Guilt and Ginataan is the fifth book in Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery and the eight book I finished this month. Thank you Berkley Pub for sending a digital galley.

THOUGHTS
I can confidently say that I am a fan of this Mia Manansala's ongoing series and in Guilt and Ginataan, we follow a murder mystery surrounding Lila Macapagal's best friend, Adeena. While the Brew-ha crew are attending the Corn festival, Adeena tangled herself in a nasty situation.

First, thank you to the author for including the content warning in the beginning of the book. This book deals with emotionally difficult topics such as physical violence, anti-fat comments, stalking, political corruption, sexual harassment so if any of these is your trigger, I highly suggest to proceed with extra caution.

Now with the book, I always enjoy a cozy mystery with relatable references and the author did not hold back in making sure that the Filipino representation in this book is spot-on. Lila's character remains the main voice of the story but I like her character development now as she matured into someone who is more considerate and grateful of the people around her.

The supporting characters are still festive with all of the Macapagals, the Calendar Crew, Detective Park, Dr. Jae who is Lila's Bae, Amir and the Brew-ha plus the significant additional such as the people in Yvonne's life. It was easy to say that the author's strength in writing characters is still effective since it did not feel overwhelming or crowded with all of the people in Shady Palms and Shelbyville.

This time though, I was able to pinpoint who the culprit is and as someone who is not a huge mystery girlie, it's an achievement. Maybe it's me and my familiarity with the author's writing since this is the fifth book that I read.

I still enjoyed it as a cozy mystery and my expectations were met with this fifth installment. I'm excited for the author's upcoming works, hopefully there'll be a surprising curveball next time.

RATING: 3.5stars