Against the Currant + Giveaway

Investigating a murder was never on the menu…but someone’s set the table for bakery owner Lyndsay Murray to take the fall.

Little Carribbean, Brooklyn, New York: Lyndsay Murray is opening Spice Isle Bakery with her family, and it’s everything she’s ever wanted. The West Indian bakery is her way to give back to the community she loves, stay connected to her Grenadian roots, and work side by side with her family. The only thing getting a rise out of Lyndsay is Claudio Fabrizi, a disgruntled fellow bakery owner who does not want any competition. On opening day, he comes into the bakery threatening to shut them down. Fed up, Lyndsay takes him to task in front of what seems to be the whole neighbourhood. So when Claudio turns up dead a day later — murdered — Lyndsay is unfortunately the prime suspect. To get the scent of suspicion off her and her bakery, Lyndsay has to prove she’s innocent — under the watchful eyes of her overprotective brother, anxious parents, and meddlesome extended family — what could go wrong?

My Review:

I’m happing dancing over my discovery of this new cozy mystery series for so many reasons!

Love the unique Brooklyn setting. Cozies tend to be set in small towns so a metropolitan locale is quite the departure from the genre. But Matthews still manages to create that same sense of community and, well, coziness factor, within the cultural backdrop of this Little Caribbean neighbourhood.

And the close-knit Murray family is awesome! Love the way they pull together to help Lyndsay achieve her dream. And Granny’s spitfire attitude kept me grinning. As much as her words of wisdom left me pondering. Love the way the author included snippets of West Indian culture and food throughout the read. It brought an extra dimension to the story.

Lyndsay possesses all the qualities I enjoy in my amateur sleuth heroines. She’s reluctant, but determined to find a way to deflect the police’s focus on her as a primes suspect and she has to really stretch out of her comfort zone to do that. She’s more of an introvert who likes to stick close to home and family, but when’s she’s passionate about a cause — and what better cause is there than to keep herself out of jail?! — well, she’s relentless. And she also possesses a very unique talent that proves quite useful in her crime fighting. 🙂 Plus, she’s smart, but not reckless — no TSTL stunts for this heroine!

Of course, her family has her back and she picks up a few friends along the way who are ready to stand by her. In fact, the whole neighbourhood is rooting for Lyndsay! A solid mystery with so many viable suspects I had a hard time picking out just one potential killer! Love when my armchair sleuthing skills get a workout during a mystery read.

And I’m super excited because — eeeepppp — the next book in the Spice Isle Bakery Mystery series is due to come out on May 23rd! Just a month to wait before I’ll be back with Lyndsay and her clan, experiencing more murder and mayhem, Caribbean style.

*Of note: this isn’t a Christian Fiction read, but it is a clean one and Lyndsay’s life revolves around her family, her bakery and church. Plus, this is a family that prayers together.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy — winner’s choice.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Against the Currant, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday April 29, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.