Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes

A Mystery

De: Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Narrado por: Karen Chilton

“Listeners will be entertained by narrator Karen Chilton's performance of this deliciously devious novel set at Essie's Soul Food Cafe on the South Side of Chicago.”—AudioFile

A sparkling debut mystery set on the south side of Chicago, featuring the quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, proprietor of a soul food café.

When Savvy Summers first opened Essie's soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie's reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.

Even as the police deem Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself—and her beloved café—in the middle of an entire city’s worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy.

But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café’s name and solve Grandy’s murder before it all falls apart?

After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2025 Sandra Jackson-Opoku (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Novelist Jackson-Opoku makes her move to mystery with great flair and finesse, serving up a tasty combination of soul food comfort dishes that culinary mystery fans will crave, as well as a vividly evoked setting populated by an engaging community of characters about whom readers will come to care."—Library Journal (starred review)

"A charming mystery filled with quirky characters whose Southern roots influence their daily lives."—Kirkus Reviews

"Unforgettable... An entertaining, suspense-fueled crime drama."—Shelf Awareness

Good read

All the characteristics were interesting. I really enjoyed this book. A great buy, can’t wait for the next book

The characters and their development.

Throughly enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and funny. It keep me engaged. I would refer it to others to listen or read.

Fantastic!

This was a fantastic listen. All the way around characters were well developed , very likable looking forward to more in the series with this particular cast of characters. The narration was absolutely perfect and the narrator really made the story come alive, and added something extra! I love the fact that the author also included. Recipes and the meaning of many of Aunt Esssie’s Epitaphs.

Refreshing

I could not put it down. It’s been a long time since a mystery has kept me engaged from page one. Hopefully we will get a second book.

loved

I enjoyed this mystery. it was funny. it was shocking. it was relatable. I love it. I can't wait till the next book

Felt like characters from my neighborhood

This book was very relatable. The characters felt very familiar, like people I know from my own neighborhood or people I grew up with.

Great Book

I enjoyed this story that had the right amount of mystery, African-American Culture, and comedy

Starts slow, but it’s good!!

This was a very good story. I like the thoughts that it promotes. I wasn’t a high fan of the narrators. I thought her voice was too dry for a suspense story and all the characters sound the same.. BUT… it didn’t take away from me listening to the story because it had a good story line. I would recommend this story.

Difference between characters

I would of liked for the reader to sound a little more discreet between characters.

“Lord have mercy on their naked souls” 👏🏾📚

I absolutely LOVED this book, I have such a great appreciation for African American mystery novels and I have been a fan since I found my first Valerie Wilson Wesley novel in my local public library nearly 20+ years ago. This novel has brought me the same joy and appreciation for storytelling that VWW did so long ago.

This novel was like a warm hug and a good laugh/conversation with your favorite auntie. I knew after the first lines of chapter one this would not be your average “cozy mystery”. The authenticity, the humor, the old school phrases, the layered characters all merged together to make such a fantastic novel. This felt like a community I’ve known for ages and the story was as interesting as it was humorous.

I stayed up late to finish the audiobook version and I am eager for the physical copy to arrive. I plan to listen again tomorrow and Karen Chilton did a phenomenal job conveying the wisdom and thoughts of Savvy Summers and her crew.

I love the inclusion of Aunt Essie’s Epithets at the end just to teach the young folks the phrases of our elders.

It has been such a treat to read this novel and I am desperate for the second book in the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Certified Read