwatering as always and recipes are included at the end if you want to try making some Filipino classic or fusion dishes. Although each book can be enjoyed separately and each mystery is self-contained you will get spoilers about Lila’s romantic partners and other life events if you read the stories out of order. This novel will appeal to fans of New Adult Fiction as well as Cozy Mysteries.

The Nameless Restaurant
by Tao Wong
The Nameless Restaurant is the first in Canadian author, Tao Wong’s Hidden Dishes series. It is a novella and I enjoyed this quick bite as an audiobook narrated by Emily Woo Zeller who charmingly voices the many characters and brings them to life. This is a cozy fantasy set at a mysterious restaurant in Toronto frequented by not quite human patrons who manage to find it. The chef is a lovable grump who creates fantastic meals even if out of the humble ingredients with his skills and knowledge of a variety of Asian cuisine. You do not want to be reading/listening to this one on an empty stomach. This will appeal to anyone looking for more mellow low-stake fantasies similar to Legends and Lattés by Travis Baldree, which a colleague had previously reviewed. Check out next week’s post which includes a fiction novel with a dragon gourmand and two Lovecraft cookbooks!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Two Historical Fiction Picks Set in the 1920’s for the 2020’s: Comeuppance Served Cold and Murder in Williamstown

6 Sep

Comeuppance Served Cold
by Marion Deeds
Comeuppance Served Cold is a fantasy heist set in 1929 Seattle. This Jazz Age novella is a quick, under 200 pages read, but still manages to tell a satisfying story that involves a lot of mysteries and as the title suggests some well earned revenge. Magic is slowly being regulated by the city leaders in order to line their own pockets and shifters hide their identities due to growing prejudice. Not following the rules proves to have deadly consequences. The novel starts with a woman magically changing her appearance as she escapes a crime scene and throughout the novel, characters are not whom they at first seem. In addition to the main protagonist Dolly, two who particularly intrigued me are Gabe, a blind tattooist, whose sigils can protect those whom he inks; and Fiona the daughter of an elite mage who is forced into a engagement and has become addicted to shimmer-shim, a magical intoxicant. The story jumps around through time leading to the event in the prologue, which slowly brings what is truly going on into focus; this will be a book you will not want to put down. Comeuppance Served Cold will also appeal to fans of CL Polk’s fantastic Even Though I Knew the End, which I had written about previously.

Murder in Williamstown
by Kerry Greenwood
We’ve had several blogs about Greenwood’s novels as well as the adaptations of them. Greenwood’s clever, fashionable Australian flapper detective Phryne Fisher definitely deserves a place in the pantheon of fictional sleuths. Although the print edition of Kerry Greenwood’s most recent in her Phryne Fisher Series is not available till November in the US, you can get an early listen to the audiobook read by Wendy Bos in a charming Aussie accent which brings Phryne’s story to life. This story explores more of the lives of the Chinese immigrant community in Australia in the late 1920’s, whom Phryne’s connected to through her lover Lin Chung. Like the previous novel, there is also a mystery for Phryne’s wards, Ruth and Jane, this time at the Blind Institute and Dot, Phryne’s long time maid/companion must suss out why her fiancé is slow to set a wedding date. I wasn’t as fond of the plot line involving the younger members of the Fisher household in the previous novel in the series, Death in Daylesford, but this time I enjoyed it the most. There is a lot to keep track of and I found myself going back a time or two since at times I’d be distracted while listening and lose a plot point, but it was an overall enjoyable experience. I highly recommend checking out both the books as well as the TV and Movie Series.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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