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. ( )

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 “. ( )

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 ( )