BARBACOA, BOMBA, AND BETRAYAL, written by Raquel V. Reyes, is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series. Miriam, a food anthropologist, receives airplane tickets from her husband for her and her son to visit her parents in Punta Cana. This pregnant mother, Miriam, ends up going to Puerto Rico where she has adventures and faces danger.

I think this book is more enjoyable if you know how to speak a little Spanish, which is added to parts of the dialogue. Some readers may find the inclusion of a second language to be annoying, but it adds to the story’s realism. There are times, however, when the Spanish seems a bit much and makes it difficult to follow the plot. I like the addition of recipes at the end of the book. My thanks go to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review the e-arc of BARBACOA, BOMBA, AND BETRAYAL.

This was a fun book to read, and I love being in the world of Miriam and her friends. The writing is crisp, the dialogue is engaging, and the narrative was visually descriptive. The author did a great in in this fast-paced and well-written whodunit that had me immersed in all aspects in the telling of this tale. The mystery was laid out so that it was easy to follow with what the author had intended. I love the supporting and guest characters who added flavor to this enticingly inducing story. Who is Alma’s new friend and what role does he play? Is Jules really who he says he is? What is going on with Miriam’s parents’ place? So much mystery to solve and it was interesting and intriguing that kept me in the game from beginning to end. A delightfully entertaining read and I look forward to more adventures with Miriam and her friends.

I read both of Raquel Reyes’ other books in this series and this installment was another hit! I absolutely LOVE the writing style and the bilingual English/Spanish conversations. As someone who only understands some Spanish from my parents, it was so fun figuring it out. The story line was great and I absolutely love the food, the Caribbean vibes, and Miriam is an amazing character! I will absolutely continue reading anything that comes out from this author and this series!

Dominican Republic, bilingual-conversations, English/Spanish, food-anthropology, cultural-anthropology, cultural-differences, cultural-diversity, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, situational-humor, family, recipes, cozy-mystery, multicultural, multigenerational, amateur-sleuth, Latinx, series, Puerto Rico, TV/film-industry, TV-personality, sabotage, friendship, greed*****

Miriam has a PhD in culinary anthropology, has a foodie program on Spanish language TV, is married to a wonderful husband (whose mother is from The Pit), has one small son and is pregnant. Husband gifts her with arrangements and tickets for her and small one to visit her family in the Dominican Republic. While there, work calls and she has to meet them in Puerto Rico. And bad things happen there and to her parents concerns.
Very current problems and people.
As one who isn't bad at printed Spanish but awful at spoken, the bilingual English/Espanol adds a lot to everything. The cultural aspects are a good learning experience, as are the food anthropology lessons and the recipes, and the political attitudes, not to mention learning about flora and fauna of the Carib tropics. I love this entry into this fun series!
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This was so freaking good!!! This I found out is the 3rd in a series so I'm definitely going to go and get the first 2. I love Miriam and the whole cooking cozy mystery is an absolute favorite of mine. I need more of these!!
I just reviewed Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes. #BarbacoaBombaandBetrayal #NetGalley
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Oh, that was a nice read. Set in Republica Dominicana and Puerto Rico, it’s a fast read with a nice plot and interesting characters.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

Robert surprises Miriam with a trip to visit her parents over the holidays. Unfortunately, work has different plans for her and she finds her self leaving Manny with her parents while she flies off to work in Puerto Rico. What should be a few easy days of filming turns into quite an interesting time for Miriam, her colleagues and her friends.

Upon arriving at the guest house, where Miriam is staying, the police are working at the hotel next-door, where her body was found in the alley. Soon, Miriam finds herself trying to figure out who killed the man and why. Well, she’s not officially sleuthing, her curious mine just won’t let things rest. And when her friend seem to be caught up into the mystery. Somehow, she finds her self more involved than she expected.

This book was in English but mixed with a lot of Spanish so I had a very hard time understanding a lot of it. Also, this was not a stand alone but Part of a series so it was hard to figure out the back story. There was mystery and suspense, and humor, but because of the language barrier I did not enjoy this book as much as I would of liked.

Book 3 of a fun series. Liked this one, especially since the poisonous MIL was only a little in the book. So glad mine was a sweet lady. Anyway, this one is not in Miami, but first in the Dominican Republic and the Puerto Rico. I like the mixture of Spanish and English, and although I am more familiar with Mexican slang I had no issue understanding. Fun read, and good cozy mystery. Highly recommend this series and author.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of BARBACOA, BOMBA, AND BETRAYAL (Book 3 of the Caribbean Kitchen Mysteries) by Raquel B. Reyes in exchange for an honest review. Miriam is excited to receive surprise tickets to visit her parents in the Dominican Republic as a Christmas gift. Once at her parents, Miriam discovers her visit will be interrupted with a business trip to Puerto Rico for the new year. Despite her determination to avoid mysteries, during her travels, Miriam begins to notice odd behavior and becomes involved in uncovering more illegal shenanigans. Oops!

I liked the storyline the prior books. First, I have to state that the books is full of political agendas: referring to dates as B.C.E., gay rights, and anti-American colonialism in Puerto Rico. Second, if you can get past all of the political rhetoric, the storyline was good. I recommend the book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring real estate fraud, bit coins, ethnic studies, Spanish language, cooking, and foodie television shows.

#BarbacoaBombaandBetrayal #NetGalley

I didn't realize this was in a series and it was fine as a standalone but it switched between English and Spanish and as someone who isn't bilingual unfortunately, I didn't understand some of the story and was lost. There was a lot of unnecessary commentary and I didn't particularly like the abrupt ending. Not for me.

The text in the book is split between English and Spanish. I don’t understand Spanish so that’s frustrating for me trying to figure out what it’s saying. I didn’t like that there is a lot of commentary about the exploitation of Puerto Rico and it’s people, it’s very off putting. The story is about a cozy mystery not a documentary. It ends very abruptly, I was actually checking that part of the story wasn’t missing. #BarbacoaBombaAndBetrayal #NetGalley

"Barbacoa, Bomb, and Betrayal" is the third book of the "A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery" by Raquel V. Reyes. Being of Puerto Rican decent I found this very cool to see a cozy mystery with so much of Puerto Rico in it. Woopa! Quiero muchos mas Buricuas! Gracias!