Table Of Content
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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Copyright © 2021 by Mia P. Manansala
Excerpt from Homicide and Halo-Halo copyright © 2021 by Mia P. Manansala
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Manansala, Mia P., author.
Title: Arsenic and adobo / Mia P. Manansala.
Description: First edition. | New York: Berkley Prime Crime, 2021. | Series: Tita Rosie’s kitchen mysteries
Identifiers: LCCN 2020050117 (print) | LCCN 2020050118 (ebook) ISBN 9780593201671 (trade paperback) | ISBN
9780593201688 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3613.A5268 A88 2021 (print) | LCC PS3613.A5268 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050117
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050118
First Edition: May 2021
Cover art and design by Vi-An Nguyen
Book design by Kristin del Rosario, adapted for ebook by Kelly Brennan
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely
coincidental.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible
for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse
reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
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To Daddy,
Thanks for giving me my height, a great head of hair, and most of all, a
passion for food.
Your love was apparent in every bite.
Wish you could’ve seen this. Miss you.
Mahal kita
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Author’s Note
Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Acknowledgments
Recipes
Preview of Homicide and Halo-Halo
About the Author
Author’s Note
As a Filipino American born and raised in Chicago, I’ve written about
experiences that are true to me. While Lila is a fictional character and very
different from me, her perspective is still filtered through me and my
worldview. There are scenes in this story that I considered to be harmless
mystery genre tropes, especially tame since this is a cozy, but I was viewing
this through the lens of an American. A homeland Filipino sensitivity reader
pointed out that those scenes had a triggering effect on her because they hit
so close to home regarding the way the PNP (Philippine National Police)
enforces President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
For the sake of my readers, I’d like to provide content warnings for
indications of evidence planting and police intimidation, as well as drug use,
fatphobia, racism, and domestic violence.
Arsenic and Adobo has a deliberately light and humorous tone, but it is
still a work of crime fiction. It would be a disservice to my readers and any
survivors of these listed issues for me to gloss over these problems or treat
their concerns in a flippant manner.
To learn more about Duterte’s drug war, please check out these resources
recommended by my sensitivity reader:
DrugArchive.ph: the repository of a drug war research consortium
composed of Ateneo, La Salle, and UP researchers
On the President’s Orders: award-winning documentary on the drug war
Paalam.org: a remembrance site for the victims of the drug war
“Summary & Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines”: report submitted
to the UNHRC on the drug war
Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
HONORIFICS/FAMILY (THE “O” USUALLY HAS A SHORT, SOFT SOUND)
Anak (ah-nahk)—Offspring/son/daughter
Ate (ah-teh)—Older sister/female cousin/girl of the same generation as you
Bunso (boon-soh)—Youngest in the family
Kuya (koo-yah)—Older brother/male cousin/boy of the same generation as
you
Lola (loh-lah)/Lolo (loh-loh)—Grandmother/Grandfather
Ninang (nee-nahng)/Ninong (nee-nohng)—Godmother/Godfather
Tita (tee-tah)/Tito (tee-toh)—Aunt/Uncle
FOOD
Adobo (uh-doh-boh)—Considered the Philippines’s national dish, it’s any
food cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns
(though there are many regional and personal variations)
Almondigas (ahl-mohn-dee-gahs)—Filipino soup with meatballs and thin
rice noodles
Baon (bah-ohn)—Food, snacks or other provisions brought on to work,
school, or on a trip; food brought from home; money or allowance
brought to school or work; lunch money (definition from Tagalog.com)
Embutido (ehm-puh-tee-doh)—Filipino meatloaf
Ginataang (gih-nih-tahng)—Any dish cooked with coconut milk, sweet or
savory
Kakanin (kah-kah-nin)—Sweet sticky cakes made from glutinous rice or
root crops like cassava (There’s a huge variety, many of them regional)
Kesong puti (keh-sohng poo-tih)—A kind of salty white cheese
Lengua de gato (lehng-gwah deh gah-toh)—Filipino butter cookies
Lumpia (loom-pyah)—Filipino spring rolls (many variations)
Lumpiang sariwa (loom-pyahng sah-ree-wah)—Fresh Filipino spring rolls
(not fried)
Mamón (mah-MOHN)—Filipino sponge/chiffon cake
Matamis na bao (mah-tah-mees nah bah-oh)—Coconut jam
Meryenda (mehr-yehn-dah)—Snack/snack time
Pandesal (pahn deh sahl)—Lightly sweetened Filipino rolls topped with
breadcrumbs (also written pan de sal)
Patis (pah-tees)—Fish sauce
Salabat (sah-lah-baht)—Filipino ginger tea
Suman (soo-mahn)—Glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, wrapped in
banana leaves, and steamed (though there are regional variations)
Ube (oo-beh)—Purple yam
OTHER
Diba (dih-bah)—Isn’t it?; Right?; short for “hindi ba” (also written as “di
ba”)
Macapagal (Mah-cah-pah-gahl)—A Filipino surname
Mga ninang—In Tagalog, you don’t pluralize words by adding -s at the end.
You add “mga” (mahng-ah) in front of the word
Oh my gulay—This is Taglish (Tagalog-English) slang, used when people
don’t want to say the “God” part of OMG. “Gulay” (goo-lie) literally
means vegetable, so this phrase shouldn’t be translated.
Tama na (tah-mah nah)—That’s enough; Stop; Right/Correct (depends on
context)
Tsinelas (chi-neh-lahs)—Slippers/sandals
Utang na loob (oo-tahng nah loh-ohb)—Debt of gratitude (though it goes
much deeper than that)
