Spice Isle Bakery Mysteries, #1
by Olivia Matthews
narrated by Janina Edwards
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Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews is a cozy mystery set in Brooklyn, NYC and the first in the Spice Isle Bakery Mystery series. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over seven and a half hours and is narrated by Janina Edwards.
Lyndsay Murray’s lifelong dream to open Spice Isle Bakery with her is finally coming true. On opening day Claudio, another bakery owner who hates competition, threatens to close her down and they have a verbal altercation. When he is murdered the next day Lyndsay decides to seek out further evidence to clear her name.
I’m definitely a sucker for culinary cozy mysteries. This one was cute, and I’ll definitely continue on with the series.
Lyndsay and her family immigrated from the Caribbean (Grenada) and this book feels steeped in that heritage to an outside observer. I really enjoyed how close-knit they were, and how easily they would go to bat for one another. A few potential future relationships are drizzled throughout this book, with our main character and also her cousin.
I was also pleased that recipes are included in the back of the book! I’m definitely going to be making some of these because they were described so well in the prose that I really wanted to try them.
I identified with Lyndsay in part because she was a bit of a nerdy outsider in high school, and over the course of the book starts building up her confidence.
Some downsides to this book include the fact that Lyndsay sometimes acts younger than her stated age, including being kind of hung up on what happened to her in high school. There were also things that were repeatedly mentioned, which could get annoying.
Tropes in this book include: cozy mystery, bake shop, immigrant community
CW: murder, firearms, attempted abduction
I received an audio copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
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