A.L. Herbert

Murder with Macaroni and Cheese
Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery, Book 2

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
Dates Read: 4/7/23 - 4/9/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s): Machelle Williams

The Characters:

Mahalia Watkins :
Wavonne :
Raynell Reynolds, “Somebody Who’s name I cannot remember” Mitchell,

The Story:

Writing: Good. I did catch one name mess up but that could have been fixed in editing, so I guess it’s not fair to hold that against the author. What I do hold against them is not having a mystery until 50% into the book. I’m not sure so much set up was necessary.
Forward Motion: This was actually paced pretty well but I’m still salty about 50% before a murder.
Overall Interest: I will admit I was fully invested.
Length of Reading Time: Very good.
Re-read-ability: I doubt I would reread this.

The Random Thoughts:

I have seen posts referencing the author who wants to target an untapped niche. This series was first recommended to me as a mystery series by a black author and that is untrue as A.L. Herbert is the pen name of a male Latino author. This makes me greatly uncomfortable and though I’ve enjoyed the stories I do not care to be misled about who is writing it especially when my goal was to support a lesser-known market. With all that said I’m not sure if I will be continuing the series or not.… (mere)

I don't normally like to give books bad ratings as some people might have enjoyed it and I am not a writer, I can't even imagine the difficulty of writing one. With that being said however this book had promise or so I thought but it really just dragged and had no real character development. I really wanted to like this book but it took me a week to get pass it. What I did like was some of the comedic relief with the character Wavonne and I like that they include real recipes which I will definitely try but other than that I wouldn't read this again.… (mere)

Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles
Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: Searching for cozy mysteries written by authors of color.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
Dates Read: 1/31/22 - 2/2/22
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Machelle Williams

The Characters:

Mahalia “Halia” Watkins:
Wavonne:
Marcus Rand, Jaquline Rand, Halia’s Mother, a host of other employees, customers, acquaintances and police officers

The Story:

When the worst happens in Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, a murder, Halia makes it her own personal mission to find out. Sweet Tea is Halia’s restaurant that is her pride and joy and she can not see it derailed by the murder of her less then scrupulous silent business partner. With the help of her not so trusty cousin/sidekick Halia investigates the suspects on her own. Apparently nothing loosens lips like some good ole soul food.

There were of course some moments when you have to suspend belief and some moments when I wanted to smack a character (it's not yours Wavonne!).

The Random Thoughts:

I still don’t understand how you move a dead body and don’t shower as soon as you get home. It’s dead body residue in your bed!

Challenges:

Goodreads Book Bingo 2022 - O4 - A book written by a person of color
Birth and Beyond Reading Challenge - Adult: Cozy Mystery… (mere)