Recipes for Love and Murder (Series One) – DVD Review

By Karl Hornsey

With series two just around the corner, there’s no better time to indulge in the first series of another of Acorn TV’s murder mystery productions – Recipes for Love and Murder. Now that the clocks have gone back and the nights are very much drawing in, the allure of a cosy and comic drama seems to become even more appealing, and even more so in the case of this series, given that it takes viewers away to somewhat sunnier climes.

The series is based on the light crime novels of Sally Andrew and is set in a small town in the hot and arid farming country of South Africa, which is certainly a far cry from Yorkshire in the depths of autumn. To add contrast to the sultry heat of the veldt, Edinburgh is the secondary location for the drama, which helps to fill out the back story of the series’ lead Tannie Maria, played by Irish singer and actor Maria Doyle Kennedy, a Scottish journalist for the local newspaper who finds out that her recipe pages are to be replaced with an Agony Aunt column instead. Handily, Tannie Maria also discovers that she’s a dab hand at giving advice as well, even if it does draw her almost immediately into the murky world of murder.

“Loyal following”

As with so many of Acorn’s murder mysteries, the quality of the characters, who can be believed and instantly warmed to, helps to create a winning formula, and the culinary quirks of the lead never get in the way of a plot that keeps getting more and more layered as the series progresses. With episode titles such as Enough Sweet Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs and Breakfast for Dinner, it’s obvious that the food theme continues throughout and, in a wonderful link-up, Andrew has also released a cookbook featuring some of the recipes used in this series, entitled Recipes to Live For.

While Tannie Maria and her sidekick, investigative journalist Jessie, inevitably clash with the police as they attempt to catch the killer, and are drawn into danger themselves, the story doesn’t stray to much into cliched and formulaic territory, making this a far more watchable series than most. For fans of the first 10 episodes, it will have come as a relief to hear that plans for a second series were quickly put into place for a second, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is another of Acorn’s offerings that quickly builds up a loyal following and runs and runs.

‘Recipes for Love and Murder’ series one is released on DVD by Acorn