I was drawn to Savvy right from the beginning—I felt her determination to protect Essie’s soul food café, and I admired her resilience as she faced such overwhelming challenges. I could feel her frustration and desperation as she tried to clear her name and keep her business afloat. The whole idea of her sweet potato pie being at the center of a murder investigation hooked me immediately, and I couldn’t wait to see how she and Penny unraveled the mystery. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Savvy and her assistant manager, Penny. I felt their energy and camaraderie as they worked together to solve the case, and I couldn’t help but laugh at Penny’s antics. I also loved the tension brought by the slimy investor and Savvy’s ex-husband—it added so much drama and kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt like I was right there with Savvy as she navigated these complex relationships and tried to stay one step ahead of the chaos.

Overall, I thought this book was such a fun and engaging read. I loved the twists and turns, and the ending left me feeling satisfied and eager for more of Savvy’s adventures. It’s a story full of charm, wit, and a strong, relatable heroine. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy mystery with a lot of flavor!

I enjoyed the food talk.

There are a lot of characters thrown at us right away, and that was a bit much.

As a debut cozy, it has the hallmarks. A cop in the picture, a restaurant, and a dead man who had been eating sweet potato pie.

The men were awful. For me this was a bit much.

NetGalley/ July 29, 2025 St. Martin’s Press

This was an enjoyable and fast-paced whodunit that I could not put down until all was said and done. The author did a great job in staging this mystery with a list of potential suspects, sprinkled with savory and sweet clues to keep me in the game. With visually descriptive narrative, engaging and witty dialogue, and a quirky yet lovable cast of characters that brings the spirit of Chicago to the page. Everyone played a hand in how well this story was being told. When I thought I had a handle on the perpetrator, the author changed directions all to enhance my reading pleasure. I love the pairing of Savvy with her employee Penny. They bring humor to the pages as they traipse after a killer hiding in plain sight.

This was a delightful appetizing story that will have you salivating for more time with Savvy and her friends. I hope this is the start of a new cozy mystery series.

Savvy Summers is a great main character who I would love to see in future books (and be friends with). The entire cast of characters was a lot of fun to read and were perfect for the story. I also loved that there were explanations of Aunt Essie’s sayings along with a collection of her recipes at the end. There were a few times where I felt the story was a little slow but overall it was a good read.

Good humor as well as mystery and adventures. What a wild ride this was especially towards the end. Highly recommend.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful story that keeps you guessing till the end. Savvy Summers has a restaurant/catering business. We start off the book with an anniversary party that doesn't go well. I mean the food is great, music is wonderful but the couple seem to be breaking up. We get to meet many of the characters at the party that will be seen thru the book. Including the dead body. It was a fast read, colorful characters, along with some humor throughout.

Overall I thought this was a cute mystery. At times I found it hard to follow and it didn’t quite hook me but I still enjoyed it.

This cozy mystery was fun to read and I enjoyed the main character of Savvy and her assistant Penny. There is a lovely assortment of characters and anyone of them could have committed the murders so the ending was a surprise, but a realistic resolution which is nice. There is lots of food talk, lots of great aunt epithets, fun chapter titles, and lots of humor in the banter. This book made me hungry! I wanted to try all the things Savvy cooked and appreciated the few recipes at the end. If this is the beginning of a series I would happily read the next book to see where the characters go next.

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

This was my first time reading a book by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As a mystery lover, I appreciated the well-crafted plot and intriguing storyline. While I was able to pick up on some of the clues early on, the overall execution still managed to surprise me in the best way.

The characters were engaging, and I found myself invested in their journey. I truly hope the author considers turning this into a series—I would love to spend more time with these characters and see where the story goes next.

The cover is absolutely stunning. I’m a fan of illustrated covers, and this one immediately caught my eye. From the visual appeal to the plot and pacing, everything came together beautifully.

It’s always exciting to discover new authors, and this book was a great find. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this.

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes is a very cute story about Savvy, the owner of Essie’s Cafe, determined to prove a customer’s death was not cause by her once famous Sweet Potato Pie! Throughout the book we follow Savvy as she becomes a “detective” seeking answers in her customer’s death! The highlight of the book for me were the wonderful recipes at the end. This is a quick charming…must read! I am so grateful for the chance to review this amazing book.

4✨ Such a charming story! Savvy Summers owns Essie’s, a popular soul food restaurant where everyone raves about her delicious sweet potato pie. Business is thriving, until one of her regular customers dies while eating the pie, and Savvy gets blamed for poisoning him. The book follows Savvy as she hilariously plays detective, trying to figure out who is responsible. It turns into a complex game of Clue! While some parts of the book felt a bit slow, I really enjoyed it and couldn’t wait to find out "who done it"!

Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy for my honest opinion.

This is a fairly good cozy mystery that had some solid parts, but at times, felt a bit flat.
The main character, Savy, is a good character and I enjoyed getting to know her.
I haven't decided if I will read more in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book .

I enjoyed this cozy mystery! It’s grabbed my attention from the beginning and kept me engaged throughout. Loved all of the characters. Very entertaining!

solid fun cozy mystery with a nice protagonist and a good set of other characters, although the resolution was significantly more straightforward than I expected. 4.5 stars, rounded up. Tysm for the arc.

Essie’s Soul Food Café was everyone in town’s favorite place to be, where her sweet potato pie was termed to die for by all. Then tragedy struck. But then things changed suddenly when one of their best clients,75-year-old Grandy Jaspers, dropped dead while eating a piece of the pie as he sat at his established table 2 in the restaurant.
Even though the police deemed Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy found herself surrounded by bad press and a loss of customers. Desperate to keep her café open, she engaged the efforts of her snooping assistant manager, and together, they launched their own investigation to find the murderer.
The murder itself was bad enough, but she had an investor on her back who was trying to take over her business and customers refusing to order her sweet potato pie. Savvy worked desperately to save her business by proving that Grandy’s murder was not related to her sweet potato pie.
A fantastic ending, complete with all of the recipes that Savvy served in her café.

The books was very entertaining. The conclusion was satisfying. Loved that recipes were included at the end for various foods that were mentioned throughout the book.

I love a cozy mystery, especially when they are food-centric. Of course I couldn't resist one set in a soul food cafe in Chicago. Savvy Summers is a likeable protagonist. I appreciate that she's not created to be a idealized version of womanly perfections (as more than a few cozies tend to do.) She's real, she's down to earth, and she tells us her story in her own voice, acting as the book's narrator.

Our victim du jour is a distasteful older man who's hard to like. He meets his demise in Savvy's cafe, which places her hip-deep in the mystery of who made him faceplant in a plate of sweet potato pie.

I found Grandy Jaspers, the victim, to be quite unlikeable and secretly cheered when he was gone. I was baffled by the townsfolk that stood up for him and mourned his passing... at least at first. As people finally showed their true colors, it all made more sense.

A bonus to reading foodie cozies are the recipes that are often included. The author did not disappoint! She's given us a generous selection of recipes at the end of the book.

My thanks to Sandra Jackson-Opoku, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was quite interesting, here we have our main character Savvy who owns the soul food restaurant in Chicago. One day one of the womanizer customer dies after eating the pie and that makes Savvy go into detective mode to find out what exactly happened. She had her assistant helping her but also in the picture is her detective ex husband. Lots of characters and lots of info about food. Quite interesting.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing me with this eARC. All opinions are own.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. Savvy owns a soul food café in Chicago, and the customers love her food, especially her sweet potato pie. But then an older local, Grandy, with a history of being a womanizer, dies at one of her tables – and Savvy worries about the reputation of her food and restaurant. With bad press mounting, Savvy takes it upon herself to discover who really murdered Grandy, and save her restaurant in the process.

I really enjoyed this book, and I felt especially pulled in by the title. This book worked well incorporating a lighter feel to the murder mystery, with plenty of food talk and a good personal arc for Savvy in relation to her ex coming back into the picture. I enjoyed Savvy as a character and enjoyed going along with her as she tried to figure out who the murderer was – and of course, there were many options with a character like Grandy!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.