Recipes for Love and Murder

This series is charming in many ways. Like other cozy mysteries there is a cast of characters, most of whom are enjoyable company, and some of whom have quirks that you may find annoying. Personally, I enjoyed all the characters and some I found very pleasant company. The location is another plus for the series. South Africa is certainly a different setting and one I'd like to see more often.

From the trailer I'd expected a new mystery with each episode but there is basically one case for the whole ten episodes. That was okay with me, especially as there is more than one mystery to be unraveled in that time. I do hope there's a second season in which we can get to know more about the main character, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy (excellent) and the other characters.

Beautifully filmed. Proudly south african moment........ makes you want to eat all the time lol......... Beautifully filmed. Proudly south african moment........ makes you want to eat all the time lol.........

This is a visually beautiful series. I enjoy the cooking scenes and the opening intro is stunning; it reminds me somewhat of the Dexter intro. Lovely gentle scenes of the leading actress in her garden picking tomatoes, lemons and chatting with chooks/birds. The murder story is a bit silly and for me is secondary to the cooking and food scenes. Lovely to watch in these stressful times. I truly hope they continue to make further series. Whoever thought up of this gentle and pleasant series deserves an award. Sit back, relax with some coffee and cake; and just enjoy. My review appears to be too short so I am not sure what more I can add except thank you for making this series.

A newspaper recipe columnist in a small South African community has to take over the advice column of said paper and gets swept up in a criminal investigation when one of her letter writers is murdered.

This series is a mixed bag overall but I would still recommend watching it. The investigation of the abused wife's murder is spread across all 10 episodes and is a bit tepid as murder mysteries go. I had figured out who the murderer most likely was by around the second or third episode. I think you could have jettisoned the whole crime angle and focused on Tannie Maria and her food-laced advice column and it would still have been a satisfying series. The somewhat violent climax in the last two episodes felt at odds with the series' overall gentle, somewhat humorous tone. (And the murderer's actions at the end make absolutely no sense anyway but I won't say more than that)

What works in this series is the unfamiliar context (South Africa...I'm from the U. S.), a skillful use of flashbacks, the beautifully filmed scenery and food, and the actors. Maria Doyle Kennedy makes for an unusual detective. She's soft spoken, sweet-natured, introverted and even a bit passive at times. Tony Kgoroge is appropriately brusque as the chief detective (and love interest). Kylie Fisher as the fiery young journalist (Maria's fellow investigator) is very good as a young woman with a lot of stuff on her plate. And Arno Greef is very likable as her good-natured, kinda-lunk-headed, boyfriend. And all the other actors are enjoyable as well.

To sum up: The series has an uneven tone overall but I think with some script-tightening, it could be something special. I enjoyed watching it.

Acorn has the first 6 episodes, but there are 10 in the season. And it looks like they aired earlier this year. So will we be getting the rest?

I've given it 10/10 because I love what I've seen so far: Fun and intriguing mystery, quirky characters, entertaining script, and great performances. But I'm a lot disappointed that we don't have the other 4 episodes.

Maria Coyle Kennedy (Tannie Maria) reminds me a lot of American actress Mary McDonnell, who I also love. Kylie Fisher is brilliant asJessie, and Arno Grieff's Regardt is clueless, sweet, and adorable. I've fallen in love with those three characters.