I recently re-read this book, hence this review. It is also just a testament of how much I just adore this book!
“Recipes for Love and Murder” is the first book in the “Tannie Maria Mysteries” series. And what a delight it is! This cosy mystery plays out in the Klein Karoo. The pure and unique beauty of this part of South Africa is a character of it’s own, but more about that later.
The quirky and loveable Tannie Maria is our main protagonist and an absolutely delightful narrator! Yes, I will probably use the word “delight” a few times more during this review, because that is what this book, and the entire series, is to me.
Back to Tannie Maria, I found her wonderfully relatable and endearing. She IS my spirit animal, my soul sister. Witty, warm, gutsy and giving, while being flawed and vulnerable at the same time.
She writes the recipe-slash-love advice column for the local newspaper, and with her passion for food and empathy for others, she shares heavenly recipes and sincere advice with the readers. When one of them is killed, Tannie Maria immediately becomes involved in the investigation. Unofficially of course. She teams up with her colleague, the fiery and spirited Jessie, and this dynamic duo makes it their mission to unravel the mysteries of the small town. Their friendship adds such a charming dynamic!
As the plot and the tension thickens, Tannie Maria finds comfort and nourish in the kitchen, whilst her recipes and cooking reflects her feelings, mood and experiences.
This book is filled with genuine and amiable and well-developed characters – a true celebration of the culture, gastronomy and scenery of the Klein Karoo. With the vibrant imagery, I was throughly invested in the world of Tannie Maria and friends (and foes).
Sally Andrew masterfully integrates the tense storyline with Tannie Maria’s gastronomic delights, with the enticing flavours of South Africa – traditional bobotie, aromatic curries, decadent baked goodies adding complexity and realism. And yes, the recipes are all included in this book for you to try out at home! Her writing is beautifully descriptive and addictive to read.
“Recipes for Love and Murder” also beautifully depicts the intricacy and cultural diversity of South Africa and its people. Social commentary on prejudice, trauma, domestic violence is handled with compassion and humour. It is a culinary and literary feast that will leave the readers craving for more!
“Recipes for Love and Murder” is the first book in the “Tannie Maria Mysteries” series. It is recommended to read this series in order:
1. Recipes for Love and Murder
2. (Tannie Maria and) The Satanic Mechanic
3. Death on the Limpopo
4. The Milk Tart Murders
This is one of my ultimate favourite books and book series! So much so that I have an entire collection of much-loved quotes:
• “I messed up,” I said to the cake. “If he had a taste of you, he would have agreed to anything I asked.” I licked a piece of rum-and-chocolate icing off my finger. “Anything”.”
• “You smell lovely,” I told the appelkooskonfyt. When I call it apricot ‘jam’ it sounds like something in a tin from the Spar, but when it’s konfyt, you know it’s made in a kitchen.”
• “Sometimes news travels faster than the things that are actually happening. I was once told of an old lady’s death before she died. But she did die, the next day, so she managed to catch up with the news.”
• “If a man treats a woman so badly that she ends her own life, it’s like he has killed her twice: her heart and then her body.”
• “Helmina,’ said Tannie Engels, ‘you always keep the shiny side up. But you can’t make gold from cow shit.’ ‘Ma…’ ‘It makes good compost,’ I said. ‘Cow dung”
• “I was leafing through a new batch of letters. The fan on the ceiling was going round and round. It was like an oven with a termafan. Jessie, Hattie and I were all being evenly baked as we sat at our desks.”
• “I ate the soft warm bread with butter and apricot jam on one slice and cheese on the other. I am not sure how settled my mind was, but the food settled nicely in my belly.”
• “Her voice was rough, but it had some sweet flavour, like Christmas cake with stones in it.”
• “I made some coffee and went and sat on the stoep to watch the day arrive. It happens all of a sudden in the Karoo. One minute the light is soft and full of the night’s shadows, and then the sun is blasting everything awake”
• “I don’t believe in sleeping in the day,” I said to my tea. “It’s confusing. When I wake up I don’t know whether to have breakfast, lunch or supper.” I dipped my muesli rusk into the tea. “I suppose I can just eat beskuit. Any time of the day.”
• “It has been too long without rain. The Karoo sun tries to suck all the moisture out of the plants and the people. But we knyp it in, holding on.”
• “If you are honest with yourself,” I said to the potato salad, “is the feeling of love really any better than the satisfaction you get from a good meal?”
• “But maybe life is like a river that can’t be stopped, always winding, towards or away from death and love. Back and forth. Still, even though life moves like that river, lots of people go their whole life without swimming. I thought I was one of those people.
• “Cooking vetkoek with curried mince is an art which South African tannies have spent generations getting just right. As I sat there enjoying the food, I was grateful to them all, especially my own mother who taught me me how to do it. There in my kitchen, eating that vetkoek and mince, I had that feeling I’d expect you would have when you go to a church you have faith in. I said I didn’t believe in anything, that my faith went out the window, but maybe that wasn’t true. I believe in vetkoek with curried mince, and all the tannies who made them. If the end of the world was coming, this was the meal I’d make.”
• “It made me feel peaceful, just being in the grocery store, looking at the piles of fresh fruit and vegetables. Bananas, apricots and melons. That sweet smell of ripe spanspek.”
• “Maybe he hadn’t saved my heart, but he had saved my life. Surely that was worth something.”
• “I was still awake after the crickets when to sleep. My thoughts went round and round like the moths at the light.”
• “I clutched my tin of buttermilk beskuit. I wanted to give him something to help with the shock. But he needed something else even more than these broken rusks. Something we all needed: hope. We had to have hope.”
• “We went to the back door and turned off our torches and watched the rain fall in the darkness. Cool, soft rain. Jessie and I grinned at each other. At last. The ground sighed with relief as it fell. I took in a deep breath. “Ooh, that smell,” I said. The first rain on the warm dry earth. Nothing like it. Then after the smell of the earth came the smell of the plants. It was like each plant gave something of itself to say thank you for the rain. All the smell mixed together to make a delicious air soup for us to breathe in. “Let’s have a sandwich to celebrate,” I said.”
• “I’ve never grown roses myself – they are too much work for something you can’t eat.”
• “I would need flour for the chocolate cake, of course. But also ingredients for chicken soup; a person cannot live of chocolate cake alone.”
• “I wanted to shout, but instead I did the dishes. In a way that was more noisy than usual.”
• “In the end what matters most is love and food. Without them you go hungry.”
• “We sat together at my kitchen table, just the vetkoek and me, then just me.”
Read an extract here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/penguinbooksblog/extract-recipes-love-and-murder-sally-andrew
The Details:
Published by Penguin Random House South Africa / Umuzi
ISBN 9781415207574
Format Trade Paperback
Recommended Price R300.00
Published October 2015
About the Author:
Sally Andrew https://www.sallyandrew.com/
