PUBLISHING DATE: July 29, 2025
WHAT’S A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITHOUT A MURDER?
The 50th wedding anniversary of Matilda and Granderson Jasper is underway … or is it underfoot? For Savvy Summers, owner of Essie’s, a soul food café, it’s debatable. For while she reluctantly agreed to cater the celebration, she has other things on her mind … like being paid for services rendered. She’s learned from past experience that the not-so-happy, perpetually bickering couple is noted for skipping out on bills. It’s why she’s made a mental note to count the silverware and leave with a check for the total amount clutched in her skilled-in-food-preparation hands. A ruckus gains her attention. A reckless accident sends the wedding cake to dessert heaven—and Savvy back to the kitchen to perform damage control. A glance at her watch tells her she doesn’t have enough time to replicate the demolished tiered cake. So instead of trying to do the impossible, she settles on an old family recipe and prays it’ll be enough. A taste test finds the sweet potato pie sensational and more than adequate to satiate that section of the stomach left empty for treats. She and her assistants take care of the plating and serving, while the Jaspers and honored guests take a dive headfirst into deliciousness. As they sink into bliss, none are aware that one of them will be dead by morning—and that Savvy will be blamed.
Thus begins author Sandra Jackson-Opoku’s slick and sensational new mystery SAVVY SUMMERS AND THE SWEET POTATO CRIMES. Remarkably entertaining, this baby has all the makings of a winner! The surprises plentiful and the suspense taut enough to cause a high C if twanged, the author has made the plot sizzling hot by frying it—southern style. It means using down-home charm to blanket clever conversation that is resplendent with clues. The writing smooth like melting butter, crowning the confection is a stellar storyline that is to this novel what flour is to cake.
Like pots on a stove, there are multiple plotlines going on. But it’s easy-peasy keeping up with them because the focus is kept on the main one which is: who poisoned the victim, and why. It also helps that in terms of tone and pacing, it’s Savvy who leads the charge. She starts slow, but the tentative snooping doesn’t get her too far. It’s not until she enlists the aid of her ex-husband that things get percolating. After all, cops can go places she can’t. But she soon finds out that he can’t prevent everything. Like her becoming ensnared in a web of secrets that take us all over the south side of Chicago to catch the killer who may not be done.
It’s a lot of fun, a lot of thrills, and a lot of clever dialogue that is thoroughly believable. All the characters fully-fleshed, I especially love the nostalgic touch added by the appearance of Essie, Savvy’s grandmother. Essie runs throughout the story like a scented breeze, dispensing wisdom that is passed along to help her granddaughter solve the case, Love the way the advice weaves its way into the story ever so seamlessly. As for solving the puzzle? Trade your chef’s hat in for your thinking cap for this one! So many suspects … so little time. And kudos to Ms. Jackson-Opoku. She does an expert job in keeping us guessing—and you will love her for it! It’s why I’m giving SAVVY SUMMERS four stars and a toast of champagne to the author talented enough to write it!
Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for supplying me with a copy.
