Recipes for Love and Murder

This is a visually beautiful series. I enjoy the cooking scenes and the opening intro is stunning; it reminds me somewhat of the Dexter intro. Lovely gentle scenes of the leading actress in her garden picking tomatoes, lemons and chatting with chooks/birds. The murder story is a bit silly and for me is secondary to the cooking and food scenes. Lovely to watch in these stressful times. I truly hope they continue to make further series. Whoever thought up of this gentle and pleasant series deserves an award. Sit back, relax with some coffee and cake; and just enjoy. My review appears to be too short so I am not sure what more I can add except thank you for making this series.

Charming, gloriously inclusive and just damn gorgeous. You have to accept some things about Tannie Maria. She doesn't answer questions in as straightforward a way as some would like. She solves problems by cooking her way through them and can't always articulate her solutions any other way. But if you change the pace of your expectations and indulge the complexity of the story being carefully unfolded for you, you will be introduced to deeply crafted characters portrayed by an incredible cast in a breathtaking location that (if you're not South African) you may know nothing at all about. For the people complaining about the plot (surrender to the pace because it's worth it) or diversity of characters (the horror), I am not sure what you're watching. It's a story about a place where murder is kind of the least interesting thing going on and people form genuine connections with one another. The murders don't drive the plot of every storyline or even the majority of each episode. There are simultaneous storylines happen at once. This isn't Vera (Bless her in all her glory). It's Recipes for Love and Murder and that's exactly what it's about. Plus the food looks luscious. It took me a minute (as a former farmer) to enjoy Morag, the chicken, in the kitchen but Tannie Maria's hen would never. Give yourself a treat and check this one out.

My wife & I are hooked on murder mystery shows especially those based in Great Britain & the British Commonwealth. There are many that are so good and you hate it when the series ends. That's how we feel about 'Recipes for Love and Murder.' We are ready for much more. The characters are realistic with varying personalities & their own personal issues. But they meld so well. The mixes of humor, drama, mystery, and romance is perfect. Some of the humor is subtle and makes me laugh even more. Then there are the recipes & advice. Those elements set this apart from other mystery shows. We get hungry with every episode! We love the way Maria mixes the two to give the perfect blend for solving the solution to people's problems & sometimes assist with the mystery at hand! Not only are we ready for more of the series we're looking for the cooking book (wishing & hoping one might actuallybe published)!

I really enjoyed the storyline, writing, the location, characters and acting...even the music was great and offered something distinctly unique to this show. I want to learn more about the characters and I'm hopeful that there will be more seasons to come. Very charming show in spite of the fact that it's an intriguing murder mystery!

The photography is beautiful and I enjoyed the look of the scenes, like stage settings, with thoughtful color schemes...the setting in South Africa is also appreciated by this viewer as we rarely see shows depicting African countries.

Please continue with this creative and worthwhile series...I never write reviews so with luck, it will be received well!

It matters that Tannie Maria (aka Maria Purvis) is the most likable amateur detective introduced in a long while because it means longevity - we look forward to seeing her again and willing to spend some of our time with her. Big credit goes to actress Maria Doyle Kennedy (who played one of the most hated characters in Downtown Abbey - Vera Bates). The series has an easy-going character driven style for the most part laced with some tension and a dash of the macabre with loads of humour, creating its own idiosyncratic take on the 'cottage-murder-mystery'. The cinematography, acting, music, story-telling and recipes work well together. Sure there is room for improvement, a bit of tweaking here and there but a solid first season worth the viewing and second helping.