Sally Andrew’s Recipes for Love and Murder, based on the her best selling Tannie Maria series of books aired in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, United States, Canada and Latin America today.
During a recent visit to Barrydale the world renowned author, who resides on a game farm between Barrydale and Ladismith, expressed her excitement that her books and the subsequent TV series will now reach an even greater audience.
“This is a great celebration for me, but also for the region and South Africa,” she told News62.
“People always get the bad press about South Africa, visitors from abroad would worry if it is safe to travel here, so yes this is a good news story.”
Andrew spoke with great passion about the Klein Karoo and Barrydale in particular. Whenever she feels the need to find inspiration or be a pert of society she heads to Terry de Vries’ Kamala House Karoo Retreat or the Karoo Art Hotel where she also partakes in early morning swims.
Asked whether stories (fiction) about murder in this country could further fuel negative connotations, she quipped that reading her books or watching the series will have the opposite effect.
“Sure, it is a murder story but that just makes it interesting and fun to watch, but really is a celebration of the people and the places in South Africa as well as the absolute beauty of the country.
Blake Friedmann Media Release
Recipes for Love and Murder follows a South African advice and food columnist, Tannie Maria, as she finds herself caught up in the death of a correspondent’s husband. Watch the trailer here.
Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.
One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn’t realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes – recipes for love and murder.
Filmed in South Africa and Scotland, the series is a co-production between M-Net, AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, and Both Worlds Pictures, in co-operation with Global Screen. Thierry Cassuto, who founded the International Emmy-nominated Cape Town-based Both Worlds Pictures, produces the series in collaboration with Scotland’s Pirate Productions, with development support provided by Creative Scotland, and Paris-based Paradoxal.
The show was adapted for TV by Karen Jeynes, who is also executive producer, along with Scotland-based writer-director Annie Griffin. The series is directed by Christiaan Olwagen and Karen Jeynes, and stars Maria Doyle Kennedy, whose credits include Outlander and The Tudors, alongside Tony Kgoroge (Invictus), and newcomer Kylie Fisher.
‘A quirky, colorful murder mystery set in the South African outback.’ – Christopher Vourlias, Variety
‘An appetizing blend of mystery and good-natured friendship with a dash of mouth-watering recipes.’ – ET Online
Recipes for Love and Murder is a 10-part series that launches its first two episodes on 5th September 2022. Two episodes premiere weekly until October, all on Acorn TV.
The full Tannie Maria book series – RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, THE SATANIC MECHANIC, DEATH ON THE LIMPOPO and THE MILK TART MURDERS – is published by Umuzi (Penguin Random House South Africa) in South Africa, and the first two books are available from Canongate in the UK. The Tannie Maria series titles are all bestsellers in South Africa – regularly in the Top 5, with the fourth book, THE MILK TART MURDERS, shooting straight to the top of the combined fiction and non-fiction charts on publication in March 2022.
About Sally Andrew
Sally Andrew divides her time between the Cape Town coast and a nature reserve near the small town of Ladismith in the Klein Karoo, South Africa, the setting of her hugely popular Tannie Maria novels. She lives with her wildlife artist partner, among various wild creatures (including, as she says, ‘a giant eland and a secretive leopard’). Sally has also published a number of non-fiction books on adult and environmental education.
Praise for Sally Andrew
‘If you want a vivid, amusing and immensely enjoyable read about detection (and cooking) in an intriguing part of southern Africa, then this is the book for you. A triumph.’ — Alexander McCall Smith
‘Sally Andrew’s Karoo is where miscreants, moskonfyt and murder are all on the menu. Thank heavens for Tannie Maria who cooks up a storm in the kitchen — but she’s just as good at cracking crime. … A delightful debut.’ — Christopher Hope
‘Chock full of good food and interesting characters.’ — Kerry Greenwood, author of the PHRYNE FISHER and CORINNA CHAPMAN series
‘Utterly delicious, to the very last morsel.’ — Deon Meyer
‘With her cosy Tannie Maria mysteries, Sally Andrew adds some zest (and recipes) to a predominantly serious genre. Even though it might gravitate more towards mysteries than hardcore crime, it’s still worth a read for its humour and South Africanisms.’ — Dey There, 12 South African Crime Writers to Add to Your Reading List
