This was the first book in the Key West Food Critic series and I really liked it. I’ve now gone back to the start of the series.
I loved that it’s a dessert based mystery, that it’s Christmas time and that the main character is meeting the dreaded mother-in-law for the first time.
It’s great read and I can’t wait to read more from this author!!

The Key Lime Crime is the 10th Hayley Snow book. This time she is covering a celebrity chef-hosted Key Lime Pie contest - what better place then Key West?! Also, Hayley's mother-in-law arrives on the island at a time when husband Nathan is up to his elbows in work. Hayley & Nathan's boar is still under renovation, so everyone is cramped and little grumpy. A ride on the conch train leads them past a house with a dead body and Hayley can't help but get involved (the dead body was one of the contestants). What Hayley didn't expect was help from her MIL. As always, Hayley's life is hectic - eating out for work and now tasting Key Lime-flavored baked goods all over the island keeps her way too busy. As always, she tracks down the killer with some skillful investigation and a lot of luck, some of it bad! The Key Lime Crime is another great installment by Lucy Burdette.

This is a fun mystery that truly takes you away and transports you to Florida at Christmas time. In the 10th Key West Food Critic mystery author Lucy Burdette introduces us to Haley's Mother in law who is full of secrets, has a intense dislike for food and is closed off to a relationship with Haley. Her new husband is busy working and has left Haley to entertain his Mother. Their home is not done and Haley is still living at Miss Gloria's with Nathan and a pack of cats and dogs. The usual charcters are back Miss Gloria and Haley's cast of foodie friends. Its a fun romp through Florida's Key West after a killer of a local chef who perfected Key lime pie much to the envy of the other chefs on the island . Good cozy fun that will keep your mind of the pandemic and make you hungry with all the key lime pie references.

Hayley Snow is a Key West food critic who has penitence for being in the wrong place at the wrong time...or the right place at the right time?

In this installment of Lucy Berdette’s Key West Food Critic Mystery, The Key Lime Crime, Hayley Snow is joined by none other than her new Mother in Law, Helen, who has surprised Hayley and her new husband, Nathan, by joining them for New Year’s week. As Nathan is swamped with work, he sends Hayley, Miss Gloria and his mother on a Christmas Light Tour of Key West. The seemingly innocent tour takes a turn when something doesn’t look quite right bringing the ladies to revisit one of sights on the the tour.

With Key West police department having their hands full with tourist crowds, and against the wishes of Nathan, Hayley and Helen set out to solve a murder!

This was my first foray into one of Lucy’s novels and I’m happy to say it will not be my last. Even though reading the most recent installment of the Key West Food Critic Mystery series might have given me some spoilers, the character depth and writing style leaves me wanting more. By the end, I felt like I knew Hayley and Miss Gloria in real life and look forward to connecting with them more in other readings. Additionally, for a cozy mystery, the twists and turns left me on the edge of my seat and I did not see them coming!

Overall, I would give this a 4.5 / 5. It did take me a bit to get into it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down.

I am not, as a rule, fond of cozy mysteries; give me plenty of blood, life-threatening action and bang-up endings any day of the week. But I'll also say this: There's nothing like a well-written cozy to take the edge off all that gore and angst and provide an enjoyable few hours of reading.

And this is just such a book. Admittedly, I'm new to the series; this is, I've read, the 10th featuring the personable and delightfully unobnoxious Hayley Snow, a food critic in Key West, Fla. I suppose my interest initially was piqued by the setting; honestly, I've never really wanted to visit anywhere in too-hot Florida except for one spot (you guessed it). Maybe it's the Hemingway connection (one of my retired English teacher husband's favorite authors); maybe it's the six-toed cats; maybe it's the chance to be Buffeted by some of my favorite music - I can't say for sure. And I can't discount being able to indulge in one of my favorite desserts, key lime pie.

Of the latter, there's plenty to go around here (although I must admit that after reading the book I'm more enthralled by the key lime martini, for which the author provides a recipe - among others - at the end). For those wondering if they'll be lost starting with a book so far into a series, my answer is an unequivocal no; I had no trouble whatsoever understanding what is going on.

Hayley, newly married to Key West cop Nathan Bransford, is covering some of the food events being held on the island during the tourist-crowded week between Christmas and New Year's. While their houseboat is being renovated, she and Nathan are living with a somewhat kooky next-door neighbor. All that suddenly becomes complicated when Nathan's mother announces an unplanned visit - starting the very next day. She and Hayley have never met, this is Nathan's busiest time of the year and the houseboat is overcrowded as it is. Not the best time, then, for Hayley to witness a nasty incident involving one of the bakery-submitted key lime pies - and certainly not to find a dead body.

Hayley's innate curiosity kicks in, of course, aided and abetted by that of her mother-in-law and their elderly houseboat hostess. Nathan (also of course) doesn't take kindly to their intrusion into the investigation, but readers of cozies know that only serves as an incentive for the heroine to dig in her heels. Will she learn the murderer's identity without putting herself and her friends in mortal danger? Will Nathan forgive his bride for ignoring his advice? You'll just have to read the book to find out. All I'm willing to do at this point is say thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for letting me read and review this very entertaining book.

Good cosy mystery, set in the Florida Keys and featuring their famous Key Lime Pie. An enjoyable read, that had interesting characters and a setting that brought back memories of a fabulous summer holiday.

The Key Lime Crime by Lucy Burnett’s - “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.”
I enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed all of Lucy Burnett’s books about Key West. I loved the characters and I love traveling via the pages to Key West. There were plenty of twists and turns to undercover the murderer and let’s face it, who can resist reading anything about pie?? Great book - if you haven’t started this series yet, you’re missing out. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Delightful story set in Key West. I love Key West and have had the opportunity to visit several times in the past, so I could easily imagine the locations and Hayley's movements around the area.

Haley is a food critic and in this mystery is reporting on a Key Lime Pie contest among various shops in Key West. She is married to a Nathan police officer and they live on a houseboat. Suddenly, with almost no warning, Nathan's mother decides to come visit. This is the busiest time of the year for tourism being the week between Christmas and New Years and neither Haley nor Nathan is certain how they will entertain her during her visit. When Nathan's mother Helen discovers a dead body, schedules become even more complicated.

The victim was a newcomer to the island who opened a bakery specialize in pastries. Because she was competition to other bakeries in a small area, there were plenty of people who might have wanted to see her business closed. But would that be enough to cause a murder?

Haley is also hoping to warm up to cold Helen who adored Nathan's first wife. Will the two women ever fine peace with each other?

Like many "foodie" mysteries there are some good looking recipes at the end of the book. I can hardly wait to try them and to read more books in this series.

I always like to know what Hayley and Miss Gloria are up to in Key West so it was fun to see what happened this time. However, I think there was way too much talk about key lime pies! Who makes the best key lime pie in Key West? After a while I was thoroughly sick of that pie and didn't care at all about the contest. Enough already!
But I loved knowing more about T-bone and I also liked reading the recipes at the end of the book. Very excited to next read about their honeymoon trip.

Key West and key lime pie go together like Jimmy Buffett and a margarita, both combinations I am incredibly fond of. This installment in the series was as charming and enjoyable as the others. Character development was grand and the mystery was well done.

An absolutely delightful cozy! I love the setting of Key West and the timing of Christmas/New Year's was a bonus. I haven't read others in this series so didn't know what to expect but really enjoyed it. The mystery was very good with lots of suspects and red herrings. The characters were great. Varied personalities with lots to love. The food descriptions were divine and really made you want to go to Key West immediately to try some pie and all of the restaurants. Loved the animals too. Really good story!
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.

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?

I loved it being Christmas time...it was fun to read how the Key’s do Christmas! I also really enjoyed the addition of Helen..With great characters, great setting, and great food….Lucy Burdette has put together another stellar recipe for a great who dun it! This is the tenth addition to this series, and she continues to “whip up” fantastic and engaging mysteries that will have you (if you're like me) guessing until the end!!

Being in isolation for the duration my reading has been kicked up to uber maximum level. What a treat to have the 10th Key West Food Critic mystery to let me escape to Key West at Christmas time. The newlywed Haley Snow has a whole lot to juggle these days. It's tourist season in Key West and, as a writer for Key Zest magazine, she has her hands full with the Key Lime pie contest. As I have a real weakness for that delectable creation, I was drawn into the mystery from the description of the plot. The competition is intense and it soon produces a corpse. Too bad the ones to discover the body are Hayley and her new mother-in-law, a woman she has only just recently met. Oops. Awkward to say the least. I like her mother-in-law, Helen and hope she makes a repeat appearance.
The mystery was complex and kept me guessing, something that I have come to depend on from this series. The characters were multifaceted and the writing style flowed smoothly. It was a very nice armchair trip to the Florida Keys.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This one was so cute! I loved the main characters, and it was just adorable. The mystery was a bit predictable, but enjoyable. Overall this was a cute book, and I’ll definitely be looking into more books in this series.

Interesting quirky read. This book let my interest. I especially like the correlation with food and mysteries. I am a big fan of Joanne Fluke and this book reminds me of her work.

The tenth book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Haley Snow just got married and is enjoying herself until she learns her mother-in-law who didn't attend her wedding is coming for a visit. Nathan arranges a train ride for them to to go on to look at Christmas lights when they ride past a drunken santa next to the last display. Miss Gloria asked if they can go back and look at the display again, when they arrive back they discover that the dummy is no fake but a dead women who was a contestant at the Key West, Key Lime pastry contest that was disqualified. The baker that publicly humiliated the organizer David Sloan when she threw a key lime pie in his face. With her mother-in-law tagging along where ever she goes and questioning suspects on her own, what better way to bring them together but to catch the killer. With pie being thrown in faces and the murder victim dressed as Santa Haley has her work cut out for her. What a better way to get to know your mother-in-law but to bring her along to solve a murder.

With lots of laughs to go around this was a great addition to the series. I can't wait for the next adventure in this great series.

The question is what is the most stressful for newlywed Haley Snow, finding a dead body or the surprise visit of her mother-in-law, Helen. Helen declined an invitation to Haley and Nathan's wedding yet now after they stumbled across a murder she always want to tag along with Haley and instigates questioning possible suspects in the murder.

I am a long time fan of the Key West Food Critic Mystery series. The characters are interesting and the setting enticing. In this story I saw growth in Hayley's character and got to understand Nathan better thanks to the addition of his mother to the cast of characters. There is a great twist near the end too.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I really liked this fun cozy mystery! Hayley faces an unexpected visit from her mother in law and while they're exploring Key West they find a corpse. And not just any old corpse!

This cozy has plenty of twists and turns and surprises. It really is a ball to read!

The Key Lime Crime is the tenth novel in Lucy Burdette’s Key West Food Critic Mystery series. It was the first book I read in the series, but it was easy to jump right in and go along for the ride. Newlywed Food Critic Hayley Snow is once again embroiled in a murder investigation on the tiny island, this time with her mother-in-law along for the ride.

There was no shortage of suspects in the murder of newcomer to Key West, Claudette Parker. Burdette keeps the reader guessing and the plot moving. It was a fun and fast read and I wouldn’t mind picking up the rest of the series.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of The Key Lime Crime from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Key Lime Crime by Lucy Burdette is the 10th book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series, and it was great. Hayley Snow is the food critic writer for Key Zest Magazine, which keeps her busy, and she recently married her detective boyfriend Nathan Bransford. Nathan tells Hayley's that his intimidating mother is coming for a surprise visit. On top of that it's the week between Christmas and New Year, and key west is full of tourists, and Hayley has to cover the Key Lime pie contest. While taking Nathan's mother on a Conch Train Tour to see the holiday lights, they find a women dead body, and she is wearing a santa suit. Hayley is determined to get to the truth, about the women's death, along with all the other events going on. When I read a Hayley Snow mystery it's like visiting my friends in Key West! This book does not disappoint. I strongly recommended this book/ series, to get the most out of the series you might want to read them in order.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.