Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes

SAVVY SUMMERS AND THE SWEET POTATO CRIMES by Sandra Jackson-Opoku is a brand-new culinary mystery. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Karen Chilton – she did an excellent job. I liked the voice, the cozy story, and the clever use of language (e.g., “looking back from the intersection of hindsight and regret…”). This mystery debut is set in Southside Chicago so hearing about familiar locales was fun for me (despite the disparaging remarks about the beloved Cubbies baseball team). The title character is a woman trying to be strong and to give back to her community. She runs her own business, a soul food café based on her great Aunt Essie's recipes. But when a patron dies suddenly, Savvy’s livelihood is threatened, and she (along with her nosy assistant and policemen ex-husband) tries to figure out what happened. Savvy persists, often reflecting on Aunt Essie’s truisms like there are three sides to every story: “her side, his side and the dad-gone truth.” Library Journal gave SAVVY SUMMERS AND THE SWEET POTATO CRIMES a starred review, praising its “engaging community of characters.”