Book Review – Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew
The reviews said that if you are a fan of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Books by Alexander McCall Smith you will love this book. I am a big fan of Alexander McCall Smith’s work and did indeed like Recipes for Love and Murder very much.
Both books are set in Africa. Both books invoke the sights and smells and dust and earth and rain of Africa. Both authors understand the people – their cultural peculiarities, histories and quirks.
Alexander McCall Smith has created the most believable fictitious detective in the inimitable Mma Ramotswe. She has a universal appeal that readers who have never set foot on African soil are entertained and educated and will read book after book in the series with pure delight.
Tannie Maria is not Mma Ramotswe. I have an idea of who she is, but it is drawn less from the book than from my own history. I am not sure, outside of a South African audience, if she will be completely understood.
That all being said, I applaud Sally Andrews for introducing Tannie Maria and her ‘chommies’ to the world. Her descriptions of the rural Karoo are evocative and timeless. The cast of characters become more endearing and the story line more engaging the more you read.
What began as a rather one dimensional character and story line developed beautifully into a many-faceted culinary experience seasoned with sinister stories, murder and a blossoming romance.
A reader unfamiliar with South Africa and the Afrikaans language might feel a bit frustrated. I would recommend they read it anyway. It is a taste of earth and characters from an almost extinct culture, in a country far, far away.
