Review
The Sixteenth Key West Food Critic Mystery
When Sheriff’s Deputy Darcy Rogers appears at the doorway of Hayley and Nathan's new home asking for a favor Hayley is surprised and her husband is furious. Darcy wants the very pregnant Hayley to bring a young woman to the county's safe exchange place to pick up her daughter. The neutral location is also home to the county jail,with an animal farm open to the public and video surveillance so while Nathan is upset, Hayley is happy to help. After all, with all of those precautions already in place, plus Darcy nearby, what could go wrong? Quite a lot as Reba, the young woman, disappears, the husband is murdered, and the little girl goes missing. Will Nathan have an aneurysm before murdering Darcey? Will Hayley solve the murder before giving birth? Grab some fresh Key West eats and find out!
Just about everything that could go wrong does in this, the sixteenth Key West Food Critic Mystery. Aside from the custodial transfer that backfired, construction on Hayley's new home has stalled and she and "the old ladies" are missing their lives on Houseboat Row. Not to mention two things near the end of the book that I won't say for spoilers sake. I like how the very pregnant Hayley was not taking any nonsense from anyone and was determined to bring matters to a close while keeping herself well fed.
Descriptions of Key West and the various food offerings had me feeling the ocean breeze and wishing I could enjoy a meal with Hayley and the gang. The mystery was well plotted with lots of nasty suspects and suspicious behavior. Unrelated to the mystery the author made two major choices that I found interesting and wonder the reason for them.
Concepts of home and family together with the uniqueness that is Key West make A DELICIOUS DECEPTION a mystery you won't want to miss.
**************************************************************************
The Mango Murders & A Delicious Deception Key West Food Critic Mysteries by Lucy Burdette
About A Delicious Deception
A Delicious Deception: A Key West Food Critic Mystery
Cozy Mystery 16th in Series
Setting - Florida
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication date: July 14, 2026
Language: English
Print length: 320 pages
Mother-to-be Hayley Snow bites off more than she can chew in the sixteenth installment of Lucy Burdette’s USA Today bestselling Key West Food Critic mysteries.
When Sheriff’s Deputy Darcy Rogers asks Hayley for a small favor, she can’t say no. Nine months pregnant and temporarily benched from her food critic duties, Hayley’s itching for a distraction and eager to help. All she has to do is tag along while a young woman picks up her daughter from her father at Monroe County’s safe custody exchange location. Easy, right?
Wrong.
In the chaos of the Sheriff’s Office open house, the mother disappears. Then the father bolts, leaving Hayley with a terrified girl and the realization that something has gone terribly wrong. Hayley and Deputy Rogers head north up the Keys to search for answers.
When a body turns up, Hayley realizes this isn’t just a missing-persons case—it’s a race against time. With the little girl’s safety at risk, Hayley must trust her instincts—and her heart—to uncover the truth.
About Lucy Burdette
Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette writes the USA Today best-selling Key West food critic mysteries, a cozy, culinary mystery series starring food critic Hayley Snow, including #16, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION. A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS, won the Florida Book Award's gold medal for popular fiction. Both the 12th book in the series, A DISH TO DIE FOR, and the 10th, THE KEY LIME CRIME, won the bronze medal for popular fiction from the Florida Book Awards. Lucy's first women's fiction title, THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS, came out in July 2023.
As Roberta Isleib, she wrote the golf lover's mystery series (SIX STROKES UNDER) and the advice column mysteries (DEADLY ADVICE.) Lucy loves using her psychology background in her stories. She also loves to cook and to eat and to talk and write and read about food. She blogs with the wonderful crime fiction writers at Jungle Red Writers, and shares recipes and stories with twelve other cozy mystery writers at Mystery Lovers Kitchen.
Lucy's books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She's a past president of both Sisters in Crime and the Friends of the Key West library.
Author Links:
Website https://lucyburdette.com
Facebook https://facebook.com/LucyBurdette
Instagram instagram.com/LucyBurdette
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lucy-burdette
Purchase Links - A Deadly Deception - Amazon - B&N - PenguinRandomHouse
No comments:
Post a Comment