A.L. HerbertBesprekingen

Murder with Macaroni and Cheese
Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery, Book 2

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
Dates Read: 4/7/23 - 4/9/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s): Machelle Williams

The Characters:

Mahalia Watkins :
Wavonne :
Raynell Reynolds, “Somebody Who’s name I cannot remember” Mitchell,

The Story:

Writing: Good. I did catch one name mess up but that could have been fixed in editing, so I guess it’s not fair to hold that against the author. What I do hold against them is not having a mystery until 50% into the book. I’m not sure so much set up was necessary.
Forward Motion: This was actually paced pretty well but I’m still salty about 50% before a murder.
Overall Interest: I will admit I was fully invested.
Length of Reading Time: Very good.
Re-read-ability: I doubt I would reread this.

The Random Thoughts:

I have seen posts referencing the author who wants to target an untapped niche. This series was first recommended to me as a mystery series by a black author and that is untrue as A.L. Herbert is the pen name of a male Latino author. This makes me greatly uncomfortable and though I’ve enjoyed the stories I do not care to be misled about who is writing it especially when my goal was to support a lesser-known market. With all that said I’m not sure if I will be continuing the series or not.

I don't normally like to give books bad ratings as some people might have enjoyed it and I am not a writer, I can't even imagine the difficulty of writing one. With that being said however this book had promise or so I thought but it really just dragged and had no real character development. I really wanted to like this book but it took me a week to get pass it. What I did like was some of the comedic relief with the character Wavonne and I like that they include real recipes which I will definitely try but other than that I wouldn't read this again.

Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles
Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: Searching for cozy mysteries written by authors of color.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
Dates Read: 1/31/22 - 2/2/22
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Machelle Williams

The Characters:

Mahalia “Halia” Watkins:
Wavonne:
Marcus Rand, Jaquline Rand, Halia’s Mother, a host of other employees, customers, acquaintances and police officers

The Story:

When the worst happens in Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, a murder, Halia makes it her own personal mission to find out. Sweet Tea is Halia’s restaurant that is her pride and joy and she can not see it derailed by the murder of her less then scrupulous silent business partner. With the help of her not so trusty cousin/sidekick Halia investigates the suspects on her own. Apparently nothing loosens lips like some good ole soul food.

There were of course some moments when you have to suspend belief and some moments when I wanted to smack a character (it's not yours Wavonne!).

The Random Thoughts:

I still don’t understand how you move a dead body and don’t shower as soon as you get home. It’s dead body residue in your bed!

Challenges:

Goodreads Book Bingo 2022 - O4 - A book written by a person of color
Birth and Beyond Reading Challenge - Adult: Cozy Mystery

They really make it look like this was written by a Black Woman but it’s by a Latino male (Patrick Sanchez) who wanted “to target an untapped niche”. Wtf

They really make it look like this was written by a Black Woman but it’s by a Latino male (Patrick Sanchez) who wanted “to target an untapped niche”. Wtf

They really make it look like this was written by a Black Woman but it’s by a Latino male (Patrick Sanchez) who wanted “to target an untapped niche”. Wtf

The second installation in the cozy Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery, is as good as the first book “Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles”. The titles are baiting in the references to soul food cuisine. Full of delicious recipes in between the chapters is a cookbook within itself.

I love the characters, Herbert writes with details and comprehensive dialogue. I’m looking forward to reading her next book in the series, “Murder with Collard Greens and Hot Sauce “.

cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, situational-humor, verbal-humor, small-business, Maryland, chef, culinary*****

The only thing that bothered me was putting the recipes within the book instead of at the end. The recipes are good, but I found it distracting and had to photo the recipe (and in one case begin it) before I could go onward with the story. Loved the characters and all the laughs as well as it being a good cozy. No spoilers here and the publisher's blurb is a good hook. I've not read any of the earlier books in the series, but i plan to because i'm sure that they'll be fun, not because this one left me guessing about anything important. I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I did not read the first book in the series. I'm not sure if this would be classified as a culinary mystery--there are recipes (all seem high calorie, high fat, high sodium in nature)--but the food didn't figure as much in the mystery plot as it does in some culinary mysteries.

Mahalia "Halia" owns Mahalia's Sweet Tea restaurant. She agrees to cater her high school reunion. The evening after the reunion, one of the organizers, a "mean girl", ends up dead. Other than because she and Wavonne, her cousin, are the ones to find the body, I have no idea why Halia decides to investigate the death.

WARNING: REMAINDER OF REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS--READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
*****

What I liked:

I didn't guess the culprit--and I was intrigued enough to page to the back of the book to find out if my earlier guess was correct.

What I didn't like:

Wavonne in small doses was okay--but the amount of things she gets away with and the things she says, etc. were all just too much for me in the amounts they were in this book.

The Co-conspirator doesn't show up until almost the end of the book.

There's a homosexual couple--both men are in marriages of convenience because their professions are such that homosexuality would negatively impact their professiona . l lives.

The mean girl aspect both in high school and at least one has carried it over into adulthood

I have been searching for a good Cozy Mystery Series forever so I headed on over to my Library (virtual via Libby) and stumbled upon this book. I am so glad that I did because what a collection of characters and the recipes sound amazing!
Who murdered Haila's former High School classmate Raynell Rollins? Who knows because the list is long! Raynell is not a nice lady in fact Raynell has a mean streak that has earned her a few enemies.

I laughed at Wavonne, Haila's sassy , smart mouth cousin. Wavonne is my new favorite Cozy character, she is definitely a hoot! There were enough red herrings and plot twists to keep me reading way past my bedtime.

The ending was a surprise , I was guessing right up until the killer was revealed.This review was originally posted on Fictional Blonde

If you are looking for a fun cozy mystery with soul food recipes, look no further. This was a fast-paced read. I picked this up after I heard it was based in my own home state (Maryland) and it stars a restaurant owner that made my mouth water with her food descriptions and kept me guessing and second-guessing the suspects she investigated. I would read more by this local author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Halia agrees to cater her high school reunion when their other venue falls through. It seems like though the years have gone by, some things never change: the mean girls of the high school are now mean adults. The ring leader of the group has made so many enemies along the way, it’s hard to narrow down the field when she turns up dead. Halia decides to play sleuth with the help of her ditzy cousin. At least this time, she knows to call the police when she finds a dead body instead of moving it to a different location! Great characters, tasty recipes, an intricate plot, and delightful down-home humor all work together to make an entertaining and enjoyable mystery.

Halia discovers her restaurant's co-owner dead in the kitchen when she goes back to the restaurant after she left him there having a meeting. No good can come to the restaurant if a dead body is in the kitchen so she takes it upon herself to solve the murder.

I enjoyed these characters. Halia is good but her cousin Wavonne is a hoot! The mystery was good but there were some unrealistic moments and a couple untied endings. I liked how the recipes used in the restaurant are woven through the book. The restaurant is as much a character as the people.

I want to go back to the restaurant with Halia for the next book. I cannot wait for it.

Mahalia is one busy lady. She owns and runs a delightful soul food restaurant, doing all the things an owner must do to manage a restaurant as well as the cooking, the hosting, and serving when the need arises. She also is helping to raise a young cousin with her mother’s assistance. To say that cousin Wavonne is hand-full is putting it nicely. But when a body turns up in Halia’s kitchen, and she realizes that it is the annoying businessman who loaned her the money to get her restaurant started, she knows that will not be good for business and enlists Wavonne’s help to rectify the situation. This cozy is fun from beginning to end, with likable characters, an intriguing plot, and humor, not to mention recipes. And when you see what Halia intends to do, you just want to step in and say “no, don’t do it!” But that would ruin the story. A great start to a fun series.

Cute book. Characters were a riot. Mostly this book just made me really hungry.