In this next book of the series Hayley has one more story to write before it's time to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She is looking forward to the time with her family and her fiancee but when a phone call interrupts her plans she knows that she must help out a friend and put everything else on the back burner. Things aren't looking good for Analise, someone died while attending her tasting and the cops are ready to shut everything down. Hayley already has so many things going on, a wedding to get ready for, the holidays not to mention her family. With so much taking up her time she worries that she won't be able to help out her friend. What's a girl to do? Hayley knows that she must find the answers and soon so that she can get everything back on track. Follow along as Hayley delves into this mystery and starts her search for a killer. Will she be able to figure out who the murderer is before the holiday is over and her wedding day has passed or will things remain unsolved? This was a fun cozy mystery read filled with great characters, a mystery to keep you guessing, and food that will leave you hungry in the end.

In the 9th book of the Key West Food Critic mystery, our heroine Hayley Snow is getting ready for her impending wedding to the man of her dreams, Detective Nathan Bransford. While this should be one of the most exciting times of their lives, very little is going to plan. For a start, though they’ve purchased the houseboat berthed right next to the one Hayley currently lives on with her roommate, the sprightly octogenarian Miss Gloria, refurbishment is nearly at a standstill as their contractors keep dropping out for one reason or another. Then Nathan becomes involved in a hush-hush sting operation that frays Hayley’s nerves due to her never knowing where he might be or in what danger he’s involved. Add to this the stress of having her extended family in town for the Thanksgiving holidays, and Hayley is understandably stressed.

But then tragedy strikes. While Hayley is on a food tour for her duties as food critic for the Key Zest newspaper, one of her fellow food tourists suffers what seems to be a stroke and dies soon after being rushed to the hospital. Analise Smith, the owner of the food tour company, is distraught, and asks for Hayley’s help in figuring out whether anything involved with the tour might have been the trigger for Audrey Cohen’s death. The pressure is only worsened when Marcel, Audrey’s widower, begs Hayley to look into it as well.

Hayley knows that one of the things Nathan least likes about her is her tendency to poke her nose into business best left to the police. Fortunately, he’s too preoccupied to stop her -- about the only positive from his absorption with his new case. As she asks around the island and starts looking into the other members of her tour group, however, she soon finds that her investigations might be converging with Nathan’s in unexpected, and deadly, ways.

While it was refreshing to see Hayley and Nathan set about the business of matrimony in a responsible, mature manner, I can’t say that I’m the hugest fan of Nathan himself, nor of the semi-hysterical person Hayley becomes around him. It’s weird to me how he makes her even more anxious than she normally is, but I guess love is weird anyway. I did enjoy how Miss Gloria addressed Hayley’s prejudices against prison inmates, as well as the way that sexual harassment controversies in the culinary world were folded into the narrative. Overall, this was an important installment of the series, if not my personal favorite.

There were nine recipes included, and I decided to try this quick and easy appetizer because it features a signature Maryland seasoning:

QUOTE
Smoked Fish Dip

8 ounces smoked trout or other fish
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces sour cream
3 scallions, cleaned and minced
Heaping ¼ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
¼ lemon

In one bowl, flake the fish.

In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, scallions, seasoning, and lemon. Mix well.

Fold in the fish.

Serve with crackers or chips, or with celery sticks and cucumber slices, or stuffed into endive leaves. For another variation, leave out the scallions and Old Bay and replace with 1 tablespoon horseradish and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill.
END QUOTE

Golly, this was so delicious. My lovely assistant Karin is not a fan of Old Bay but even she had to concede that this was a perfectly seasoned dish. I served it with everything crackers and vegetable chips, and have enjoyed it both as an appetizer and as a light meal on its own. I imagine it would taste amazing with cucumber slices or other crudite, or even with a salad. It was far better than any store-bought seafood dip I’ve ever enjoyed, and I look forward to making it again in future, especially for parties.

Next week, we travel a state north to continue our streak of savory treats with some yummy scones. Do join me!

One of these days I want to vacation in Key West. I want to sit in the sun and enjoy the great food. Just don't let me trip over a body on a seafood tour. Haley is covering the event for an article she will write for Key Zest Magazine but when a tourist dies on the tour, Haley goes from food reporter to investigator. The owner of the event asks her to help find the killer before her business is gone for good.
As if that wasn't enough, Haley is planning not only Thanksgiving with family but she and Nathan are getting married the day after Thanksgiving and Nathan, the groom, is nowhere to be found, off on secret police business. She and Nathan will be living on a house boat whenever it can be made habitable. Until then she needs to find a temporary residence. It's enough to turn any bride into bridezilla but not Haley. She plunges ahead and investigates, aided by friends, as usual.
Overall I really liked this entry into one of my favorite series but I would like to have seen some of it trimmed a bit and a little more focus on the mystery. There was a lot to keep track of but maybe that's just me. I got lost a couple of times and had to backtrack to refocus. Despite that, I''m looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Hayley Snow’s wedding is just a few days away, and her list of things to do is long, as you’d expect. She’s got family coming in from out of town, Thanksgiving the day before, and contractors to get working on the houseboat she wants to move into soon after she gets married. So the last thing she needs to do is find herself embroiled in a mystery. But when a woman on a seafood tour Hayley is covering for work drops dead, Hayley is asked by the friend who owns the company to find out what happened. Can Hayley squeeze that into her busy week?

As you can see, there is plenty happening here, and I found the pages turning quickly. Unfortunately, I felt the mystery suffered as a result. It was often buried in everything else going on, and the resolution was rushed as a result. But I do love these characters, and getting to spend time with them is wonderful as always. I enjoyed getting to see a different side of a couple and have others return. Thanks to these books, I’ve fallen in love with Key West, so it was fantastic to get to visit again. It was a much-needed mini vacation. There are nine new recipes for us to try; personally, I’m most intrigued by the pumpkin pie recipe. While newcomers to the series won’t be as charmed with this outing, longtime fans will be happy to visit Hayley again here.

“ A Deadly Feast” is the ninth book in the “Key West Food Critic Mystery” series by Lucy Burdette. I was a little nervous going into it because I had not read the previous eight books. What is so great is that I was able to follow along with this story pretty well for the most part although there were some things that I would’ve been able to understand a bit more had I read the previous installments.
I enjoyed this book. The characters were quite enjoyable, the plot interesting and the pace perfect. I will definitely be going back to the very beginning.


I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thanksgiving, food, family, a wedding, and a murder?
A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette is an intriguing mystery with lots of delectable foods. I loved the setting, characters and the intuition used to help find the clues.

Hayley Snow
Haley isn’t just our sleuth she is also a food critic and an upcoming bride. She is getting married the day after Thanksgiving. Well, if her groom isn’t MIA anyways. Hayley is trying to stay busy to keep her mind off her upcoming nuptials. So, when she is asked to look into the death of a tourist, she can’t refuse.

What I like about Hayley is her love of family, friends, and food. She is also highly intuitive and a bit tenacious. Even when her fiancé asks her to leave police business to the police. Hayley is so curious. The one thing that I didn’t like about Hayley is that she jumped to some strong judgment about Odem a friend of Miss Gloria. However, he is in prison and she was just looking out for a friend.

Mystery
This mystery kept moving, fairly fast too. It was like Hayley had the answers but they were just out of her reach. Yet, that didn’t stop Hayley from asking questions and investigating the death of the lady on the tour. Oh, and the secrets that are being kept in Key West, WOW.

4 Stars for A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette
My rating for A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette is four stars. This story is well put together and the characters are fully developed and very likable. I haven’t read any other books in this series but if I have time I will give them a look.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the recipes at the end of the book. I may do a couple of the recipes for our Thanksgiving in November. But, I still have plenty of time to plan for that one.

I recommend this book to all the cozy mystery readers out there.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette.

Anyways, until next time,
Karen the Baroness
Happy Reading

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

It’s almost Thanksgiving and food critic Hayley Snow already has plenty on her plate.

Her wedding to Detective Nathan Bransford is just a few days away.
Her father, stepmother, and stepbrother will be arriving in Key West soon for the festivities including Thanksgiving dinner at her mother’s.
She needs to find a place for her and her groom to live because the contractor they hired to renovate Nathan’s houseboat keeps flaking on them.
She is taking part in a seafood tasting tour to write an article for Key Zest Magazine.
Her groom is working on some top secret case and is missing all the pre-wedding festivities which has her very worried.
Plus, the murder she now has to solve. Yes, at that seafood tasting tour, one of the other participants died right in front of everyone. At least, this puts her article on hold.
A normal bride would be all wrapped up in wedding plans the week before her wedding, but Hayley Snow is not a normal bride. She takes on so much I was exhausted just reading about everything she was doing. Oh! to have her energy!

I love Hayley Snow. She is a great protagonist. She is smart and has great instincts and her investigating talents have grown so much since the first book. The one thing she can’t do is say “No” to anyone. This time a chef asked for her help but truthfully she would have investigated anyway, even after Nathan asks her to leave it to the police. In full disclosure, Nathan’s plate was as full as Hayley’s but the case he was working totally took over. Miss Gloria never fails to bring the comedy to almost any situation. She is a real treat. Almost all my other favorite characters returned in this story too. One was out of town and some just have small cameo appearances but it was nice to see them. I was also happy to see Hayley’s whole family together to support her.

The book was very entertaining. All the daily drama leading up to the real main event captivated me from the start. Because of that, the mystery portion of the story got a little lost for me. I was wrapped up in all the other chaos in Hayley’s normal life until things really started to come together in a very exciting way near the end. There was definitely some edge of the seat moments. Then the ending was positively heartwarming.

Again, this author brings on my cravings with all the delectable food. Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, Mojito Cookies, Strawberries and Lime Sponge Cake Trifle, and some unique twists on the usual Thanksgiving fare. Yes, the recipes are at the back of the book. Perfect to make your own holiday feast.

I have enjoyed each and every visit to Key West. These are some of my favorite cozy characters and a literary vacation to Key West is always fun, no matter what time of year.

Fans of this series will be delighted by this book. New readers will enjoy it even more if they start the series from the beginning.

In this ninth outing in Key West, it is almost Thanksgiving and Hayley is also getting married to her Detective fiancé, Nathan. As usual, Hayley is super busy with her articles for Key Zest magazine, getting ready for her wedding, houseboat repairs and renovations, family drama and now a frantic phone call from her friend who needs help after someone dies during her seafood tasting tour. Annalise cannot afford to have her business shut down, and Hayley can't ignore her friend. There are many suspects that Hayley needs to investigate. With Nathan busy with a top-secret assignment, Hayley and Nathan just might not make it to the altar.

The environment of Key West and Hayley's busy life take a large portion of the story, but the mystery is interesting. There are plenty of red herrings yet I did figure out the culprit, although it was near the end. Hayley is a reluctant sleuth, yet has a hard time turning down family and friends when they ask for help. She tries to walk a fine line between discovering what happened and staying true to her promise to Nathan not to investigate any more crimes. Hayley is a great protagonist. She is smart, kind, and relatable. The other characters are well-written and interesting. Her police officer fiancé, Nathan is more likeable in this book as he is not as controlling with Hayley. Their relationship is moving forward in a positive way, very similar to the ups and downs of real life. I love Hayley's roommate, Miss Gloria. She is sweet, yet can be spunky when she needs to be. Overall the characters are written with enough information to help them develop as individuals in the reader’s mind. The setting of this series is wonderful and one of the things that attracts me to this series. I love the detailed descriptions of Key West. There were just enough references to local landmarks and streets to draw in the armchair traveler without being overwhelming or feeling like a travelogue. The delicious food leaves my mouth watering and the recipes included are a nice bonus.

Overall, A Deadly Feast is a quick and entertaining cozy in a wonderful setting. The mystery will draw the reader in, yet it is melded nicely with the life of Hayley and her family and friends. This story will have you booking a trip to Key West, or not, depending on if you are worried about the amount of murders that Hayley has solved along the way. If you enjoy a culinary cozy, with some great recipes, then pick this one up, you will enjoy it.

Foodie Cozy Mystery
This is a cozy mystery with a foodie theme set in Key West. I found it boring and difficult to finish. The mystery portion was fine as were the characters. My major issue was the setting. I chose this book because I wanted an inside scoop on life in the Keys. What I got was a novel that could have taken place in any coastal town. There was nothing that said Key West, Florida that couldn't have also said Galveston Island, Texas. My other issue was the main character's issue with marrying a police officer. She comes across as a drama queen who has not fully thought this issue through, and the wedding is this week. For a mature woman to have not considered that her future husband is all about protecting her and all of his loved ones – well, maybe she should think about this marriage while she grows up. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Deadly Feast: A Key West Food Critic Mystery
By Lucy Burdette
Crooked Lane
May 2019

Review by Cynthia chow

Key Zest magazine food critic Hayley Snow couldn’t have a more perfect fiancé. Not only did Nathan Bransford put aside his abhorrence of houseboat living to embrace the lifestyle of his future bride, he purchased a rundown boat so that they could move in next “door” to her current roommate, octogenarian Miss Gloria. Hurricane Irma unfortunately put a halt to the renovation plans that would have made the boat livable before the wedding, and with only a week to go until the ceremony Hayley is trying to put her problems in perspective. Her dilemmas seems miniscule when on a seafood walking tour for the magazine, Hayley sees one of the participants collapse at the last stop. Hayley’s police officer fiancé is keeping mum about the details, but she’s unable to stay uninvolved when her friend running the tour pleads for Hayley’s help. Despite initial findings that Audrey Cohen died of a stroke, the tour leader’s concerns have Hayley meeting with the chefs along with the victim’s relatives.

As Hayley gets further pulled into the investigation, she finds herself examining the institution of marriage and her own relationship with Nathan. While her parents have each found happiness in their second marriages, Hayley can’t help but still feel the effects of their initial divorce. Through pre-marital counseling and advice from her friends, she learns that trust evolves between partners and only through honest sharing can a relationship succeed. That’s going to be challenging as Hayley continues to be involved in Audrey’s death and Nathan’s secretive job prevents him from spending time with her family. With Thanksgiving days away and their ceremony scheduled on Black Friday, it’s a wonder that the pressure to write her article, investigate a death without involving the police, and maintain her relationship doesn’t send her over the edge.

This series has always been outstanding at examining serious topical issues without distracting from the very fun foodie setting. It shouldn’t be surprising that the #MeToo movement effecting some of today’s most famous chefs has spread to the Florida Keys, where successful female chefs had to come up through the ranks as “one of the boys” by tolerating sexism and harassment. Quotes from some of the best in food writing – as well as from the author’s alter ego Roberta Isleib – begin each chapter and thoughtfully tantalize and enhance the narrative. While the descriptions of some of Florida’s unique cuisine are undeniably mouthwatering, it is the progression of Hayley’s character that is truly outstanding. Both psychology and tarot cards have helped her mature and develop her instincts, although the most wisdom has come from her closest friends and family. Hayley has more than earned her happiness as she takes the next step in her life, and readers are fortunate to be along for the ride. Amazing recipes, a vividly depicted setting, and an absolutely charming heroine all ensure for a deliciously satisfying read.

A DEADLY FEAST by Lucy Burdette
The Ninth Key West Food Critic Mystery


Hayley Snow has a busy week ahead. Not only is Thursday Thanksgiving, but the following day is her wedding to Detective Nathan Bransford! She has one more article to write before she can concentrate on the holiday meal, the arrival of her family, and last minute wedding preparations. For her assignment Hayley joins a seafood tasting tour given by her friend, Analise. At the last stop the loud, somewhat pushy woman from the tour collapses, dying. Was it a tragic accident? Was someone trying to sabotage the tour? Or did someone want Audrey dead? Hayley is persuaded to talk to the grieving husband and ask questions at the restaurants on the tour. But will she be able to figure out what happened before her wedding bells chime?

While I don't eat seafood and don't care for the heat, I always love visiting Key West and spending time with Hayley Snow and her friends and family. This ninth adventure is extra special as it's the wedding book! After trials and tribulations, which continue here, Hayley and her detective are finally tying the knot. Featuring a wedding and Thanksgiving, this book has a focus on family. Not only blood relatives either, as A DEADLY FEAST showcases blended families and friends that become family. It also looks at marriage, and some things that help to make it work. I love how integral, not only Miss Gloria, but Lorenzo is to Hayley's life and the plot!

I really enjoyed the mystery here. We're not even sure if there is a murder, but we know people are lying. Why? I relished the puzzle and really appreciated the solution, the reasons behind how things occurred.

A DEADLY FEAST is a fast paced book centered around family with plenty of culinary treats and a mystery to die for.

Prepare to get hungry all the time while reading this book, as the food sounds really great. The story is very well written, and with great characters, too. The problem for me, is that it's too much of daily life outside the mystery solving. But still, it's a very good book.

A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette is book #9 in A Key West Food Critic Mystery. What a great series!
Haley is not only dealing the Thanksgiving with her parents and their spouses but her wedding is set for the day after. When she does a Seafood tasting tour for one last article before her honeymoon, what could possibly go wrong... a death of course of an attendee. Haley can't tell anyone no, so add searching for the killer to her to do list. When her detective/fiancé falls off the radar, she starts to wonder if she will make it down the aisle.
Burdette gives plenty of plot twists and suspects that have you guessing until the end. The setting is perfect and the characters are likable and relatable. You get friendship, family, and even some humor. There are recipes included. The only problem is you may have a craving for Key Lime Pie.
I was given an ARC by Netgalley for an honest review.

I love this series and this was a very good installment.
This fast paced, full of twists and turns book was a pleasant and entertaining read.
I was happy to meet again the likable cast of characters, the plot and the style of writing.
The mystery was good, no plot hole, and it kept me guessing till the end.
I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Crooked Lane and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Another entertaining visit to Key West. Lots of food, maybe a wedding, family and friends, and a dead body or two engage one from beginning to end. Rode the conch train nearly sixty years ago. Amazed that it still exists, but then Key West is a world all its own. A tear may have been shed near the end, but lots of chuckles prior to that.

This is the ninth in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series. It is set around Thanksgiving for those looking for holiday themed cozy. There is also Haley’s And Nathan’s upcoming wedding the day after turkey day. Will she make it to her own wedding?

I liked the characters, the setting, and the plot. A little more time could have been spent on including more detective type gathering of information so the reader could try to figure out the why of the crime before the reveal. I do understand Haley trying to stay in her lane, especially after being repeatedly asked to stay out of Nathan’s job.

Good beach read.

Bonus: recipes included.

A Deadly Feast
(Key West Food Critic Mystery #9)
by Lucy Burdette 

Kindle Edition, 272 pages
Expected publication: May 7th 2019 by Crooked Lane Books


Goodreads synopsis:
National bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s intrepid food critic Hayley Snow must sniff out a killer in the ninth Key West Food Critic mystery.

Key West food critic Hayley Snow scents-es something fishy when a customer falls stone-crab cold dead on a seafood tasting tour.

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and Key West food critic Hayley Snow has just one more assignment to put to bed for Key Zestmagazine before she gets to celebrate with her family and her police officer fiancé, Nathan Bransford. Then, just days later, wedding bells will ring—if death doesn’t toll first.

The sweet potatoes and stuffing will have to wait when Hayley picks up a distraught phone call from her friend, Analise Smith. On the last stop of a seafood tasting tour run by Analise, one of the customers collapsed—dead. With the police on the verge of shutting down the tour—and ruining Analise’s business—Hayley can hardly refuse her friend’s entreaties to investigate.

As if wedding jitters and family strife weren’t enough for Hayley to worry about, there’s crusty pastry chef Martha Hubbard, whose key lime pie may have been the murder weapon—but did she poison her own pie or was she framed? As the hours to Turkey Day tick away, the pressure cooker is on for Hayley to serve up the culprit on a silver platter in A Deadly Feast, national bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s taste-tempting ninth Key West Food Critic mystery.

***

3 Stars

This is the ninth book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series for Crooked Lane Books. This is the first book I have read in this series. I think the author should have added a bit more background here and there to engage us as readers to really like and want to follow these characters. I was lost for nearly a third of the book trying to dig into who was who and what was what. When I finally got a handle on that, the book seemed to go more smoothly. I think if you are a normal reader of this series you probably wouldn’t have noticed this difficulty since you have had eight previous books of insight behind you on the whole backstory of the world.

The mystery all centers around a food tasting tour and on the last stop of the tour someone ends up dead. I had a hard time getting into the mystery part of this cozy and the characters weren’t engaging me to want to read further. I am glad I stuck it out, though. By the time they realized it was a murder instead of an accidental death, then the story really started going strong.

I thought this was a decent book. A great book to read on a rainy day. I may pick up some other titles in this series just to catch myself up a bit. The last half of the book was stronger than the first half. But it all was still an enjoyable read. Cozy lovers will love the unique setting and all the food references. Lots of possibilities in this series to explore. I look forward to researching it more in the future.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

My first foray into this series and I didn't feel like I was too wrong-footed, despite the relatively large cast of characters to follow. Food critic Hayley Snow is writing a piece on her friend Analise's new seafood tasting tour of various restaurants around Key West. During the last stop, one of the guests on the tour collapses and later dies at the hospital. Hayley is a bit reluctant to investigate as she only has a few days until her wedding and plenty to do beforehand.

I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of Key West, one of Florida's most well-known keys; it made a big difference to the whole story. I didn't guess the murderer (not unusual) but also wasn't particularly surprised by who it was. The story flowed well and I finished the book quickly, feeling I'd like to go back to the beginning and start Hayley's story from when she first arrived in the Keys. She's smart and curious and her journalism background comes in handy when asking questions that get to the heart of the matter.

It may perhaps be a bit unrealistic to squeeze so much activity into the few days before your wedding (but it's a cosy mystery, after all, so has to be a bit unbelievable), but despite some close calls, Hayley gets it all taken care of: finding a contractor to rebuild the houseboat she and Nathan are supposed to be living on once they're married and which is currently a floating wreck; solving the murder; writing up her piece; a family Thanksgiving dinner; and, of course, final prep for the actual wedding.

This was fun and an easy read, and I'll be looking for the next one in the series, as well as keeping an eye out for earlier installments. Recommended for foodies as there are also recipes included.

Deadly Feast is the ninth installment in the Key West Food Critic series. I did have trouble getting into the story in the beginning but about half way through the pace seemed to pick up and I was finding myself wanting to read till the end.

Key West food critic Hayley Snow scents-es something fishy when a customer falls stone-crab cold dead on a seafood tasting tour run by her friend Analise. With the police on the verge of shutting down the tour and ruining Analise’s business, Hayley can hardly refuse her friend’s entreaties to investigate.

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and Key West food critic Hayley Snow has just one more assignment to put to bed for Key Zest magazine before she gets to celebrate with her family and her police officer fiancé, Nathan Bransford. Then, just days later, wedding bells will ring—if death doesn’t toll first.

The protagonist Haley is a likable main character who is intelligent, compassionate, and somewhat impulsive. I liked that she has friends from all age groups much like myself, and seems always willing to help out a friend in need. There were several plots going on in the book and several twists and turns as well as lots of delicious foods being mentioned. Luckily there are several recipes at the end of the book.

I'm interested in seeing what comes next in Hayley’s life and in Key West. I recommend this series to all my culinary mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Reader Copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.
All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

Hayley Snow is on overload with everything she has to do. She getting ready for a family Thanksgiving dinner, preparing for her wedding the day after the holiday, and finishing up a story for Key Zest magazine. Her latest assignment is covering a seafood tasting tour in her adopted hometown of Key West, Florida. One of the tourists participating collapses and dies on the last stop of the tour, which is a business run by one of Hayley’s friends. To help a friend, Hayley now adds an investigation into this untimely death to her already full to-do list.

This book is the ninth in the Key West Food Critic series. I’ve only read a couple of the earliest books in the series, but had no trouble catching up with the main characters. I love reading about the Key West restaurant scene which plays such a big part of this book and in the series as a whole. I am glad to see Hayley has matured since the beginning of the series and is easier to connect with. She is a likable main character who is smart, compassionate, and sometimes impulsive. I like that she has friends from all different backgrounds and generations. She is always willing to pitch in and help, but I admit that tendency becomes a little too much in this book. It was hard to accept someone who is getting married in less than a week and has no place to live after the wedding would keep agreeing to help anyone who asks. I wasn’t sure if I was more frustrated by Hayley continuing to take more and more tasks on or with her friends who kept asking her for favors.

There are a lot of side plots which come up as Haley works on her article about the restaurant tour and asks questions about the tourist’s death while gathering material for the magazine. The various subplots take away from the main story and at times, the book loses focus. Hayley does a lot for the investigation and is able to turn up some important clues, but there doesn’t seem to be much organization or a sense of urgency to her sleuthing. The solution is clever in some ways, but a bit of a let down in others, so I have mixed feelings. Overall, I would rate the book 3.5 stars.

Partially making up for the lack of intensity at the beginning of the book, the drama picks up during a case Hayley’s fiancé is working on that has unexpected connections to Hayley’s investigation. I like the way things turn out in the book, and readers who have been following the series from the beginning will especially enjoy the ending. As expected in a mystery where food plays such an important role, there are several recipes at the end of the book. It will be interesting to see what comes next in Hayley’s personal life and in her career.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Crooked Lane. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.