ARC Review: Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes
Author: Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Series: Savvy Summers Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 29, 2025)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: This was one busy mystery. Savvy Summers, retired English teacher and assistant principal, has opened a restaurant and catering business using her beloved Aunt Essie's recipes. She has made it the best soul food restaurant in South Chicago. But when a frequent though cheap customer dies at table two, Savvy finds the reputation of her restaurant in jeopardy. 

Even though it is learned that the 75-year-old died of a heart attack brought on by too much Viagra, people are still blaming her sweet potato pie. Savvy believes that he was murdered and begins her own investigation. And when a local and very slimy politician also dies the same way after being hit in the face with one of Savvy's pies at a local fundraiser, Savvy's reputation is threatened again. 

And besides these threats to her business and reputation, Savvy is also dealing with harassment by a local property developer who is pressuring her to sell her business and building to his real estate group. 

But Savvy, with her Aunt Essie's maxims in her brain, isn't going to be pushed around. With the help of her assistant manager and her police sergeant ex-husband, Savvy is on the case. 

This story was filled with the attitudes and language of Black South Chicago. I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the soul food. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.