Joining us today is a fresh new voice in cozy crime: Sandra Jackson-Opoku talks about her mystery debut, Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, in which a soul food chef in Chicago finds herself embroiled in murder (as cozy mystery chefs so often do).
I thoroughly enjoyed Jackson-Opoku’s mix of humor and homicide with just the right touch of emotion. Savvy Summers is a sleuth to watch!
Detectives: Connect with Sandra on Instagram, Facebook, and her website. Grab a copy of Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes from your retailer of choice here.
Thanks for joining, Sandra! Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes kicks off a new cozy crime series about a Chicago-based soul food chef who, of course, gets embroiled in murder. I adored Savvy as a character and as a sleuth—what do you love about her? What elements of her personality make her a great sleuth?
Thanks, I love her too! She’s a mature Black woman with “mother wit;” an accomplished chef, with a warm, nurturing personality. But don’t mistake kindness for weakness! To paraphrase James Brown’s classic hit, “Mama don’t take no mess.” Savvy Summers is also a firm and strong-minded woman who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, a trait she inherited from her late, Great Aunt Essie whose legacy and recipes she honors in the kitchen. These personality quirks, a healthy dose of curiosity and life experience, along with input from a nosy sous chef, serve Savvy Summers well in her exploits as an amateur sleuth.
Savvy Summers has some phenomenal names, from that of the titular character to others like Tuchman Pfeiffer, Granderson Jaspers, and Shysteen Shackleford. How do you come up with a character name? Do you think the name influences the character’s personality, or the other way around?
I’ll admit to somewhat Dickensonian tendencies when it comes to naming. Charles Dickens loved giving his characters ironic names: Miss Haversham, the jilted bride; Fagin, the master criminal; Belinda Pocket, the bookworm. I felt that the colorful characters in Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes deserved equally colorful names.
I’m also inspired by the West African belief system of the Naming Ceremony, which can also be found among certain African American and world cultures. A name is thought to influence personality, so there’s often a waiting period in which a person’s true character reveals itself. Children who present certain traits are often bestowed with a secondary given name or nickname that befits their personality. A girl named Shysteen might have been named this way because she’s shy and demure . . . but, in this case, it’s because she’s a shyster!
With this being your debut mystery, can you share what you’ve learned while plotting a whodunnit? Is there anything that has surprised you in crafting the crime, compared to other genres or writing styles?
I’ve read mystery novels for fun and enjoyment, from the time I was ten years old. When I decided to write one, I began reading for structure and technique. I knew I wanted to write a cozy with a difference. It would be set in an urban area, within a specific ethnic community, with a particular history and cultural background.
I cozy mysteries set in insular, small town life, with PG-rated violence, language, and sexual content. It makes for interesting contrasts when the specter of crime intrudes into such serene spaces. I wanted to transport this sensibility to an urban community on the south side of Chicago. Ever mindful of the idea that “you have to know the rule to break a rule,” I diligently studied the elements of cozy mysteries: setting, the character of the amateur (often reluctant) sleuths, clues and red herrings, quirky occupations.
There’s no way I could reliably write about a community on the southside of Chicago like some kind of St. Mary’s Mead, at least not the southside I know; it wouldn’t ring true. I began looking for ways to gently stretch the boundaries of the form. When you know your community, you know how people act, speak, think, and believe—whether they’re churchgoers or confirmed sinners. So while sex is not blatant on the page, it’s often broadly referred to. If you’ve ever been to an African American institution, even the church, you’re prone to hearing a fair bit of cussing. While I don’t intend these characters to give offense, I also had to honor what Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott calls “the rhythms of (the) race.” So, rather than a traditional cozy, I refer to this work as cozy-adjacent.
In addition to novels, your writing credits also include poetry and screenwriting. What made you want to try your hand at mystery? What aspects of poetry and screenwriting most influence your prose—and Savvy Summers in particular?
When I retired from full time teaching ten years ago, I gave myself permission to try my hand at everything I’ve ever had an inkling to try. My background is in literary and historical fiction writing. I’ve been inspired by novelists like Valerie Wilson Wesly, Sherman Alexie, Rudolfo Anaya, and Rita Mae Brown. They moved back and forth between literary and genre writing . . . boldly, creatively, and unapologetically. In fact, the first documented Black crime writer, the mid-19th century novelist Willard Motley, was also a Hollywood screenwriter who adapted his works for the silver screen. Even though I don’t write much poetry anymore, the practice has taught me economy and the use of lyrical language. Screenwriting has been an instructive practice in dialogue, scenic, and dramatic tension.
Lastly, what’s next for you? Can we expect more mysteries with Savvy, and/or is there anything else you’re working that you’d like to share?
I’m working on the second installment in the series, Savvy Summers and the Po’Boy Perils, in which the intrepid chef tries her hand at New Orleans Creole cooking, and runs afoul of a murderer in her midst. It’s tentatively scheduled for publication in Summer 2026. As one of the winners in the M Film Lab’s “Tales of Identity and Imagination” cohort, I’ve adapted a flash fiction piece (the short-short story form) as a film short. As a Circle of Confusion Fellow, I adapted the first Savvy Summers mystery as a TV series, which I hope will one day be produced.
I also have short fiction forthcoming in The Overturning: Writers respond to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories, and Asian Winds, an anthology of poetry and prose celebrating Asian voices from around the world—I’m an African American with alleged Chinese ancestry. I’m also revising a historical novel about centuries-long connections between China and people of African descent, and researching a speculative history of Chicago’s Black founder, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable.
Thanks so much to Sandra for the interview. Detectives, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.