Recipes for Love and Murder, A Review

The perfect recipe for the perfect crime.

Recipes for Love and Murder follows Maria ‘Tannie Maria’ Purvis (Maria Doyle Kennedy), a woman who works at her town’s local newspaper, sharing recipes and cooking tips in each issue. After budget constraints however Tannie Maria is pushed by her boss Hattie (Jennifer Steyn) to also take up the paper’s advice column, answering any letters that come in in the form of an agony aunt. Maria’s first letter comes from Martine Burger (Tinarie van Wyk-Loots), a woman who in an abusive relationship with husband Dirk (Bennie Fourie) and longs to escape. Maria shares a curry recipe and advices Martine not to stay with Dirk, only for Martine to then turn up dead a few days later.

Dirk becomes the obvious suspect however he accuses Martine’s best friend/lover Anna (Daneel van der Walt) as she was constantly pushing Martine to leave Dirk and was jealous of their relationship. Feeling guilty over the letter Maria teams up with paper reporter Jessie (Kylie Fisher) to look into the case, much to the annoyance of Police Detective Khaya Meyer (Tony Kgoroge). The pair set out to solve Martine’s murder but the case isn’t as simple as first appears, especially when Dirk and Anna seemingly team up to ‘catch the real killer’. When a second murder then occurs Maria and Jessie race to catch the real culprit before it’s too late but can two reporters really outsmart the local police or will they find themselves running around in circles and caught in a tricky killer’s web?

Recipes for Love and Murder was honestly not what I was expecting at all but despite my initial shock I did really come around to loving this show. I think from the trailer and just based on previous Acorn TV series I was expecting some kind of cosy crime, cooking mash up where Tannie Maria and friends would solve a different case every week, with little character development or stakes. What I got instead however was one murder over the entire season, with multiple suspects, dark backstories and a real community of characters I grew to absolutely love. Martine’s murder made for such a compelling story with a lot of twists and directions I wasn’t expecting, in the first episode it seemed so obvious who the killer was but we’d barely scratched the surface at this point. Over the course of the series Maria and Jessie dig into their small town’s many secrets whilst also dealing with their own personal issues and generally trying to live their lives even with a potential killer on the lose. The show had a lot more depth than I gave it credit for and honestly I’d say this show was closer to the likes of Broadchurch than anything I’d seen on Acorn before (only with slightly more cooking and the slightest dash of comedy).

The cooking elements of this show were definitely a lot more present than I expected but I ended up really loving them all the same, watching Tannie Maria cook was strangely calming, even in the middle of a murder investigation. I saw someone on Twitter describe this show as The Barefoot Contessa meets Agatha Christie and honestly where’s the lie? The show blends together that calming, good natured feeling of watching other people cook with the danger and intrigue of a murder mystery- it’s a combination I never knew I needed in my life but now I can’t do without! I’m almost tempted to try some of Tannie Maria’s recipes myself, they didn’t half look good.

I think in a word, Recipes for Love and Murder was just utterly charming and the small town setting definitely helped contribute to this. Obviously Martine’s murder was the main focus of the series but we got a lot of focus on the other characters and their only daily lives as well, especially through Maria’s letters. The series overall was a look into small town life and how a murder can shake things up but we also got insight into romance, family, community and just love for other people- it had some real heart-warming moments.

Overall Recipes for Love and Murder was such a pleasant surprise. The show was so much more complex and dark than I was expecting and so unlike anything I’d seen on Acorn before. The characters and small town vibe were completely charming and I just loved the cooking segments- it was like watching The Great British Bake Off with a murderous twist. A brilliant and completely addictive watch, I really hope we get more from Tannie Maria in the future because I’m already obsessed.