Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

This was a cute and funny debut novel. With that being said, I did think some parts of the book were slow, and I lost interest at times. Karen Chilton did do a good job with the narration. Even if I didn't LOVE this book, I would still recommend it to fans of Finlay Donovan (which is one of my favorite mystery comedy series).

If there was to be a second book about Savvy, I would consider reading it.

This was a cozy mystery set in the south side of Chicago. Being from the suburbs of Chicago, I found it really interesting to have it set around areas that I know. Overall a decent book but a little bit slow. Nice to see an author writing about older people as opposed to teenagers or young adults trying to figure their way out in the world.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Savvy Summers is proud of her soul food café and is trying to protect it from a smarmy ‘investor’ who wants to buy her name and her business. Things go from bad to worse when an elderly Casanova drops dead while eating her sweet potato pie and Savvy’s ex-husband is one of the officers assigned to the case. Savvy and her assistant manager, Penny, set out to find the killer, clear her name and keep the café afloat.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I enjoyed this book. I like Savvy, her friends and her staff, especially her partner-in-investigating Penny. They work well together, and Penny is just nosy enough to be able to gather information from sources outside the café. Their food sounds wonderful, and I was happy to see a few recipes at the end of the book.

We knew a little about the victim before he was killed, but not enough to compile a list of possible suspects in his death. That changed as the investigation progressed, and I kept changing my mind about who the culprit was. I eventually landed on the right person, just before it was revealed in the book, but I missed an integral part of the solution.

I’m happy to see that this is the first book of a new series, and will keep an eye out for Savvy’s next adventure :)

The book is very slow and predictable. Way too many characters at the beginning to try to remember who they are and what their relationships are.

3.75 stars

Few things bring me more joy than the start of a good series, and this book fits that bill.

Savvy Summers has cornered the soul food kitchen scene in her Chicago neighborhood, and readers will be dunked right into this space through gathering and food galore at the start of the book. Snack before reading. Otherwise, this is a little like going to Costco on an empty stomach. You will want to eat everything.

Though Savvy has a great reputation in her community and among those close or formerly close to her (ex-husband included!), there's only so much she can do to counteract the negative impression that a man's death after enjoying Savvy's sweet potato pie leaves. Savvy suspects that there is more to this story (murder?!), and she has a vested interest in making it so. Fortunately, she is surrounded by sus characters, so it seems likely she'll be believably relieved of her current rep by one or more of them.

While I did feel like the events of this novel were a bit slow to unroll, I instantly really liked Savvy and was intrigued by various side characters, too. Part of this can be attributed to stellar narration for the audiobook. This narrator absolutely brings Savvy to life, along with her various connections. I felt like I knew Savvy and wanted to go grab coffee at Essie's just to hang out with her.

I'm so glad that we'll be getting more from Savvy Summers and hopefully some of these other characters along the way. This is a charming cozy.

This is decent for a debut, but not sparkling or outstanding. The mystery was predictable, and Savvy was a bit annoying near the end. She got herself in trouble of her own making, which was a bit unfortunate as she had a great character arc going on. I was reading this more for Savvy and her predicament than the mystery.

I was so bored I skipped to the end. The story was slow moving, seemed circular and the narrator's voice had no life to it. I'd read a second if this is meant to be a series to see if things improves.

When elderly womanizer Grandy drops dead over her famous sweet potato pie, Savvy Summers must get to the bottom of this Viagra-laced murder in order to save the reputation of her soul food cafe in Chicago. Full of Southern colloquialisms, the requisite food descriptions, and unsavory but hilarious characters, this is a slightly different kind of cozy. I loved Savvy's personality, her role as a member of her community and as a mother of adult children who has her own life and dreams. Penny and Fanon - her cafe staff/best friend and her activist cop ex-husband - were great support characters and sounding boards for her schemes. Made me really want to eat cornbread and read a second installment.

I received a free digital copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

CWs - Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia

3.5 stars

Fun light mystery featuring Savvy Summers, who is running a Chicago soul food cafe and catering business after retiring from teaching. She was divorced long ago but is friendly with her ex, and was recently widowed from her second husband.

Savvy is smart and strong. There is an interesting cast of characters including her friend and assistant manager Penny and her ex-husband Fanon.

Her business is in jeopardy when someone keels over dead after ordering her sweet potato pie. Savvy won't rest until she figures it out. Fanon is a cop who has become disheartened about the police force after years of being passed over and he advises her to stay out of it -- fat chance.

The glimpse into Black culture is fun and interesting. Savvy goes her own way. The ending felt a little rushed to me, with some unbelievable scenes, but altogether a good read with a varied cast of characters. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A delightful, new, semi-cozy mystery that I believe will become a series. The first couple chapters were a little slow & the intros a bit spread out, but the story picked up steam as it went along. Not an entirely unpredictable suspect but I think that's expected in these types of books. Overall, a solid 3.5-4-star mystery read.

A great mystery debut by Sandra Jackson-Opoku!

Savvy Summers is a the owner of the restaurant affectionately known as Essie's. She's known for her delicious food, especially her sweet potato pie. When one of her customers drops dead, chaos ensues to determine was it Savvy's food that did it, or something/someone more sinister.

I enjoyed that the story was written in first person so that the reader knew everything going on inside of Savvy's mind. I thought the incorporation of her recipes was a fun twist. The characters at whole are mostly unlikable, but that may lead to their believability (seriously, are any of us perfect?!).

A new twist on a cozy mystery, but a fun one!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

Review is published immediately on Goodreads.

I am so glad I got to receive an eARC of this through NetGalley - thank you to Minotaur books!

I was not the target audience but I am part of a happy audience! This book is the start of a series (not that I've typed that I'm wondering if it is a standalone, but I suspect a series) where we follow Sapphire "Savvy" Summers, a divorced mother in her fifties who has had to reinvent herself multiple times. She is strong, smart, compassionate, and sassy. I loved that we had representation in this book - LGBTQ, people unsatisfied with their careers but staying for the right reasons, grief, gender expectations, and various body types. All of these were done in a way that it didn't feel like it was forced but rather like a well woven quilt of people in their various flavours. (Excuse the baking cosy pun but I need to do it.)

Some of the things about this book didn't work for me, in the same way that when you're unfamiliar with a culture it's a bit uncomfortable to read. I just had to pause and think about things a lot more than I usually would need to. Which was fine but made it slower, and Savvy judging peoples manners as frequently as she does struck me as a bit odd. Perhaps a flaw? It didn't take much away from the story.

I loved that our sleuth wasn't young but also wasn't a senior citizen. I loved that she is a African American and proud of her roots. I loved that she was divorced, and that she was on good terms with her ex husband.

The world building took me a minute to get into, but once you do it feels real and like you're in a neighbourhood filled with real people. I do mean filled! We have so many names and characters thrown at us, and I'm hoping these characters come into play in later books and weren't just mentioned to help build the sense of real people having real lives and connections outside the plot.

While I did call the twist and the killer, this book was well plotted and executed. If you enjoy a baking cosy, give this one a try! As someone who typically chooses a bookshop over a bakery, this one was well worth the read! Savvy Summers is a refreshing, twisty Chicago based read with lots of southern flare.

I was fortunate to receive an advance readers copy of this book in ebook format and I really liked it!

I appreciated that the characters were adults and older adults, so that made it more relatable to me. The descriptions of food sounded so, so good! I was delighted to see some recipes in the back of the book. The whole time I was reading the story I was wishing I could try the food items; I could practically smell them from the descriptions.

The characters are well developed and likable (mostly, except some of the antagonists, of course) and the FMC's great aunt, although deceased, is a huge and larger-than-life character in the story.

I definitely found myself attached to the main character and her ex-husband and I look forward to reading more in this series, if they come to be.

"As baked sweet potato pies cooled on wire racks, I assembled two peach cobblers in industrial-sized baking pans and set them to rest in Perry."

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes is Sandra Jackson-Opoku's newest mystery novel, 10 years in the making. A cozy mystery following our head chef Savvy Summers and her determination to stay afloat after a fellow townsfolk dies in her diner.

Savvy Summers is a 57 year old chef and owner at her restaurant, fondly known as Essie's. Trying to keep her diner, and reputation, intact after she gets blamed when a customer dies after eating one of her vegan pies. Savvy is a unique character I haven't read before in any mystery series. I felt like she was, while headstrong, was a bit naive. The way she approached the whole investigation, along with her sous-chef Penny, creates problems when they go around the police.

The mystery aspect is very unique as well. Readers not just get an overall mystery, but multiple. All of the twists and turns are told in such a heartwarming way, one that leave you laughing and in the story, right there with them all. I couldn't predict that ending, and all of the suspects I thought of made that even harder to guess.

Right off the bat, you get a deep dive into numerous characters and it was tough at times to discern who was who until later. While I enjoyed the writing style, it could be hard to dive deep into the story if someone doesn't fully understand Black English.

I honestly had to look up if Jackson-Opoku was from Chicago, because as I am from Chicagoland, no one I know actually calls Lake Shore Drive (LSD) by its full government name with DuSable. It took me out of the story a bit, reading that.

A fresh foray into the cozy mystery scene, Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes is a delicious summer read you don't want to miss. AND there's recipes!

Tropes:
• cozy mystery
• cafe owner turned detective
• recipes!
• Chicago setting

OUT ON JULY 29, 2025.

A huge thank you to Minotaur Books, Sandra Jackson-Opoku and NetGalley for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

"You do your best listening at mealtimes, 'cause that's when people do their best talking."
Sapphire "Savvy" Summers is already pretty well known for cafe in her small Chicago town. But she wasn't ready to be in the center of an investigation that might cost her the cafe. Mr. Grandy, a loyal and rude customer who takes a few bites of his favorite dish, Aunt Essie's Sweet Potato Pie, notices something is wrong and grasps around then takes his last breath. Although, ruled an accidental death people started to whisper and business is slow. As Savvy goes to the funeral of Mr. Grandy she feels as though it was not accidental, but how can she prove this with her name already in the mud? Will she find the murderer?
3.5/5
This was a light hearted, cozy mystery. The chapters are short and I like the dialogue between Penny and Savvy. Penny gave a comedic relief and it felt as though I was looking at two best friends messages. The book did seem to drag on and it felt as if we weren't getting closer to the culprit. The ending was not a twist or shocker. You kind of knew after who it was after awhile but it was still a good ending. I did love the epithets and the mini cookbook in the back. If this is a series, I would pick up the next one.

This was one busy mystery. Savvy Summers, retired English teacher and assistant principal, has opened a restaurant and catering business using her beloved Aunt Essie's recipes. She has made it the best soul food restaurant in South Chicago. But when a frequent though cheap customer dies at table two, Savvy finds the reputation of her restaurant in jeopardy.

Even though it is learned that the 75-year-old died of a heart attack brought on by too much Viagra, people are still blaming her sweet potato pie. Savvy believes that he was murdered and begins her own investigation. And when a local and very slimy politician also dies the same way after being hit in the face with one of Savvy's pies at a local fundraiser, Savvy's reputation is threatened again.

And besides these threats to her business and reputation, Savvy is also dealing with harassment by a local property developer who is pressuring her to sell her business and building to his real estate group.

But Savvy, with her Aunt Essie's maxims in her brain, isn't going to be pushed around. With the help of her assistant manager and her police sergeant ex-husband, Savvy is on the case.

This story was filled with the attitudes and language of Black South Chicago. I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the soul food.

This is a DNF for me. The frantic pacing at the beginning along with so many characters thrown at readers just didn't work for me.

From award-winning sweet potato pie to a suspicious death, Savvy's got more on her hands than just running a restaurant. When Grandy Jaspers, a colorful (and occasionally cranky) regular, suddenly dies and it's ruled an accident, Savvy isn’t buying it. With the help of Penny—her right-hand woman in the kitchen—and her ex-husband Fanon, a CPD officer, she launches her own investigation.

The mystery unfolds with charm and just the right amount of sass. While it took me a few chapters to settle into the writing style, the story won me over with its cast of quirky characters, savory setting, and a plot that simmers with intrigue.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the chance to sample this ARC!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 29, 2025
Savvy Summers is the proprietor of Essie’s bakery and café on the South Side of Chicago, known for its award-winning sweet potato pie and other delicious desserts. One night, 75-year-old Grandy Jaspers drops dead at table two, giving Savvy more recognition and infamy than she ever wanted when rumours abound that Savvy’s sweet potato pie was the reason for Grandy’s death. Barely managing to keep her business afloat among the rumours, all eyes again point to Savvy when a local alderman drops dead after coming in contact with Savvy’s famous pie. Savvy knows she isn’t responsible for poisoning the men, but she has to find out who is responsible or her entire business, and life as she knows it, will suffer severe consequences.
Sandra Jackson-Opoku is the award-winning author of poetry, mystery and non-fiction works, and “Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” starts off her new mystery series based on the title character. Savvy is a middle-aged, once-divorced, once-widowed woman who finally follows her dream and opens a bakery and café, with recipes based on those of her great aunt Essie. Spunky, brilliant and sharp, Savvy is a unique protagonist that stands on her own amongst others in the mystery genre. Her business partner, Penny Lopes, is the ultimate millennial and plays brilliantly off of Savvy’s character, both personalities working together to create a heartfelt, hilarious pairing.
The mystery component, one murder and then another in close succession, is well-crafted and entertaining. There are many suspects that could have committed both crimes, and Jackson-Opoku intersperses her suspenseful plot with hilarious twists and turns that kept me guessing.
Although this plot was wrapped up in a tight bow, it is obvious that Savvy is a character that Jackson-Opoku is going to bring back, and I’m excited to see her return. The chemistry between Savvy and her ex-husband was strong, so no doubt he will return in her future stories, although the romantic storyline stayed in the background, with the murder mystery at the forefront (which is how it should be).
A unique murder mystery, full of delicious soul food and scrumptious desserts, “Savvy Summers” is a hot summer read that will have readers laughing and cheering alongside Savvy and I look forward to another instalment.

I haven't read anything from this author but I enjoyed this cozy read. It's a great story line and just enough mystery and a lot of interesting characters to keep you entertained. I loved Aunt Essie's sayings and recipes, so I was happy to see them at the back of the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would like to see this turned into a series. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.