Savvy Summers and the Smothered Chicken Scandal

The next delectable mystery featuring quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, a soul food chef in Chicago.

After closing her cafe and transforming Essie’s Place into a full-time catering company, chef Savvy Summers is ready to hit the ground running in her new state-of-the-art kitchen. She’s making the place feel like home by whipping together batches of buttery biscuits, indulgent smothered chicken over rice, and fried maitake mushrooms with her classic flair.

But Savvy’s reopening plans screech to a halt when a family crisis comes knocking on her door. Her daughter-in-law, Netanya, has left Savvy’s son, Malik. With their preteen son in tow, Netanya has returned to Chicago and is lobbying to move into Savvy’s spacious rented digs. Netanya is suspiciously tight-lipped about what led to the marital breakup, but what’s a mother to do? Leave her daughter-in-law and grandson to Chicago’s mean streets? Not on Savvy’s watch!

Things only grow messier when one of Savvy’s recent headaches—a catering competitor who she suspects has been plagiarizing recipes—is found dead in Savvy’s very own storage locker. When word gets out that Netanya had been growing close to the victim before his untimely death, even the help of Savvy's ex-husband and newly minted Homicide Detective, Fanon Franklin, might not be enough to clear her family’s name. Will Savvy be able to find the killer before her beloved Essie’s Place once again takes the fall? Or will Savvy's new business venture—and possibly her life—be over before it even really started?