A Poisonous Palate - A Review

 Review

A POISONOUS PALATE by Lucy Burdette
The Fourteenth Key West Food Critic Mystery 

 

An e-mail asking Hayley Snow to look into a cold case of a missing person piques her curiosity. In the late 1970s Catherine Davitt and her friend, Victoria, left Michigan on a whim and wound up in a quasi commune in Big Pine Key. Victoria disappeared, never to be heard from again. Catherine has returned to the Keys to research Hemingway and his wives for her latest book on toxic love and decided to try, once again, to discover what happened to her friend. Cautious, nonetheless Hayley is intrigued and decided to help. How dangerous could it be, plus she could broaden her restaurant review range outside of Key West. Unfortunately, when the pair visit the hotel owned by one of the men in the group, they find him murdered. Perhaps this cold case isn't quite so cold!

 

I love a cold case and a very interesting one is presented in the fourteenth Key West Food Critic Mystery. I also like the fact that it gives Hayley an opportunity to investigate something without much danger, at least to start. What harm could come from looking into a missing person's case from thirty years prior? Unfortunately, a lot. Catherine's journal entries from 1978 gave a much needed look into the past, making Victoria more real. I appreciated Hayley's skeptical approach and the fact that she didn't automatically trust Catherine. I also liked how she managed to tie in her work as a food critic into her investigation. And of course, I really enjoyed the delectable food descriptions.

What I found most interesting was the unreliable narrator aspect of the book. While Hayley is the actual narrator and quite reliable, Catherine certainly isn't. Her story and behavior is suspect, indeed her whole demeanor is questionable, facts that kept me intrigued.

It was fascinating how the toxic relationships of the people involved in the commune dovetailed with the relationships Hemingway had with his wives. Indeed toxic love is the theme, not only for Catherine's new book, but A POISONOUS PALATE as well.

Grab some crab cakes with avocado and mango salsa or perhaps some profiteroles and prepare to be entertained as A POISONOUS PALATE heats up a cold case in this absorbing Key West mystery.