Tannie Marie’s saga continues in ‘Satanic Mechanic’
“The Satanic Mechanic” by Sally Andrew (Canongate Books, $16.99, 321 pages)
Tannie Maria is a widow living in rural South Africa who writes an advice column for the local paper accompanied by recipes she thinks will enhance the letter writer’s life. (Tannie is a term of respect akin to “auntie.”)
We met her in “Recipe for Love and Murder,” where we learned her marriage was unhappy. In the course of a murder investigation, she met detective Henk Kannemeyer, and the two began a relationship. But it soon hit a roadblock, as Maria suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder stemming from the violence of her marriage.
The other theme here is the victory of the local Bushmen, who have won a court case about their ancestral lands. When one of their supporters is killed, Maria is involved (and Henk is disgruntled, fearing she’ll be in harm’s way).
The bulk of the book is taken up with the PTSD therapy group, with the murder, and subsequent killings, becoming more of a subplot. This may bother mystery purists, but readers who’ve come to love Tannie Maria will enjoy the book as it is.
“The Reek of Red Herrings” by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur, $26.99, 304 pages)
Dandy Gilver and her friend and partner Alec Osborne solve problems for people in 1920s Scotland. Their latest case is very unusual; barrels of herring are being shipped from an isolated coastal town with body parts in them. Asked to investigate quietly, as a public fuss would destroy the industry, the two venture into the wilds — or at any rate, a not very accessible or hospitable part of the world.
They are “disguised” as philologists studying the incomprehensible local dialect. The local customs are laws unto themselves as well.
The book is an interesting look at a little-known subculture, but struggles under the weight of its own structure. There’s rather too much of a language lesson, and the ending, while certainly dramatic, is far too gory for a cozy novel.
“Southern Discomfort” by Margaret Maron (Oconee Press, $12.95, 190 pages)
The second book in the excellent Judge Deborah Knott series was first published in 1993. If you missed it, here’s a chance to enjoy it. It is the beginning of Deborah’s career on the bench, and the details of the rural judiciary in North Carolina, where tobacco is a big crop, are just one of the interesting things in this book. The mystery focuses on the construction, by an all-female crew, of a house for a poor single mother. Deborah has been bamboozled into helping.
The problem lies with her niece, Annie Sue, a crackerjack young electrician whose father, (one of Deborah’s 11 older brothers) is less than pleased with his daughter’s independence.
When the body of a sexist pig of a building inspector is found on the build site, along with Annie Sue’s battered and half-naked body — and her father nearby, the apparent victim of a heart attack, all hell breaks loose.
“The Secrets of Wishtide” by Kate Saunders (Bloombury Publications, $26, 352 pages)
In the England of 1850, the widowed Laetitia Rodd supports herself doing discreet investigative chores, many referred by her brother Frederick, a barrister. That is how she came to know the Calderstone family, whose son and heir, Charles, has fallen for an “unsuitable” young woman.
Letty, with her landlady and fellow sleuth Mrs. Benson, leaves Hampstead to investigate. The Calderstone enclave includes two sweet but undisciplined daughters and a distinctly unfriendly maid.
As the widow of a clergyman, Letty blends into most backgrounds without making a fuss. But her investigation into the history of Charles’ love object takes a few strange turns.