Arsenic and Adobo

One of the things about the Mystery genre I have always liked is that it’s a big tent. Long before other literary forms began looking for “underrepresented voices,” the mystery genre was welcoming to anyone who could write a good book. Women have always been welcome as mystery writers, no bias here. People of color began to gain traction in the 1970s (Walter Mosley, for instance) without being turned away. There have been mysteries set on the Navaho Reservation, the ghetto, the barrio…pretty much anywhere people are killing each other and trying to get away with it.

The book depicted above takes place in small town midwestern America. The protagonist/amateur sleuth is a Filipino woman who comes home from the big city to help out her Tia Rosa running a restaurant. She serves her ex-boyfriend some Adobo (a traditional Filipino dish) and he keels over dead. The hijinks ensue.

Those who are familiar with this blog–and six of you–know that I am somewhat irritated by the publishing industry’s recent “discovery” that “underrepresented voices” deserve to be published. Like, where have ya been the last 50 years?

But Mia P. Manasalva was going to be a lock to get published no matter what. Because her book is engaging, fun, an excellent mystery with a satisfying solution, and well written. The fact that it concerns Filipino-Americans and their culinary delights is just a delicious bonus.

There are not too many books about the Filipino-American community at all. This book gives you a glimpse into the strong family connections and personalities of that community, as well as some of the informal traditions. (The author notes at one point that Filipino women feel they have to overfeed a guest to feel like they’ve been a good host.) The characters are not cartoonish or cliched. You like them and you feel you know them.

Mind you, I’m not into food other than to eat it. As a non-foodie, the loving descriptions of various ethnic dishes–from sushi to barbecue as well as Tia Rosa’s concoctions–did not leave me slavering. Okay, maybe a little.

But I recognize that foodie cozy mysteries are a thing and if we’re going to have them, better a well-written book with interesting characters than a thinly disguised cookbook with a so-so mystery.

(I’m not sure I like the word “cozy” either. It implies a comfortable cuddly book set in a “safe” world, and there is no such place. Most cozies–like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series–involve some nasty murders.)

Ms. Manansala was interviewed in the latest issue of Writer’s Digest and she has some interesting things to say about how she goes about writing her mysteries. She’s published three other TIa Rosa mysteries, and it doesn’t look like this series will end soon. And more power to her.

I have complained so often about bad mysteries published due to this “underrepresented voices” kick the publishers are on, I thought I’d throw out a good word about a good book. Indeed, let’s have lots more books from cultures previously ignored by the publishers–so long as they’re as charming and satisfying as Arsenic and Adobo.