Recipes for Love and Murder (Tannie Maria 1)

Author/Guide: Sally Andrew

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

ISBN: 978-1782116486
Genre: Cosy crime, Mystery

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What you need to know before your trail

Tannie Maria, a widow, writes a recipe column in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette. It’s her perfect job as she loves food as much as she loves life and as for cooking!?

Well as we all know a cuppa and a cake does make everything ok again. So her philosophy in life is when things are going well or not so well, a cup of tea and a cake is the only answer you need.

But the cake is crumbling.. news is going round that her column of recipes in the local newspaper is going to end up on the (kitchen) floor. People need an advice column she’s told. So she mixes the two in one. Have a problem? There’s a recipe for that!

But then a woman who had asked for advice regarding her violent husband is later murdered,

Tannie Maria along with her friend Jessie, a reporter at the paper, get involved in trying to get to the bottom of the crime.

Locations

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Travel Guide

Klein Karoo

Aah the plains of South Africa and the little town of LadiSmith
This book is firmly entrenched in the plains of South Africa and the culture and more importantly food culture of that country.

The landscape of Klein Karoo

“The Karoo is one of the quietest places in South Africa, so you can hear an engine a long way off. “
Philiosophy on life:

Maybe life is like a river that can’t be stopped,always winding toward or away from death and love”

Ladismith is the town where they live – and where many of the Afrikaans ladies stopped being her friend when she left the Dutch reformed church. There are forty churches in the town and at St Luke’s coloured and whites site side by side quite happily.
Neighbours and a sense of community:

“The nearest house is a few kilometeres away, hidden behind a koppie, but the trees make good neighbours”
Ethnicity

Tannie M is an interesting character who embodies her country and culture.

With a Dutch mother, and English father, she was raised in the Afrikaaner community. However this remains closed to her somewhat since she is considers herself a lot more free and independent now.

Language

Afrikaans is the language of the culture and country and there are many words sprinkled throughout the novel giving it a very unique taste of the people and their beliefs.

The power of food to make a difference in people’s lives and circumstances. The book is filled with recipe ideas and tips, both sweet and savoury, with quite a lot at the end – all of the food is from the Afrikaans culture.