Q&A: Mia P. Manansala, Author of 'Death in the Cards'

We chat with author Mia P. Manansala about Death in the Cards, which sees a high school tarot reader’s latest client goes missing after a troubling reading, so she must apply everything she’s learned from her private investigator mother to solve a case of her own.

Hi, Mia! Welcome back! It’s been a bit over six months since we last spoke. How’s 2025 treating you?

2025 has been a LOT so far, but it’s also shaping up to be a significant year for me since it’s one of beginnings and endings. Not only has my YA debut just come out, but the last book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series releases on November 25^th. It’s like the end of one era and the beginning of another.

**Your latest novel, Death in the Cards, marks your YA debut and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?**

Queer Filipino Veronica Mars vibes

What can readers expect?

The usual suspects in a Mia P. Manansala story, namely family, food, and murder. There’s also quite a bit of tarot reading, a teen protagonist doing her best to figure out who she is and what she truly wants, and even a little bit of romance.

**Where did the inspiration for Death in the Cards come from?**

I love amateur sleuth and P.I. stories, so when I started to develop the idea, I asked myself what would be a fun and somewhat believable reason for a teenager to become a detective? I loved Veronica Mars, so I figured with a private investigator for a mom and a mystery author for a dad, of course my protagonist Danika would want to get involved in investigations. She’s gotten plenty of training from her parents, but I also wanted her to have her own particular skill that makes her a good detective and that’s how I incorporated tarot reading as an important part of her character since tarot reading is one of my hobbies.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

There were so many moments that I enjoyed, but I think the character that surprised me the most is one that wasn’t even in my original proposal when I sold the book. Based on some feedback I got from my editor, I added a particular character and subplot (don’t want to say which one in case of spoilers) and I was amazed at the depth I was able to weave in because of them.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Every single book is challenging in a different way. I think for me, the biggest challenge was making sure the book felt like a proper YA story that teens would actually want to read. Once I realized that I didn’t necessarily need to sound like a teenager (there was no way for me to do that without sounding cringe and outdated), I just needed to make you feel the way a teenager does (the intense highs and lows, being misunderstood, trying to figure out who you are) then it became easier.

What was the shift like going from writing adult mysteries to YA?

Anxiety-inducing yet freeing and rewarding. I didn’t want Danika to sound like a younger version of Lila (my Adult cozy protagonist), I wanted her to be her own person. After writing so many books following the same protagonist in the same world, I now had to build everything again from the ground up. In some ways, the process was similar since I was still writing a mystery but because I’m now writing for kids, I had to be so much more mindful of what I’m putting on the page. I learned to be more intentional. Because of that, I feel like I’ve levelled up as a writer. And while I’m very comfortable in the world of Adult mystery, YA is a completely different ballgame, so I’m nervous about the reception of this book.

Q&A: Kara H.L. Chen, Author of ‘Asking for a Friend’

**With six books in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series released in the last four years, when did Death in the Cards begin forming and what was your schedule like? Were you juggling two books?**

Death in the Cards started forming back in 2021. My (now) YA editor had read my debut, Arsenic and Adobo, and contacted my literary agent saying she liked my voice and wanted to know if I was interested in writing YA. We bounced several ideas back and forth, and once we decided on a concept, I worked on the proposal on and off for about a year and a half. It took me a while because the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery books come out less than a year apart, so I’m always drafting one book, editing a second, and promoting a third, so I wasn’t able to devote a lot of time to it. I finally sold the book on proposal in Fall 2023 and had to juggle the deadlines of my YA with my Adult books as well. The timelines for YA are very different than in Adult, so that was definitely an adjustment.

Can we expect to see more of Danika?

Yes! I was lucky enough to sell the next book in the series, tentatively titled Murder Under the Full Moon. My teen sleuth, Danika, goes undercover at a Burning Man-esque retreat to find out who is targeting members of the community after a series of “accidents” leads to another teen’s murder.

What’s next for you?

I’ve got a short story coming out in the Crime Ink: Iconic anthology, which releases September 2^nd. The anthology features all queer crime writers and we each chose a queer icon to base a story around. November 25^th is the release date for the last book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series, Death and Dinuguan, which is definitely a bittersweet feeling. And I’m currently drafting the sequel to my YA, Murder Under the Full Moon, which is scheduled to come out Fall 2026.