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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English
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http://www.sallyandrew.com/

RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER:

Sally Andrew

A Tannie Maria Mystery

Drawing on her own experience Sally Andrew has created a wonderful world in TANNIE MARIA'S RECIPES FOR LOVE & MURDER – a captivating sense of place and nature, and a colourful community sketched with real love.
Tannie* Maria (*literally Auntie, the respectful Afrikaans address for a woman older than you, not necessarily a relative) is our irresistible narrator, a woman of hearty appetite and formidable culinary skills, who writes a recipe column for her local paper, The Karoo Gazette. A middle-aged widow who once suffered beatings at the hands of her late husband, she tells us that “it was only when I discovered what bad company my husband was that I realized what good company food can be”. When The Gazette insists on replacing her recipe page with an Agony Aunt column, Tannie Maria discovers she has a gift for helping people to deal with their heartaches and confront their fears – with just the right recipe in the mix every time. You'll cheer for the shy mechanic who ‘can't even boil an egg' (to begin with ), and for all the lonely and sad and frustrated people who learn about food and life and love as Tannie Maria responds to them in her increasingly popular column. You'll certainly be tempted to try out some of her dishes too (and fortunately, there are a few recipes at the back of the manuscript if the cravings become too strong to quash any other way!). You'll cheer for Tannie Maria too, as she struggles with over-eating, her body image, and her own loneliness along the way. Then Tannie Maria receives a series of letters from a vulnerable woman, Martine, who is plotting to leave her abusive husband for the woman she loves. When Martine is murdered, Tannie Maria and her feisty young reporter colleague Jessie (‘The Girl with the Gecko Tattoo') can't resist being drawn into the investigation, despite the best efforts of handsome Detective Henk Kannemeyer (he of the impressive chestnut moustache) to keep them out of harm's way. Soon there is a lot more at stake than just the perfect buttermilk chocolate cake Regarding Sally, as she says: “I spend some time in the sea-side suburb of Muizenberg, Cape Town, but I live most of the year in a mud-brick house on a nature reserve near Ladismith in the Klein Karoo with my man and other wildlife (including a giant eland and a secretive leopard).” Sally's background is adult and environmental education and she has published a number of non-fiction books and educational articles. Her non-fiction book: The Fire Dogs of Climate Change – An Inspirational Call to Action (Findhorn Press 2009) was called ‘a sublimely beautiful book' by Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence magazine. She is smart, funny, down-to-earth and bubbling with great promotional ideas for the series as well.
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Book

Published 2015-10-01 by Random Umuzi

Comments

A Kirkus best book of 2015

Shanghai 99

"A delightful debut, tender and funny. The mystery takes on the worldwide problem of abused women while revealing both the beauties and problems of South Africa. And the recipes will make you want to drop everything and start cooking."

"South African writer Sally Andrew's irresistible first novel, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, [ ] an intriguing mystery in an exotic locale, is a work of enormous charm."

Norstedts

Fiction editor's Choice 2015

"Mouth-watering descriptions of food and landscapes delivered in an Afrikaans patois produce a distinctly new kind of tea cosy, one just right for curling up on a cold winter afternoon while daydreaming about the heat of the African sun."

A Good Housekeeping Book of the Month

Flammarion

Canongate

Otwarte

Atrium

Guanda

HarperCollins Canada

Text

Ecco

Varrak

Kinneret

"Tannie Maria, destined to become a legendary character: a South African Mary Poppins who offers everyone, policemen included, Tupperware boxes full of food A book that reminds us that hurting someone and calling it love is the worse crime ever."

Ara Ilibres

Named a Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of 2015!

Grijaldo

‘Winning debut culinary cozy. ... VERDICT: Take a pinch of Alexander McCall Smith, a dash of Diane Mott Davidson, and add a smidge of the wild veld and you'll get a taste for this lekker story (that's “delicious” in Afrikaans). While the tone is heartfelt, Andrew doesn't shy away from the realities of spousal abuse or the shadow of South Africa's tumultuous history. With a fascinating setting, engaging characters, and a full complement of drool-worthy recipes, this is sure to leave readers craving more.'