This is really a question for my German-speaking fans: my German translator is currently working on Book 9 of the
Oxford Tearoom Mysteries: The Dough Must Go On (German title: Eiskalt abserviert ).
If you'll remember, this is the story where "showbiz comes to Oxford in the form of Britain’s hottest new talent show and tearoom owner Gemma Rose gets a peek behind-the-scenes when she’s asked to cater for the event. But with the Old Biddies entering the contest as England’s first “granny band”, and her little tabby, Muesli, taking part in one of the
acts, Gemma soon ends up with more than she bargained for… and that’s before she comes across a frozen dead body!"
So my translator and I
had originally discussed things and it had been recommended to translate "granny band" into "oma-band" in the German version of the story. However, I've now had some feedback from other members of my German publishing team who feel that this translation is unsuitable and it would be better to keep
the original English term. They feel that "Oma-Band" sounds very boring and that German readers can easily understand "granny band", since terms like "boy band" are well known.
In addition, we had originally planned to change the name of the band, which is "Pussy Puffs" in English, to "Meths" (ie. Methusalems) in the German edition, because there were concerns that many German
readers might not "get" the joke. However, the new feedback I received is also against this change as well. They feel that the original English name is very funny whereas the German version lacks humour. In fact, they said they were confused about Gemma's negative reaction to the name in the story, until they read the original English manuscript...
Here's a snippet of the story to refresh your memory: