The Milk Tart Murders: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

Description from Amazon:

Who knew a Marilyn Monroe movie could kill you? When Oom Frik of Oom Frik’s Fantastiques dies during a vintage movie screening in Ladismith, Tannie Maria and her policeman boyfriend Henk are on the scene.

Ja, the old thrift-shop owner had a heart condition, but was there more to his demise? It’s rumoured that among Frik’s junk are valuable treasures, and the grumpy, paranoid old guy frequently altered his will.

When a second body turns up, there’s a clue: a letter addressed to Tannie Maria asking for advice – and a milk tart recipe. Fifty-plus agony aunt Maria and feisty young journalist Jessie conduct their own treasure hunt and murder investigation. The police are looking for the perpetrator too, but the amateur detectives have unique skills, and Tannie Maria’s food is a powerful incentive to get people to talk.

Maria and Jessie step into deep danger, but all is not doom and gloom. Spring has arrived in the Karoo, and Henk and Maria discuss moving in together, even though his home is full of his late wife’s stuff. Maria knows food has a way of filling the dark spaces, for better or for worse. Perhaps, once the Klein Karoo crime-buster’s work is done, she might follow her own advice and try a healing recipe.

 

And with that, the series ends. My oh my, but Ladismith certainly is a town filled with mystery and crime! For such a quiet Karoo dorpie, there is a lot of action there.

Maria and Henk’s relationship definitely took a battering in this one, with each believing the other had eyes for someone else. This takes a toll on Maria’s ability to give sage advice to those who write in to her column. After all, when love is being questioned and the past interferes, how are you supposed to help others? And when Maria felt her love of food was becoming for more than pleasure, she had to take a serious look at herself and what she felt was important in life. When she looked into Overeaters Anonymous, this gem was in the book:

Overeaters Anonymous came from far away, probably America. They wouldn’t understand about rusks. If you live in South Africa, you know that rusks are not stuffing your face – they are a way of life. It’s just bad manners not to have one with your coffee.

I shall miss Hattie with her perfect hair, excellent Excel system, and lack of ability to make a cup of coffee, and Jessie, with her gecko tattoo, red scooter, and enthusiasm to help everyone.

The story itself was as outlandish as ever, with murders, mystery, sneaking around, wills, treasure, a pink lacy bra, and Karoo Zoo biscuits. And the recipes look as good as before – I’ll be trying Zaba’s Harissa paste for sure.

A great end to a fun series – what a pity it’s over!

Death on the Limpopo: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

Description from Amazon:

Tannie Maria might be the Karoo’s favourite agony aunt, but when it comes to matters of her own heart, she doesn’t have all the answers. Why is she having trouble telling her beau – the dashing Detective Henk Kannemeyer with the chestnut moustache – that she loves him?

There are other, more pressing problems too. A tall, dark stranger zooms in on her Ducati motorbike: she is Zabanguni Kani, a journalist renowned for her political exposés, who, after receiving threats, moves in with Tannie Maria for safety.

And who could tell that a trip to the country’s northern parts was on the cards? The journey plunges Maria and her friends into pools of danger, amid water maidens, murders, and Harley Davidsons.

Ladismith’s famous crime fighter is back – with a tin of buttermilk rusks in hand – to restore peace from the Klein Karoo to the great Limpopo River.

 

Well I got my paws on the third and fourth book so am currently working my way through them. The third was not what I expected at all, as it leans quite heavily into politics and the ramifications of apartheid and not the murder mystery we had come to expect.

 

Initially I did not like Zaba as she seemed to arrive already having decided that things would go her own way. But as a murder happens close to them and Zaba is desperate to keep some letters that point to a killer safe, Maria realises there is a lot more to this than meets the eye.

 

Maria has some childhood memories of her father, but mostly that she didn’t get to see him a lot as he was murdered up North when she was young. However, he did introduce her to the concept of the “great grey-green greasy Limpopo” from the famous Kipling book Just so Stories. And when Zaba asks Maria to accompany her to the Limpopo, Maria’s newly awoken wanderlust comes into play (and a long trip in a bakkie that size is going to play hell with your butt).

 

The two head off to solve a mystery that somehow ties them together, but on the way are stalked and nearly killed a number of times. Henk wants Maria back ASAP, but this is her time – she needs closure on something she didn’t even know was coming. And she needs a bit of time away from Henk, who has professed his love for her. Something she can’t quite say back yet.

 

The story ends with a bit of an improbable scenario but who am I to argue with what a baobab can do? And who would kill to save their reputation? The family tie-in makes for an interesting connection and shows just how deep love is and has no boundaries.

 

As usual there is food involved – a lot of it. And the recipes at the back of the book sound fabulous yet again. Bring on the last book!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Description from Amazon:

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.

 

With 19 “warnings” on Amazon and many before you even start the book of twists on twists, well… you can see where this is going. As soon as people start saying there are twists you don’t see coming, you start looking for them, and then pretty soon it’s easy to spot where the twist starts.

 

Granted… it was a good idea, but similar to ones I have read before. The first part has you looking for clues and keeps you captivated, but as the layers start unfolding, it becomes very drawn out with subplots that don’t feel necessary. So you have Nellie, who is engaged to Richard, who feels as though his ex-wife Vanessa (now struggling with alcohol and life itself) is trying to ruin the upcoming wedding.

 

Red flags are everywhere and should keep you questioning past and present decisions by the characters. This is one of those books that is difficult to explain where it goes wrong without giving it all away, but suffice it to say, I’m really not feeling the “let’s blame bad actions on our childhoods” or “oh gosh, my plan to ruin another’s life was all for the greater good”.

 

You’ll either love this book or hate it, and since part of it actually made me want to read more, I’m in the middle. Would I read it again to go back and see the trail of clues sprinkled to explain the ending? No.

A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

Description from Amazon:

Ever wondered where lost things go?

 

Ever since the day her classmate vanished, Sandy Shortt has been haunted by what happens when something – or someone – disappears. Finding has become her goal.

 

Jack Ruttle is desperate to find his younger brother who vanished into thin air a year ago. He spots an ad for Sandy’s missing persons agency and is certain that she will answer his prayers and find his brother.

 

But then Sandy disappears too, stumbling upon a place that is a world away from the only one she has ever known. Now all she wants, more than anything, is to find her way home.

 

Having never read a Cecelia Ahern book before, I was intrigued first by the cover, and then by the description. Yes – the elusive socks and Tupperware bases or lids are all too familiar.

 

It is a lovely story indeed. Some might say twee but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Sandy Shortt (who is anything but) comes across initially as an obsessive, self-absorbed, unlikable person, but once you understand her desire to help and how far she is willing to go to find people who have vanished, you realise what a heart of gold she has.

 

Jake was also an interesting character as his obsession in trying to find his brother showed his attitude in not wanting to give up but also that it became destructive as he was willing to let go of relationships to find answers.

 

The Here was a fascinating place, and the way missing people had come together to create communities was quite something. Their attitudes about staying put were quite strange, though. Sandy’s role in the Here and her desperation to get back made for some fun reading.

 

At the end of it all, you came to the realisation that missing can mean many things – it’s not just something physical. And at the end of the story, I longed for a place to exist where missing things do indeed go to.

I’ve looked at more of her books and while the rest might not be what I’d continue to read, this one was light-hearted fun.

 

The Doll's House by Evelyn Anthony

Description from Amazon:

A female Intelligence agent is dispatched to spy on a group of retired spooks engaging in international terrorism in this post–Cold War thriller

 

After three decades serving king and country, fifty-one-year-old Harry Oakham is put out to pasture with a miserly pension. But the former civil servant has his own ideas for his so-called retirement. He settles into a luxury hotel in the English countryside and rounds up a disgruntled crew of the world’s most brilliant ex-spooks, including a German expert in counter-espionage and interrogation, a KGB tactician, a former Mossad terrorist, and a lethal blond killer. Hiring themselves out to the highest bidder, their first job is the assassination of a Saudi prince.

 

Meanwhile, still smarting from a recent divorce, undercover diplomat-turned-agent Rosa Bennet has been dispatched to the Doll’s House to spy on Oakham and make sure the retired agent is adapting to civilian life. The last thing the Intelligence agent expects is to fall in love with her target. And when Oakham’s recruits get wind of his affair with Rosa—and her true identity—they will devise a plan to eliminate the traitor in their midst.

 

This was a DNF for me. I was in the library about to check out another book when it didn’t want to go through the system so I grabbed the next book under “A” and just took it because of the title. It didn’t even have a dust jacket so I had no idea what it was about.

 

I can’t believe it was only written ten years ago as the writing feels very old. It’s set post-Cold War, so I see where the interactions are supposed to fit in with the time period but the dialogue is just odd. Straight away it starts off with enemies about to work together against the countries that no longer had use for them, couples unhappy in marriages and either having affairs or about to divorce, and women being resented for wanting to pursue careers. Lots of characters and situations to keep up with from the get-go.

 

I hate not finishing books as the author has taken the time to write them and it’s usually a labour of love but in this instance I’d rather read something I know I’ll enjoy to the end and not regret having spent “wasted time”. This might be fabulous for others but just not for me…

Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan

Description from Amazon

Madame Burova – Tarot Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant is retiring and leaving her booth on the Brighton seafront after fifty years.

 

Imelda Burova has spent a lifetime keeping other people's secrets and her silence has come at a price. She has seen the lovers and the liars, the angels and the devils, the dreamers and the fools. Her cards had unmasked them all and her cards never lied. But Madame Burova is weary of other people's lives, their ghosts from the past and other people's secrets, she needs rest and a little piece of life for herself. Before that, however, she has to fulfill a promise made a long time ago. She holds two brown envelopes in her hand, and she has to deliver them.

 

In London, it is time for another woman to make a fresh start. Billie has lost her university job, her marriage, and her place in the world when she discovers something that leaves her very identity in question. Determined to find answers, she must follow a trail which might just lead right to Madame Burova's door.

 

In a story spanning over fifty years, Ruth Hogan conjures a magical world of 1970s holiday camps and seaside entertainers, eccentrics, heroes and villains, the lost and the found. Young people, with their lives before them, make choices which echo down the years. And a wall of death rider is part of a love story which will last through time.

 

What a magical tale! I absolutely loved it! The easy-to-read writing conjured up visions of the holiday camp at Larkins and the fabulous people who worked there. From a gin-drinking contortionist, to the enchanting mermaids, to the smoky-voiced singer, to the people who run it all behind the scenes. Each character had their place and they all fitted in perfectly.

 

The main story is around Imelda and Billie and the quest to find answers and the way that people are brought back into the picture from so many years ago who somehow still fit together is delightful. The main theme has so many side themes including bullying, sexual harassment, reaching for your dreams, and simply love, that makes the time jumps between chapters feel like you are living it all with them.

 

It was a light holiday read, which meant that sometimes things were not gone into as deeply as I would have liked, but it was still fun to read, nonetheless. A happy ending? I'm not sure... but the journey was good.

The Satanic Mechanic (Tannie Maria Mysteries #2)

Description from Amazon: (Yes I know I’m getting lazy doing my own descriptions – just been super busy!)

Tannie Maria, our crime-fighting, food-loving heroine, returns to solve another delicious caper: the mystery of her own romantic future.

Tannie Maria—recipe writer turned crime fighter—barely has time to return to her cooking and advice column for the local Gazette when she finds herself embroiled in another whodunnit—Slimkat the Bushman’s life is being threatened, and Tannie Maria is determined to find out who wants to kill him. The nature reserve beside the Kuruman River has been awarded as ancestral land to the Bushmen, also known as the San people, and a host of greedy parties, like diamond miners and cattle companies, are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them from claiming it.

Add to the mix that Tannie Maria is also trying to overcome her own hangups in love with her boyfriend, the rugged detective Lieutenant Henk Kannymeyer, and—for the first time in her life—to go on a diet, there is no shortage of conundrums personal and professional for an amateur sleuth to confront in this delightful, warm-hearted sequel. 

 

I watched the series Recipes for Love and Murder not realizing it was based on a book, and when I found the sequel (plus another two) in the library, I was so happy! It was odd reading it, though, seeing as the characters were different from how they were portrayed on tv and the main character was from Ireland and not South Africa!

I could picture the Karoo sunsets with some moerkoffie and a beskuit (I am rather partial to rusks, myself) and hear the sound of the birds in the background. Okay and the chickens too. The scenes around the fire where they were doing the healing and Maria’s visions were very well described.

I liked the relationship between Henk and Maria and the ups and downs it went through in him trying to protect her and her trying to face her past and protect herself. In fact, the relationships between all of the characters and how their pasts fitted into the present was quite the little puzzle. So many external factors played a part like mental health, nature conservation, ancestral land, and responsible journalism.

I still love the way Maria links a recipe to each of her “Agony Aunt” letters and how the contents of the letters might not be what they initially seem. That the recipes are included after is great, but some of the ingredients (while yes, they can be picked up at Spar,) are rather expensive to be using them as she uses them, plus sometimes eating them in one go would definitely put strain on a reporter’s salary! I like her advocating for the use of a Wonderbag™ in place of a hotbox.

The basis of the story about ancestral land and rights is an important underlying story and the “South Africanisms” used are just so lekker local! A glossary might help some people – and, as always, the inevitable explanation of now/now-now/just-now.

I can’t wait for the next two!