Still Life in Brunswick Stew

A Cherry Tucker Mystery

By: Larissa Reinhart

Narrated by: Erin Clark

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Cherry Tucker’s in a stew. Desperate and broke, Cherry and her friend, Eloise, spend a sultry summer weekend hawking their art at the Sidewinder Annual Brunswick Stew Cook-Off. When a bad case of food poisoning breaks out and Eloise dies, the police brush off her death as accidental. However, Cherry suspects someone spiked the stew and killed her friend. As Cherry calls on cook-off competitors, bitter rivals, and crooked judges, the police get steamed while the killer prepares to cook Cherry’s goose.

©2012 Larissa Hoffman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Cute, quick read!

This mystery had a quirky main character who probably wouldn't survive in real life. She was well developed and consistent. A few cuss words. Overall a fun read.

Poor clueless Cherry

I thought the first book wasn’t too bad, but this one is, to use a southern expression, rather a hot mess. Three quarters of the way through I found myself wondering when the “mystery” angle was going to kick in? It sort of did after that, but by then that didn’t really matter, more like, “Oh, it was that person.”
Let’s talk about Cherry, whom another reviewer has labeled “narcissistic”; I tend to agree. She spends her time sulking about slights quite a bit, when not outright provoking hostility from others. At one point, she engages in a nasty bit of badinage with the waitress at a dive (an establishment called “The Viper” could be anything else?), which would’ve been avoided had Cherry not deliberately escalated the situation. Later, when she makes a very nasty remark to her “arch enemy” Shawna, she gets punched in the face. When asked what happened afterwards, she admits that she make the remark, but says defensively, “I didn’t think she’d hit me!” Cherry's crack was the kind of remark that even a Philadelphia Main Line society matron would’ve been hard pressed to ignore. Score one for Shawna. At one point, the locals bristle at the idea of being called “country”; okay then … “yokels” perhaps? Almost all of them seem like something out of Jerry Springer to me. My jaw dropped when Cherry referred to someone as trash, and a moment later tells us how she “honored” her grandmother’s passing with a t shirt featuring that lady’s photo “outlined in Swarovski crystals.” Pot-kettle-black, I’d say. Finally, there’s one subplot that I found fascinating, featuring the one character who isn’t at all trashy, Max Avtaikin. I think of it as The Case of the Suspicious Speedos.
Max is an immigrant from the former Soviet bloc, who seems somehow to be involved with illegal gambling, at least in Cherry’s mind. He lives in a mansion, is single, and husky enough to have the nickname “Bear” which Cherry uses (he generally calls her “Artist” in return). In addition to a light-years-beyond-gorgeous boyfriend, Luke, Cherry has a quasi-ex-husband, Todd, from an annulled quickie Vegas marriage (see Jerry Springer above), who’s also H-O-T. We know this about them because Cherry tells us … often. Todd is employed by Max part-time as a bingo caller, when Max lets the Ladies’ Auxiliary use his property for their games. During one bout of snooping to confirm her suspicion that Max is running an illegal high stakes poker operation in his pool house (involving poor Todd in that sordid scheme, so he needs her “rescuing”), Cherry runs across Todd swimming -- in speedos! She is mortified beyond belief. When she (hysterically) demands to know WHY he is wearing speedos, Todd replies that they are not his, but that Max “loaned” them to him. She never actually questions that single, husky middle aged men routinely have speedos that fit young hunks perfectly lying around as a matter of course. One might get the impression that the games played in the poolhouse might be more of the strip poker variety perhaps? At one point, the plot has Max taking Cherry upstairs to see a painting he bought, with the line, “That is my bedroom (behind the closed door); you do not need to see it.” I suppose if she were that curious, she could just ask Todd?
I would be willing to read the next book, on the assumption the series was actually intended to be a campy parody, ‘cause in that sense, it’s a rip-roaring success!

Decent Story Terrible Narration

The narration was hard to tolerate. I am surprised she was used in more than one book.

Another Great Southern Story

What made the experience of listening to Still Life in Brunswick Stew the most enjoyable?

The relationship between all the family and members of Cherry's love life. I also like how this takes a twist and turn.

What other book might you compare Still Life in Brunswick Stew to and why?

Lowcountry Boil (A Liz Talbot Mystery) they seem a lot alike.

What about Erin Clark’s performance did you like?

Great Performance I enjoy listening to her

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When she realizes her friend is dead. Also when she realizes that Luke is keeping her a secret from his family. I do have to say in this book I am more of a Todd fan.

Any additional comments?

This is a great story and I really hope the next one comes to audio soon.

Super Poor Narration

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

It’s so hard to get past the stilted narration, that the story becomes close to irrelevant. Perhaps good for someone learning English as a second language.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration is so stilted that the words are separated as if they were meaningless.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

with better narration, the southern aspect would have been more plausible and then possibly, the story would have hung together much better.