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!