Welcome to Litsy!

Halia Watkins, chef/owner of soul food restaurant Sweet Tea, finds some trouble when her silent partner is murdered, & her cousin is the main suspect. What‘s a lady to do but investigate?

I wanted to like this more. The setting of a soul food restaurant was such a draw for me, but the characters felt like stereotypes, the plot was flat, & the narrator kept making really frustrating decisions. I did like the multiple red herrings. 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

Read for #DiverseCozy This was a so-so for me. I liked the main character Halia, the restaurant setting & of course, all the southern food mentions/recipes. I didn‘t like the way some of the characters were written—like Halia‘s cousin; more caricatures than feeling real & the dialogue felt awkward. In that regard, I wasn‘t shocked but still disappointed to learn from GoodReads that the author is not a black woman, but rather a white/Latin male. ⬇️

‘#bookreport
Murder at the Serpentine Bridge is the only book I finished this week. Kept up with buddy reads: Murder with Fried Chicken & waffles #diversecozy,Whose Body? #goldenagecrimeclub ,Dearest Josephine, #sundaybuddyread. Just started A Deadly Affair #historicalmystery #kindleunlimited An Accidental Death, #audible

#diversecozy
I enjoyed this one.Halia & Wavonne make some.. appallingly questionable decisions, &there were SOME leaps in logic that had me rolling my eyes. but it was funny, the motivations were less superficial than some other cozies I‘ve read(which is not a lot of cozies admittedly)it didn‘t get lost in subplots-other than lengthy Soul Food descriptions, which didn‘t detract for me & I definitely saved a screen shot of the corn casserole recipe

There was a lot I liked about this book and a lot I didn‘t. I had assumed A.L. Herbert was a Black woman because the mc is, but it‘s a pseudonym for Patrick Sanchez. There was too much restaurant detail in the book, and Halia‘s cousin, Wavonne, is a bit of a caricature, with her loud voice and lazy behavior. But the story is interesting enough. I might read a second one. #diversecozy #audiowalk

I started this for #diversecozy and so far I‘m not sure if I‘ll like it. The first several chapters are all about the mc‘s restaurant and her recipes, but I‘m here for the murder, not the behind-the-scenes-at-the-restaurant stuff. I‘m happy to give it a chance though because I like the characters. I managed to get my walks in before the now daily rain. #audiowalk

A series I need to get back to.

#ScarathlonDailyPrompts #Murder #Scarathlon2022 @Clwojick #TeamSlaughter

There are so many things that should have landed the main character in jail but didn't. It was a good mystery but the way Halia went about doing things seems very unrealistic.

One of my targeted goals this year is more cozy mysteries by authors of color. That goal is what lead me to Herbert and I don‘t regret it a bit. The characters are lovable and funny. The mystery kept me on my toes and the recipes sounded delicious.

I spent the weekend reading this one. It was pretty good. There were some unrealistic moves made in the storyline that could have ruined it for some people. I enjoyed it none the less.

@sharread I can‘t wait to start the book Murder With Fried Chicken and Waffles! You sent a lot of wonderful sweets and things. I never knew Werther‘s had caramel apple candy! Bless Her Dead Little Heart is an awesome title and I‘m looking forward to reading it too! #cozyswap Thank you!

I thought that this was pretty good. A classic who done it. I wish the twist was a bit twistier but overall it was good. The characters had me laughing a bit but I don‘t tend to gravitate to things too over the top (Wavonne) so I didn‘t love her character or the fact that she didn‘t mature. It was interesting enough for me want to read the rest of the series so I rated it as a pick. Overall I will rate it a 3.5/5.

It's been a long week....#chickenandwaffles

While this mystery had a clever reveal, the characterizations of the main character and other women in the book feel stereotypical and repetitive (ie the cousin is repeatedly described as lazy and is also The Sassy Black Lady). There are also some really dumb and unnecessary plot decisions. The author is also fond of expositional infodumps - also, written by a guy, so this won‘t work for Reading Women 2018 tasks.

It‘s a double shot of #waffles today! If you‘re still looking for a #cozymystery to read for #Booked2018 look no further. Fun characters, good local color, and recipes! There‘s at least one sequel...

If you are looking for a fun cozy mystery with soul food recipes, look no further. This was a fast-paced read. I picked this up after I heard it was based in my own home state (Maryland) and it stars a restaurant owner that made my mouth water with her food descriptions and kept me guessing and second-guessing the suspects she investigated. I would read more by this local author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was pretty cute and I love Halia and wavonne's voice. The recipes look good too. If you're a fan of Joanne Fluke you'll like this series too. I actually read this and giggled