Review
THE KEY LIME CRIME by Lucy Burdette
The Tenth Key West Food Critic Mystery
The week between Christmas and the New Year is Key West's busiest time.
Locals try to capitalize by holding special events, such as the search
for the best Key Lime Pie, as more rowdy tourists than ever arrive en
masse. It's not only the streets that are crowded. Since construction on
their new houseboat isn't complete, newlyweds Hayley and Nathan are
squeezing in with Miss Gloria and each of their pets. Nathan's
announcement that his mother, whom Hayley has yet to meet, is
arriving for an unexpected visit is the icing on the already tilting
cake. While Hayley's mother-in-law seems slightly aloof and not at all
interested in Hayley, her foodie lifestyle, or food in general, she
becomes very interested and involved after she and Hayley discover a
dead body. Could the murder be due to a culinary feud? While Nathan
urges Hayley to stay out of it, his mother encourages Hayley to
investigate. Will Hayley be able to please them both? More importantly,
will she be able to avoid becoming the murderer's next target?
Ulterior motives and secrets are to be found in the tenth Key West Food Critic Mystery as Hayley deals with her new mother-in-law, a too busy new husband, and a murdered pastry chef in the wild and wacky too crowded town that is Key West. I love how Hayley tries to win over her new mother-in-law, but that she doesn't try too hard. Hayley remains true to herself, and her job and family, as she tries to add Helen to the mix. I really enjoyed the look into Nathan's backstory, and with it a better understanding of his motivation. You can't help but love Miss Gloria and I welcome the addition of T-Bone, although with six cats of my own, I still shudder over the introduction process she and Hayley used.
As always, Key West is a character unto itself. As unique as the people that inhabit it, I'd love to visit and soak up the ambiance, eating a variety of Key Lime pies...but after reading this book I would never visit during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve!
THE KEY LIME CRIME is a complex mystery wrapped up in familial adjustments. It's a whirlwind tour of Key West during its busiest time of year that touches on serious issues without becoming overburdened. In short, it's a fun, fast paced mystery filled with multilayered characters and lots of key lime pie.
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As always, Key West is a character unto itself. As unique as the people that inhabit it, I'd love to visit and soak up the ambiance, eating a variety of Key Lime pies...but after reading this book I would never visit during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve!
THE KEY LIME CRIME is a complex mystery wrapped up in familial adjustments. It's a whirlwind tour of Key West during its busiest time of year that touches on serious issues without becoming overburdened. In short, it's a fun, fast paced mystery filled with multilayered characters and lots of key lime pie.
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The Key Lime Crime: A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette
About The Key Lime Crime
Cozy Mystery
10th in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (August 11, 2020)
Hardcover: 320 pages
National bestselling author Lucy Burdette's tenth Key West Food Critic mystery is piping hot with pie-enthusiasts and murder suspects.
When a fierce rivalry between key lime pie bakers leads to a pastry chef's murder, food critic Hayley Snow is fit to be pied.
During the week between Christmas and New Year's, the year-round population of Key West, Florida, faces a tsunami of tourists and snowbirds. It doesn't help that outrageously wealthy key lime pie aficionado David Sloan has persuaded the city to host his pie-baking contest. Every pie purveyor on the island is out to win the coveted Key Lime Key to the City and Key Zest food critic Hayley Snow is on the scene to report it.
Meanwhile, Hayley's home life is turning more tart than sweet. Hayley's new hubby, police detective Nathan Bransford, announces that her intimidating mother-in-law is bearing down on the island for a surprise visit. Hayley offers to escort Nathan's crusty mom on the iconic Conch Train Tour of the island's holiday lights, but it becomes a recipe for disaster when they find a corpse among the glittering palm trees and fantastic flamingos. The victim--Au Citron Vert's controversial new pastry chef--was a frontrunner in Sloan's contest.
It's bad enough that Hayley's too-curious mother-in-law is cooking up trouble. Now, the murderer is out to take a slice out of Hayley. Can she handle the heat of a killer's kitchen?
About Lucy Burdette
Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) has published 16 mysteries, including the latest in the Key West food critic series, DEATH ON THE MENU (Crooked Lane Books, August 2018.) Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime. She blogs at Jungle Red Writersand shares her love for food with the culinary writers at Mystery Lovers Kitchen She lives in Madison CT and Key West FL. Read more at www.lucyburdette.com.
Author Links:
Facebook: WWW.facebook.com/lucyburdette
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lucyburdette
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lucyburdette
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/robertaisleib
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4781149.Lucy_Burdette
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - IndieBound
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My husband has entered food contests his specility is chili and soups he loves to cook everything but those he cooks more of. peggy clayton
ReplyDeleteLove the book and book excerpt. The book sounds like a fantastic, mysterious and very intriguing read. Would love to read and review the print form of this book and the rest of your books. Love books like this. A book cover and excerpt needs to call to me Read Me, Read Me and this book cover and excerpt does all that and more.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to getting to know the author and their books.
Although I can't cook myself, I just reading culinary mysteries. I guess it's because I can escape into a world and pretend I can cook. My Mom and 2 younger sisters are fantastic cooks. Their food could win ribbons in contests if entered their food is that good. Of course that's my opinion.
Hope I Win
Crystal
I really enjoy cozies and this sounds great. Thanks for this opportunity.
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