Very different - delightful.

I watched the first series on Acorn and am eagerly awaiting the sequel. After listening to the first book, I also bought the Kindle book for the glossary and recipes. I also bought the paperback so friends could read it and pass it around.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great Mystery

Great mystery mixed with some comedy and lots of twists and turns. I felt the author really took me back to South Africa with such colorful descriptions of the places, people, and food.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Light and Cozy Murder

The story developed over time. It was light and easy to listen to yet serious in other parts.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Recipes for a great experience

This is one of my favorite Audible books yet. The book isn't just a great story with an engaging mystery and wonderful characters - it comes together completely as a beautiful work of art when read out loud. Not one note out of place. The descriptions of the Karoo - it's weather, animals, plants, landscape, recipes - make the place itself a lovable character that I couldn't help but care about deeply. And Tannie Maria just stole my heart. It is lovely to find a protagonist who is simple and complex, trustworthy and unpredictable, loving but just, utterly sane and yet has great conversations with her food. She is the perfect heroine to take on human evil. In a crazy world, this book just gave my soul a safe place to settle. Sandra Prisnloo's delivery is like an opera singer with perfect pitch - again, not one note out of place. Her voice, her accents, and her obvious love for the characters, deliver a complex story in a believable way that kept me completely engaged. I tried to read this book before I listened to it, and had a hard time getting into it, but the reader's voice was beautiful and I was hooked. The TV show is great, but again, the book is perfect, so why the heck did they change anything? Loved loved loved this book. I will be going back to listen to it again. Thanks, Audible! :)

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A South African treasure

What did you love best about Recipes for Love and Murder?

As a South African who lives far from home, I relished the tiny details that made the book so exquisitely South African, and so "of the Karoo". Sandra Prinsloo did a marvellous job of narrating the story and capturing the characters' qualities.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The book is less about the plot (which is fun and not schmaltzy) and more about South African quirkiness and humour that has been so beautifully rendered.

Which character – as performed by Sandra Prinsloo – was your favorite?

My favorite characters are all three women - Tannie Maria, Jessie and Hettie -- each as distinct and "typical" of their backgrounds as can be. And yet they did not feel at all stereotyped.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed aloud, I chuckled, and I smiled as I listened -- I usually listen to book as I take a long walk or as I drive ... an antidote to getting stuck in lousy traffic. I experienced both deep pleasure as I listened and sadness as the book ended.

Any additional comments?

I did get a little tired of how much chestnut hair there was in the book :)

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Love this series!

And love the new tv adaptation! Hoping they all get made into audiobooks, can’t wait for more!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Earns 5++/5 Advice & Recipes…Brilliant Favorite!

Maria Van Harten, known respectfully as Tannie Maria, is dumbfounded. She’d been writing the recipe column for the Klein Karoo Gazette for a while, and now it is set to be replaced by an advice column. Hattie, the paper’s editor, has no choice, but she has an idea…Tannie Maria could write the column! Hattie downplays Maria’s lack of interest and concern she knows little of love, but entices her with the promise she could include a recipe with her advice: Tannie Maria’s Love Advice and Recipe Column. Agreed.

Jess, the young reporter, knows the small town has a big story hiding somewhere, something hard-hitting, something revealing, something explosive, but no one thought the big story would be murder, and no one thought it’d be connected to a “Dear Tannie Maria” letter. Maria has personal experience with abuse, so she is more connected to the plight of “Bereft Wife” seeking advice and a better mutton curry recipe to satisfy her husband. But, the curry dish isn’t enough to prevent murder. It seems obvious the husband did it, but he accuses the next door neighbor who was closely connected to his wife. Maria and Jess, without approval from Detective Lieutenant Henk Kennemeyer, make it their mission to ensure the killer is held responsible...just the big story Jess wanted. Can it be done without their own safety in jeopardy?

Books, as many know, are vastly better than any “based on” program with more room to explore more deeply character’s background, personal and professional motivations, and inner feelings. For me, the recent program gave me the basic ingredients and a delightful treat, but the book gave me the spice and depth of flavor. The additional letters begging for Tannie Maria’s advice and expertise in the kitchen, all the marvelous food talk and helpful tips (like directions for the perfect boiled egg), and more details and interactions between the close friends were all greatly entertaining, and the cast from the show gave me faces to match to the names, even if the author’s vision was a little different, I like what my mind’s eye visualized.

Sally Andrew’s first book is brilliant with the main drama being the one I enjoyed from the newly aired series. I don’t mind knowing the ending because there are different names, genders, and ethnicities, additional characters, letters, recipes, and events, and more details, often different, and insights into Tannie Maria’s own past, tragic and otherwise. Andrews has written from the first-person perspective of Tannie Maria filled with witty repartee and a engaging cleverness entwining food with love and murder to create a cohesive, compelling mystery. The book is an absolute must not just for an outstanding and expanded story, but also for the picturesque descriptions providing the perfect visual of the Klein Karoo landscape and the diverse, multi-generational characters, insights into the unique culture along with its conflicts and history.

The book includes Tannie Maria’s Glossary to help understand many of the words associated to the region and the native language, but with eBooks many words pop up with definitions and translations when clicked on. But, the best bonus is the recipes from Tannie Maria’s kitchen that illustrated her advice. There are tips and insights along with several recipes categorized as Meats (4), Sweets (8), and Breads (2)!

I have two copies of the book…it is that good! I have the Kindle version for easy referral to the marvelous recipes, but I also picked up the audiobook (11 hrs.; 24 mins) for the convenience and the extraordinary voice talent of Sandra Pinsloo. Her accent and cadence of her narration seemed accurate for which I have experienced. She did well to change tone for the various characters and made a good effort to portray male voices. She enriched my experience!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

GREAT- like McCall Smith's books - Ladies No 1

This reminded me of the Ladies No 1 Det Agency - well written, fun and interesting. I felt transported into their lives and loved the setting - descriptive ! Loved the audio - Sandra Prinsloo - lovely voice and lovely cadence.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

I saw the TV series and wanted more.

I enjoyed reading/listening to the voices of the women and men in this book. The individual people who are all strong and weak in their own way. Each is unique. None are cliche. These feel like very real people.

I love how a country that is remote from my own area of the world is described. I love the recipes used throughout. They connect strangers while satisfy hungers, They nurture and heal. One sent me to my kitchen to make a mango sorbet.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A unique and creative mystery set in South Africa

Tannie Maria has been writing a cooking column for the local newspaper in rural South Africa when the owners announce that The Gazette needs an advice column, but the only way to fit that in to us for pages is to eliminate Tannie Maria’s recipe column in Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew. Tannie (a term of respect) Maria solves the problem by combining the advice with recipes that will help the reader deal with the problem.

One of the first letters to arrive is from a woman being abused by her husband, who broke her arm and shot the ducks given to the anonymous woman by her dearest female friend. Tannie Maria becomes invested in this case, though she doesn’t know the identity of the woman or her friend, who also has written, wanting to know how long she would have to spend in prison if she kills the abusive husband in self-defense. The case also dredges up Maria’s own history with her own late husband, who abused her badly during his life. Unable to get up the courage to leave her husband, Tannie Maria is determined to prevent any other woman from having to suffer her own fate.

Then one day the newspaper gets notice that a police car and ambulance are on the way to a home, and it doesn’t take long for Tannie Maria to spot the feathers of a white duck in the pond. This is the home of her correspondent, and the woman, now identified as Martine, is dead. If this isn’t bad enough, her dear friend, Anna, gets charged for the crime. Tannie Maria gets involved in trying to solve the mystery, all the while finding her niche as an advice columnist who uses recipes to help people get help.

This book is very creatively written, with a great flavor of South Africa and a unique take on a murder mystery. The touches of recipes add in well to the story, in a unique method different than most culinary mysteries. The method of storytelling was original in its combination of advice columns, recipes, and details of the mystery.

Sandra Prinsloo performs the narration of this book, using a South African accent. This accent is quite different from the ones used by South Africans I have known, but the country is large enough that I’m sure its accents vary just as much as American accents vary. Prinsloo really enlivens the book and fits the voice of this middle-aged woman who has survived an abusive marriage.

Recipes for Love and Murder is a creative, unique book. Not your typical culinary mystery, the book includes recipes both within the book and in the appendix, though the recipes are used to help others find ways to become competent in life and love. I really enjoyed this book, giving it five stars!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful