1.5 stars because it wasn’t quite bottom of the barrel, but not good enough to get that bump up to 2 stars.

This book basically doesn’t have much happening for a majority of it. I would keep checking to see what percentage of the way through in the book I was, and each time I was shocked. Even at the 80% mark, not much had happened.

I just found the mystery portion of it to be very weak and lacking in moving the story forward. There was a lot of unnecessary fluff that didn’t add much of a plot point, so I would find myself zoning out as I was listening.

I’m not sure I would read another book in this series or by the author. It felt like a big waste of time for me.

I have no complaints about the narration itself.

🎧 This was a fairly short audio at 7 hours but full of mystery & mouth watering descriptions. Lyndsay has opened a bakery with the help of her family but can it survive when the bakery is linked to a murder investigation? This is the 1st in the Spice Isle Bakery series. I feel the audio enhanced this story & kept me entertained. Narrated by Janina Edwards. Thanks to @netgalley & @dreamscape_media for the opportunity to listen. 💖 #againstthecurrant

A lovely listen. When one of their own is under suspicion by the police for murder, the entire family gets involved to help prove her innocence. A cozy mystery filled with family, love, seemingly inept detectives, a few crazy people thrown in and though it takes place in Little Caribbean, a Brooklyn neighborhood, it has the small town feel. While Lyndsay is trying to live her dream, she is the main person of interest in the murder of a giant pain the neck man, who had more enemies than most have fingers and toes. It’s a well written story to get to the truth. Fabulous narration. The recipe at the end is amazing!

4.5⭐️/5 rounded up!

What a sweet cozy murder! This has quickly become my favourite genre - especially when they feature tight knit families and different cultures.

Against the Currant is a the first (of hopefully many) in Olivia Matthews new cozy murder series.

Spice Isle Bakery has just opened in the Little Caribbean neighbourhood of Brooklyn, NY. Lyndsay and the rest of the Murray family have worked hard and invested a lot in realizing their dream.

However, the other bakery owner in their area, Claudio, is used to getting his own way and driving out any potential competition. At their soft launch, Claudio and Lyndsay have a public fight resulting in her kicking him out.

When he turns up dead, Lyndsay regrets their public altercation as her name ends up in the paper as prime suspect. Can Lynsday and her family prove her innocence and help catch the real killer?

This lovely cast of characters, mouth watering descriptions of food and pastries, and perfectly paced mystery will have you wanting seconds! I can’t wait for the second book to come out.


Thank you to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review! The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic and her Caribbean accent and voice acting made the story even more fun and captivating!

3-3.5 stars.

This was a cute culinary cozy focusing on a Grenadian immigrant and her loving family. It was an enjoyable read about cooking and family. It struck me as odd that Lyndsay’s lifelong dream is to open a bakery when she’s the only family member who doesn’t bake. She was described as late 20s but felt more like early 20s with her preoccupation with her high school bullies and her serious lack of self confidence. I enjoyed the Grenadian details, foods, and recipes at the end, but it was occasionally repetitive, and the pace was slower than other culinary cozies I’ve read.

Special thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Dreamscape Media for providing access to the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews is her first story in the Spice Aisle Bakery Series. In it, Lyndsey, has just opened her bakery with her family and it is a dream come true for her. They have all worked together to make it the very best. On the day of their soft launch, however, a neighboring baker comes in to cause trouble and threaten to have them shut down. When this same baker is found dead the next day, Lyndsey is the first suspect. When her bracelet is found at the scene, it become apparent that someone is framing her. How can she clear her name though? Get ready for a fun story that will keep you intrigued. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version and the narrator is one I have listened to before and always enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to this. All opinions are my own.

Against the Currant was a cute whodunit mystery where Lyndsay is accused of murdering a competing business owner and has to solve the murder herself while also putting herself in danger. The story is cute, but somewhat predictable. This is my first experience in the cozy mystery genre and I don't know if I will read many more if they all are this predictable.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews is the epitome of a cozy bakery murder mystery. It has everything that makes this niche genre lovable: mouth-watering bakes, quirky main character’s, a big slightly invasive family and, of course, a murder. I highly enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book and it was a nice set up for what I’m sure will be a must-read series.

While not the most creative cozy bakery mystery that I have read, this is definitely a book that is a good go to when you need a comfort read that you can just fall into. The narrator for the book amplified the story and it is a lovely listen. If you are looking for a thriller or a jaw clenching whodunnit mystery, this is probably not the book for you. But if you want a decent mystery that is more about the baking and family than anything else, I would highly recommend this book.

Overall, I liked this book and will be sure to continue reading the series. I can’t wait to try out the recipes at then end! While not my favorite cozy murder/mystery, I still really enjoyed it and am thankful that I was approved for it on Netgalley. I will be on the lookout for more books by Olivia Matthews!

This book was a cute cozy mystery full of family, food, and unfortunate coincidences. As often happens in cozies, The main character finds herself the main suspect in a murder mystery while trying to open a new bakery. She then proceeds to try to clear her name with the help of her close knit family. Overall, it was a cute read/listen. The mystery was fairly easy to solve, there was a small hint at a possible romance in the future with the detective, and the descriptions of the food were abundant. I didn’t quite understand why she was so adamant about opening a bakery when she doesn’t know how to bake. And the police procedures were a little suspect. I also thought there were a few too many red herrings that just confused the plot after a while. It was a clean, easy read that I think fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews, narrated by Janina Edwards, is the first in the promising new Spice Isle Bakery series. Lyndsay Murray, the owner of Spice Isle Bakery is excited about the soft launch of her family’s new business and please with the support of her Little Caribbean neighborhood. The festive atmosphere of the opening is marred by the appearance of Claudio Fabrizzi, owner of another neighborhood bakery, and his attempts to intimidate Lindsay. Lindsay has words with him but stands her ground. Unfortunately, Claudio is found murdered the next day and Lindsay becomes the prime and only - or so it seems - suspect. What is a bakery owner to do but solve the murder and clear her name?

The story is enhanced by the perfection of the narrator’s voice and her mastery of the many accents and lilting Caribbean tones. The story became so real to me through her narration that I found myself planning a visit to the bakery! Pure listening pleasure.

I enjoyed meeting Lindsay, her family and the neighborhood friends and frenemies. Lindsay’s approach to investigating the murder was logical but not over the top as is so often the case. The love of her family and the close bounds within the neighborhood were evident within every chapter. The mystery evolved slowly and logically with a wealth of suspects and motives. (I reviewed an advance reader copy of the audiobook and all opinions are my own.) This mystery series will definitely be on the top of my TBR list.

At the start of this cozy mystery there was a lot of potential for a nosy large family to get involved in a murder investigation, however it fell flat for me. I enjoyed all the references made to a culture I’m less familiar with and the food mentioned in every chapter had me wanting a similar bakery near me!

From the moment that the murder takes place I felt like we already knew who the murderer was and the only surprising piece was that the other person on my radar wasn’t also involved.

I listened to this on audio and I will say I recommend the audio if the story sounds appealing to you. The narration was so well done with different levels of accents for each member of the family. It was easy to distinguish who was talking and she kept me entertained with her voice inflections.

I received the arc of this audiobook from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

*ARC review*

I think I came into this book with different expectations than I should have. I expected there to be more to the romance subplot, but I’m a way I’m glad there wasn’t. I didn’t get any chemistry between the FMC and the “love interest”. Part of my expectations may have been tied to the narrator being the same person who did all of the Wedding Date audiobooks. I feel like I heard her voice and was waiting for a spicy scene to pop up!

I don’t do a lot of cozy mysteries so this is a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I got a little frustrated by how the plot played out. It seemed to drag a bit at points. I can whip through audiobooks quickly though so it didn’t bother me too much. I did like the Caribbean representation in the food (although some of the accents seemed a bit off) and the Flatbush neighborhood which is still very culturally diverse.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Olivia Matthews for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved loved this start to this series. The narration was perfect and I can’t wait to read the next book. I plan on buying the physical copy as well. The pace was great!

The description of the book intrigued me alot. I was expecting a faster paced mystery and instead got a little too slow for my liking mystery. The book is set up to be the first in a series but I don't think I'll go for the 2nd book. If it hadn't been for the audiobook, I probably wouldn't have finished it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Olivia Matthew's, and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I had to DNF at 30%.

The vibes and descriptions of the currants were great but the characters were very boring and one dimensional. The main character was just so boring and unlikable.... the protagonist is pretty important for me in a cozy mystery and I could not spend another minute on this book. It was going to cause me to go into a reading slump.

It just dragged for too long without any cozy feelings or getting to know about the characters.

I am super bummed because I would have loved to branch out into a multicultural cozy and the cover is so cute and promising.

A good first in series. Nice blend of cozy+ mystery with a diverse perspective of multicultuarl characters.

I don't usually read cozies and wanted to try something different, so this West Indies-flavored mystery seemed like a good place to start. Blending culture and family dynamics with murder, we follow Lyndsay as she opens her new Spice Island bakery, against the protests of Claudio Fabrizi, the owner of a rival bakery on the same block, and the very nice day finds herself framed for Claudio's murder. To clear her name, Lyndsay investigates the murder herself, trying to find the real killer.

It's nice to see the Caribbean culture represented, though keep in mind the story takes place in NYC, where Lyndsay and her family immigrated years ago. Granny in particular is the matriarchal force of the family and scenes involving her tend to be the most enjoyable. I was a bit disappointed by some of the repetition, not only of events that occurred in the story, but of Lyndsey's past, such as being bullied in school, that explain her character but don't really further the plot. Many of the descriptions are too detailed, like the clothing of each character, and again don't really serve any other purpose. I was surprised and disappointed to see them playing Harry Belafonte and Bob Marley over and over--no Grenadian musicians like David Emmanuel or Leslie Hutchinson? Maybe they really do just play non-Grenadian calypso and reggae; it just again seemed repetitive that Bob (and not even Ziggy) Marley was always playing.

As for the plot, the police seem ridiculously incompetent for jumping on Lyndsay as the murderer. I would guess they were doing a more thorough investigation, but we never see it, so instead Lyndsay lucks into discoveries along the way while forcing confrontations that clearly would've earned her charges of obstruction of justice. There are some major plot holes by the end of the book, mostly involving the side plots that are far too prevalent and not in any way relevant to the main plot. I was hoping as a cozy there would be some laugh-out-loud moments, but the best I could manage was a slight smile.

The narration was decent, though I found Lyndsay's voicing a touch annoying, which may reflect her characterization. I just didn't feel connected to her as much as the other characters, which is a problem when the book is in first-person narrative. Still, it's a decent, straightforward mystery with a tasty-sounding recipe at the end. Thank you to the author, St. Martins, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This cozy culinary mystery was fun to read, but won’t stick with me. I did love the recipes though - such a fun thing to find in any book! The story felt a little predictable.

Against The Currant by Olivia Matthews

Lyndsay is opening a bakery with her family in Brooklyn, showcasing the food of their Caribbean heritage. On opening day, the disgruntled owner of a nearby bakery shows up and picks a verbal fight with Lyndsay. This guy ends up being murdered and Lyndsay is a suspect.

I had a hard time staying focused on this one it was slow paced and it just wasn't as engaging as I thought it would be. I felt something in the story was off maybe the repetitive nature of some things in the story. I wanted more on the mystery not a rewrite of the character's childhood history.

I hate writing bad reviews because I know it takes a lot of effort to write a story. I think some of the elements in the story was good. I hope Mrs. Mattews focuses more on the mystery in the future and less on filler things.

Narrated by Janina Edwards who gave voice to the characters and did a fair job I felt Lyndsay character presented younger than she actually is. I would still like to try something else from this author in the future. I do like books about immigrants and cozy mysteries are my fun relaxing reads.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for a free audio copy of Against the Currant for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The characters were likeable and believable. I enjoyed the mystery with a food backdrop. The family interaction was relatable and added to the richness of the story. I would love to read a sequel, which seems probable with the ending. The narrator also did a great job with the story.