A soulful, character driven cozy mystery that blends humor, heart, and community with a slightly grittier edge than your typical small town whodunit.

Goodreads | Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes

Release date: July 29, 2025

Publisher: Minotaur

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I absolutely loved that this cozy mystery felt different from so many others I’ve read. While it has all the things I love about the genre—delicious food, memorable friendships, an engaging amateur sleuth, and a satisfying mystery—it also has a grittier, more grounded feel that reflects its urban Chicago setting. It never loses its cozy charm, but it isn’t all quaint shops and picture perfect streets either, and that made it feel incredibly refreshing.

Savvy is a fantastic main character. She’s witty, sharp, and genuinely funny, but she also carries a complicated past that gives her real emotional depth. Her friendship with Penny was one of my favorite parts of the book, bringing plenty of laughs while also showing the kind of loyalty that makes you want to spend more time with these characters. The South Side community feels vibrant and authentic, and Essie’s soul food café quickly became a place I wanted to visit.

One of my favorite touches was the wisdom sprinkled throughout the story, especially the lessons Savvy remembers from her aunt. Quotes like, “There’s three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the dad gum truth,” gave the book warmth and heart beyond the mystery itself. I also had so much fun with the musical references woven throughout the story. Since Savvy is only a little older than I am, many of the songs she mentions were ones I grew up hearing too, making those moments feel especially nostalgic.

Perfect for Readers Who Love

• Food centered cozy mysteries with memorable cafés
• Strong female friendships
• Urban settings with a rich sense of community
• Witty, emotionally grounded heroines
• Cozy mysteries with a little more edge
• Soul food, music, and family wisdom woven into the story

Overall rating: 4/5

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