4.5 rounded up because this is a masterclass in a cozy series debut, honestly. A really distinct community that readers will want to continue to get to know, peppered liberally with a vast array of characters and personalities. A well told mystery that is thoroughly and satisfactorily resolved.

I enjoyed this introduction to a new mystery series, but it wasn't as cozy as I expected it to be. I hated how the police treated this Caribbean family, so unlike most cozies, I'm not really looking forward to more installments about this baker working with the police to solve more crimes. I'm not even sure that's the direction this series will go. That said, I did enjoy the setting and the characters enough to care to find out where it does go so I'll be looking forward to the next book.

I received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this! This was a fun cozy mystery that gave me similar vibes to Arsenic & Adobo, but set in NYC. I really liked the family dynamics, but felt that the story was a bit repetitive and there was a lot going on. I'll definitely pick up the next if this becomes a series though!

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Against the Currant is a nice cozy mystery set in a Caribbean bakery. The main character, Lindsay, has to clear her name and investigates the murder of another bakery owner in the same neighborhood. Lindsay and her family are nice, relatable characters and give the story a distinct flavor. The storyline was interesting, and it makes me want to read other books by Olivia Matthews. Definitely worth reading!

Against The Currant is the first book in a new cozy series featuring a family from Grenada who are opening a bakery in their Brooklyn neighborhood. The story is told from the POV of the main character, Lyndsay, the daughter of the family. It was her idea to open the bakery, which features recipes from the Caribbean, such as currant rolls, as well as something called “fish bakes” (which were never explained, so I still don’t really know what they are).

The family is tight-knit and I enjoyed their interactions. There’s Granny, who is a feisty 81-year-old with a fashion sense; Lyndsay’s mother and father, and an older brother, Devon, who is a lawyer. The story is a good one and kept me guessing. I was glad to see that Lyndsay’s kickboxing skills wound up being useful at one point. It will be interesting to see how the author continues this series. The local color was great.

[A minor point: I think this could use a bit more editing to remove some of the repetitive features, such as the constant thankfulness for her family, the description of the aromas in the store, etc. I also found it a bit irritating/childish for the main character to constantly refer to her parents as Mommy and Daddy; I don’t think there was a single sentence where it was simply “my parents”, for example. Since I read an advance copy, some of this may already have been addressed.]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Paperbacks for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed getting to meet Lyndsay and her family as well as getting to know a little more about her Grenadian culture and food. I’m a little sad I don’t have a Grenadian bakery to run to so I can try some of the items mentioned. The mystery was well-paced, although there were so many different suspects and new characters introduced, it was hard to keep track of them all. The setting was quaint and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

🥐 Cozy mystery
🥐 Amateur investigation
🥐 Lots of West Indian food!

This was a fast paced cozy mystery set in Brooklyn. A new bakery specializing in Caribbean food is opening and the current neighborhood bakery owner comes by to cause trouble. So after a heated back and forth that surly bakery owner is found dead at his home.
And of course Lyndsay is the prime suspect cause of the verbal fight the day before.
Though through some investigating of her own she finds there are a lot of people that have issues with this guy due to his bad attitude, bad business practices and possible grifting.
But the police still won't look at anyone but her. Love a good cozy and the food sounds amazing!!

Thank you stmartinspress and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

3.5 stars for this slow-paced yet appetizing mystery that puts family at the forefront of the story.
Lyndsay Murray is finally getting her dream of opening a West Indian bakery with her family in her little Brooklyn neighborhood. When the neighborhood bully, baker and landlord Claudio Fabrizi, shows up to the grand opening to threaten her, she does what she rarely does and stands up to him. The problems begin when he ends up murdered that same night and the cops seem to refuse to follow any other lead or entertain any other suspect other than poor Lyndsay. This, of course, means that Lyndsay must put on her amateur detective shoes and look into the motives of everyone who might have had a beef with Fabrizi, which turns out to be a lot of people.
The story puts a lot of focus on family and accepting help from loved ones when you might be getting in over your head. It's a good spin on what is otherwise a very standard cozy mystery.
I walked away from this book with a major craving for some good currant buns, which is why I greatly appreciated the recipe at the end. It's a nice little touch that I've come to appreciate in cozy mysteries and was happy to see in this one.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Paperbacks for the twisty read!

I was excited to read this because I thought it would be super cute. A cozy mystery set in NYC surrounding a newly opened Caribbean bakery? And seeing a book about a family from Grenada was very different in this space.

Sadly the story didn't really engage me. Lyndsay is framed for the murder of a rival bakery owner and has to clear her name because the police aren't even trying to look for the killer. That part tracked. It took so long for her to actually decided to do something in this slow-paced story. Also despite being 27 Lyndsay reads more like 21/22. She keeps harping on childhood bullies, high school, and having to have dealt with those same people in college.

As someone with family from the English speaking Caribbean who even has family friends who live in Little Caribbean, I side-eyed so much of this book. Some things were done well and some things were done so wrong. The descriptions of food and the close connection between the family were the highlight of the book. And I had to resist the urge to go eat something while listening because I didn't have any food to compare. Some of the mentions of popular musicians were completely off. Trust me non Caribbean/Caribbean diasporan readers when I say the only ones who consider Harry Belefonte the Calypso King are white people. And hearing the uncle say "you all" instead of "allyuh" hurt me a little.

If I didn't switch to the audiobook I probably wouldn't have continued. It already started off very heavy-handed with the over explanations of the Murray family's background. And throughout the text kept reminding readers of what proud immigrants they were. Which got repetitive and old real quick! But also the audio narration was so horrible when it came to character's who weren't US born that I found myself cringing as the narrator used an unidentifiable accent and mispronounced popular terms constantly.

On a side note I've seen quite a few white readers complain about this and I'd just like to note that it's a cultural thing to refer to refer to parents as "mommy" and "daddy" not a sign of the main character's maturity level.

I wanted this book to be as spicy as the name of Lynd’s bakery and it just wasn’t. While the colorful descriptions of the background and the tempting aromas were there they just didn’t evoke much of a response from me unfortunately. The whodunit portion of the cozy didn’t provide a satisfying reveal for me as well.

For the beginning of the year, I decided to go for something comfortable. A cozy mystery. Against the Currant is the first in Olivia Matthews’s new Spice Isle Bakery mysteries. It was released yesterday (the 24th) by St. Martin’s Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

Against the Currant follows Lyndsay Murray as she and her family open a bakery in Little Caribbean (Brooklyn, NY). As if opening a business isn’t stressful enough, throw in a rival bakery owner who threatens to shut them down them gets himself murdered the very next day. Lynds is now the main suspect of a murder! Luckily, she and her meddlesome family are on the case despite her protests that she’s just trying to find more likely suspects, not the actual murderer. There’s a hot detective for a potential love interest as well. What could go wrong?

The plot is standard, but a little on the weak side. One mild argument does not a murderer make, especially when there are a plethora of other suspects with much better motives. The detectives in this book are the stupidest people ever. They only focus on Lyndsay and they don’t listen when far better leads are given to them. I mean, I’m okay with nosy people solving cases (it’s why I read cozies), but I hate it when the cops are this dumb. There were plenty of red herrings they could’ve followed that would’ve been fine, but they stuck with the flimsiest one. That was annoying. And I really hope the detective doesn’t end up being the love interest. He’s a dick. Just don’t. Also, there was a character who showed up twice pretty early on for absolutely no reason. All he did was start stuff, which any established character could have done, then he completely disappeared. What was that about?

I liked the characters, though there were a lot of them. While I understand the desire to introduce all of the family (and extended family) at once, all of the names were overwhelming and I couldn’t keep them straight. On top of them, there were two detectives, five or six suspects, and three or four extras. It was a lot for one book. But I liked the ones I could remember. Lyndsay, Dev, Reena, the grandma, and parents. All great with a lot of potential. The murderer was pretty easy to pick out, but a couple of the red herring characters were great and would’ve been just as plausible. Mostly, I think the characters are good and have the potential for growth if the series continues.

As far as the writing goes, it’s a bit repetitive, especially early on. Like, I heard you the first three times. Move on. And there were some tics that kept showing up in multiple characters. If it’s one character doing it, I write it off as a character tic, but if multiple characters do it, it’s probably the author’s go-to reaction when they don’t know what else to use (mine is shrugging or nodding). Lots of kissing teeth, which took me far too long to figure out since I didn’t Google it, but I learned a new phrase, so that was cool. Stuff like that. But it was a quick read nonetheless.

Ultimately, I was kind of meh about Against the Currant. If I catch the next book in the series, I’ll check it out to see if anything changes, but if I miss it, no big deal.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. If you’re into cozy mysteries set in bakeries, go ahead and try it. There are some recipes included if you’re into that kind of thing too.

This was everything I wanted in a cozy and more!! The bakery being from a Caribbean family helped me learn about several new foods and provided a new spin on the bakery cozy. The family was so supportive and also protective. I loved how they interacted and supported each other. We have an opinionated grandma, a sassy cousin, and a kickboxing main character!
A couple piddly complaints- The police investigation was almost non-existent, but there is room for growth in the next book. The romantic possibilities are questionable, but again I can see room for growth in those characters.
A couple unique things- The main character did not find the body. I liked this! Also the main character will be competing in a kickboxing showcase/ tournament in the future. Lyndsey’s experience with kickboxing really some depth to her character.
This is an amazing beginning to a new series.

This was a very enjoyable first in a new cozy series about a Grenadian-American family opening a new bakery in Brooklyn. The story centers on Lyndsay Murray, the primary force and dreamer behind the bakery, and on soft opening day things are going splendidly until the incredibly cranky competition from down the street comes charging into the store to make a scene and drop a few threats. Lyndsay stands up for her family and business and drops a mild threat of her own - with a rapt audience cheering her on. Unfortunately the next day the nasty man is found dead and Lynds becomes the prime suspect.
The characters are wonderful and varied. The sense of family and community is warm and refreshing, and hold Lyndsay together when things get seriously scary. The police work that sets up Lyndsay as the main suspect is pretty silly considering what a jerk the murder victim was and how many enemies he had. But her actions to try to clear her name actually seem fairly reasonable. It will be interesting to see how this will be turned into a series as she doesn't exactly have the temperament for steady sleuthing. But for the first in a series (always difficult), this was a very nice job! Highly recommended.

Lindsay is fulfilling her dream of opening her own bakery with a Caribbean twist in Brooklyn. When the owner of a competing shop next door ends up murdered Lindsay is the lead suspect after having a public confrontation with the man. As other incriminating evidence tries to point local police towards Lindsay she is determined to find out who is responsible and save her bakery’s reputation as well as her her own. Her family is a wonderful bunch of characters, especially her grandmother who is always cheering Lindsay on. I not only loved the family theme but also the touching of racism and dynamics in a bigger city. I also can’t forget the food, I wanted to eat all the dishes and pastries that mentioned! This was a great cozy mystery!

A young woman and her Grenadan family open a new bakery in their New York neighbourhood, only to attract the ire of a competator. When he ends up dead, she's forced to investigate in order to clear her name.
This story is full of colourful characters and plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing who-dun-it right through to the end of the story.
A good read with a few good recipes thrown in as an added bonus.

When NetGalley released a list of Read Now cozy mysteries, Against the Currant was one that I jumped on! The first in the Spice Isle Bakery series, Lyndsay must figure out who killed her competition before she gets blamed for it!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted ebook! All opinions in this review are my own.

To start, I love that this series is set in a West Indian bakery in Brooklyn! Lately I have been reading cozy mysteries set in small towns, so this was a refreshing change!

While I felt like it did take a little while for Lyndsay to start trying to solve the mystery, it fits with the fact that this is the first book in the series. She is not just going to start chasing after a murderer immediately. Lyndsay's reaction to being framed made the mystery more realistic. Plus, by not jumping right into trying to solve the mystery, it gave us time to get to know her family more and I loved their interactions!

Needless to say, I will be reading the second book and I'm excited to see where this series goes!

This was a wonderful beginning to a new series. The relationship between the characters and the progression of the story had a nice pace that kept me invested from page one. I can't wait to continue reading this series.

The soft opening of Lyndsay’s family bakery is ruined by a fight with a local bakery owner. The next day he is found dead and Lyndsay is the number one suspect. The police seem content to believe she is the culprit so Lyndsay is forced to take matters into her own hands and investigate.

This was just so overly simplistic that it required me to suspend my disbelief way beyond reality. It just wasn’t believable. How is Lyndsay able to uncover more information about the deceased than the police? How is it that total strangers sing like canaries to her? She has no actual detective skills and simply forces the murderer into a position of revealing themselves by… talking?

Nevermind there was an absence of actual detective work or crime solving. She never uncovers physical evidence. In fact there’s a scene involving a gun and I don’t understand why the police wouldn’t have eliminated their suspicions of her by simply testing for gunshot residue. I don’t even watch crime shows and even I know that’s basic suspect elimination.

Also the police were so certain it was Lyndsay for mind boggling circumstantial evidence when there was a list of potential culprits with more valid reasons. Well this fact is acknowledged by Lyndsay I think the book could have done a better job exploring why the police were content to focus on her.

Also I realize this is probably a “me problem” but the main character who is well over the age of thirty CONSTANTLY referred to her main parents as “mommy” and “daddy.” As a result, she came across as extremely juvenile to me and frankly the use of the terms (well probably irrational to most) made me want to hurl my Kindle out the window. Then I spiraled down a rabbit hole of is this weird and Googling this. I’ll save you the mystery and let you know that this is apparently a deeply divided issue on Reddit.

As a casual connoisseur of cozy mysteries, I need a fun element and this just overall lacked a reason for me to keep turning the pages. It was fairly short so it had that going for it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved meeting Lyndsay and her big, awesome family. Her Granny just cracked me up--she was definitely my fave character! All the characters and descriptions really helped me feel like I was there in that section of Brooklyn even though I've never been shopping there. (My only quick Brooklyn experience included eating at Junior's and seeing the house used for the exterior of Blue Bloods lol). Aside from the mean guy who was dead, most of these people were so amazing in how they protected each other and came together as family/good friends to support Lyndsay.

I was definitely surprised by the whodunit since I had someone else in mind all together. That was a great showdown and I was cheering the whole time as Lyndsay kicked some serious behind. She was more grateful than ever for the kickboxing she'd done since age thirteen. The ending was my favorite type with food, family and friends along with everything being explained completely. I'm eager to see what other kinds of adventures my new book friends come up with in the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by St. Martin Paperbacks via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this new cozy series by Olivia Matthews. The main character, Lyndsay is opening up a Caribbean bakery in Brooklyn with her family when a competitor begins causing issues, later ending up dead. Of course, Lyndsay is the main suspect! Matthews did a great job of finding that younger voice for her character that made it believable and accurate which so many cozy authors struggle with today. I felt that this was a girl in her 20s trying to find her path in life while encountering all these obstacles through no fault of her own. The mystery was straight-forward with lots of suspects and red-herrings, but in the end, justice prevails. Those looking for a great young protagonist in their cozies should pick this one up!