In this installment Lucy and her cast of characters travel to Scotland and have a mystery to investigate while there. The plot was very interesting and I enjoyed traveling along with them. There were plenty of twists to keep me guessing.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the first novel I have read in this series and felt it was good on its own. The female amateur sleuth writes a column on food so readers who love descriptions of food and recipes included will like this book. Most of the book takes place in Scotland so there is really lots of information about their characteristic food. There is also much about various locations, customs, celebrations, and history of a number of interesting places in Scotland. I had not heard of the Falkirk Wheel, for example, and found it an interesting feature to which Burdette introduced me. The Kelpies, the huge horse-head sculptures were pretty interesting too.

There was one odd and wrong scientific fact in the novel. The festival of the summer solstice is being described. It is the longest day of the year and “the moment when the sun is closest to the earth”, a character says. (1628/3895) Not true. A quick search will show that perihelion, the point where the earth's orbit is closest to the sun, is generally about two weeks after the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Oops.

Scientific error aside, this is an entertaining cozy mystery with lots of mouth watering descriptions of food and interesting accounts of various places in Scotland. The mystery is sufficient but I found the food and setting much more engaging.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Another entertaining and engrossing addition to this excellent series. It's not my favorite, I prefer those set in Florida, but I had a lot of fun and the mystery kept me guessing.
Good plot and character development, lovely descriptions of Scotland, a solid mystery.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Hayley and Nathan’s long awaited honeymoon is here! They are traveling to Scotland to visit Nathan’s sister, Vera, and her husband, William, along with Miss Gloria and Hayley’s mother-in-law. We know with Hayley and Miss Gloria together, trouble is afoot!

With Lucy Burdette’s descriptive writing, I could picture myself in the Scottish countryside along with the characters as they traveled to different locations. I learned about thin places, something I wasn’t aware of before this book. Miss Gloria’s personal battle with feeling her ancestors takes a dangerous turn but luckily for her and us, she is saved! There were many new characters introduced as part of the mystery, I didn’t guess who was responsible for deaths and near deaths until it was being revealed. I enjoyed the presence of Vera’s kitties and the cat in Tobermory. Hayley and Miss Gloria have such special relationships with critters so it makes sense to have them around.

Vera was a tough cookie to be around but I think by the end of the story, she relaxed a bit. I hope she and William visit Key West in the future.

Actually I was slightly leery when I heard that this book moves the locale from Key West to Scotland as the sense of place is so integral to this series. Totally relieved after reading the latest in one of my favorite series as Lucy Buffett's knocked the double locale out of the park. Hayley Snow and husband, Nathan, head to Scotland for a year long delayed honeymoon. Seems less of a honeymoon when you consider they will be staying at her new sister-in-law's, (Vera, who she has not yet met), joined by her mother-in-law and accompanied by her octogenarian neighbor and friend. While lovely and charming, the atmosphere is tension filled. Vera and her friends/colleagues are in the final throes of producing a book on rare and sacred places in Scotland but beset by fundamental differences on the book. When events escalate to murder, Hayley and her friend find themselves in danger. As always, the characters new and old engage your interest while the writing and plot keep you glued to the.book. Of course, the food descriptions are sublime with many recipes included.

What I love most when a cozy mystery series I follow comes out with a new edition is getting to return to a setting I enjoy and catching up with characters who feel like friends. That’s why I was a bit nervous when I learned Lucy Burdette set her new Key West Food Critic Mystery in Scotland instead of the southern-most point of the United States. I enjoyed my visit to Key West a few years ago, and her books allowed me to make return trips without the airfare. I also visited Scotland many, many years ago and enjoyed my time there as well, so I was hopeful. Still, would her characters be as appealing adventuring through the northern United Kingdom as in southern Florida?

I shouldn’t have worried.

A Scone of Contention was an excellent read. Food critic Hayley Snow brings her love of food, quirky nature, new husband Nathan, her mother-in-law, and her beloved 80-year-old friend Miss Gloria along to Scotland. Oh, did I mention she and Nathan are on their honeymoon? Though it’s crowded for romance, it makes perfect sense with this group of characters.

Hayley and her loved ones connect with Nathan’s sister Vera, her husband, and her co-workers. The plan is to explore some of Scotland’s iconic mystic places. These spots are said to be where the veil thins between Heaven and Earth. Some are also the setting for the series Outlander and Game of Thrones. (How Key West-like is that!) At a dinner party, one of Vera’s friends claims someone tried to poison her. Then the group witnesses a tourist fall to his death. None of the friends admit to knowing the dead man, but Hayley thinks they’re not telling the whole truth. Soon she’s on the hunt for a killer before he (or she) strikes again.

Of course, with Hayley being a tried and true foodie, lots of delicious meals and recipes are featured in the book. At first, I wanted to make one of the scone recipes, but the outside temperature near 100 degrees discouraged me from turning on the oven. Instead, I made the recipe for Coronation Chicken.

Being a dedicated anglophile, I’d heard of this recipe before. Le Cordon Bleu cooking school founder Rosemary Hume created the dish in 1953 to serve at a banquet celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Since the UK was still dealing with post-WWII rationing at that time, this salad features easy-to-get ingredients with an exotic touch of curry. Most recipes for this dish call for mango chutney and diced dried apricots. Burdette switches it up by using apricot jam and diced fresh mango, which to me made it seem more Key West friendly. Also, I’m more likely to have apricot jam in the pantry and mango in my freezer. (The frozen mango worked perfectly. Just let it thaw first.)

Like the book, the recipe didn’t disappoint either. It made a refreshing chicken salad with an exotic taste from the curry powder, a slight sweetness from the fruit and jam, and some crunch from the almonds. I enjoyed it on its own with crackers on the side and as a sandwich made with hearty multi-grain bread. (In the book's recipe, Burdette serves it on baked potatoes.)

If you love cozy mysteries, especially ones filled with tasty food, then I highly recommend you jump into this series. I’m already anticipating the next edition!

This is the eleventh book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery Series. This one does not take place in Key West, except for the opening and closing chapters, but rather in Scotland. Hayley Snow and her new husband Nathan Bransford have decided to visit his sister in Scotland for their honeymoon. Miss Gloria, of course, is coming along with them. At the last minute, Nathan’s mom invites herself along. Once they are in Scotland, Nathan is forced into a golf tournament with his brother-in-law. As is to be expected there is soon an unexplained death to add to the mixture.
As always Lucy Burdette has done excellent research. Her food descriptions are mouth watering. Readers experience several different places in Scotland. I also thought that the mystery part of the plot was original and well developed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the free Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book, but it should not be the first book that you read in this series.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Police detective Nathan Bransford is taking his bride, food critic Hayley Snow to Scotland to meet his sister and for a much-awaited honeymoon. Unlike a normal honeymoon, they will be joined by their friend Miss Gloria and his mother. His sister has big plans for the ladies to check out some fantastic Scotland sights while her husband will be spending the days with Nathan on the golf course. Vera especially wants the show off some mystic places that will be featured in her upcoming book.

Sadly the honeymoon gets off to a horrible start when a guest at a dinner party gets ill and says she was poisoned. Then while visiting the famous Falkirk Wheel, high above the Forth & Clyde canal they witness a man fall to his death. A man Hayley thinks is connected to Vera and her friends although they deny it.

Hayley feels something is really off with Vera and her friends but she really doesn’t know the players in the mystery opening up before her. While she would just like to enjoy Scotland with her husband her sister-in-law and her inner amateur sleuth have other plans.

I am always a little leery when authors take their characters away from their usual locales but Lucy Burdette does a good job of it in A Scone for Contention. Scotland is a well-traveled place for cozy characters but she takes us to some unique places that Vera wants to include in her book. I would have liked a little more in-depth description of some of these places to visualize what Vera was trying to convey. Other times when we visited new towns and hotels, the story drifted into travelogue territory, but the author did her best to find a good balance of location and mystery.

We meet several new characters once we touch down in Scotland. A dinner party is a perfect venue for these introductions but Hayley’s seat is next to a man with a vested interest in the book Vera is writing with her college friends but he has a totally different vision for the book than Vera. Then his wife appears to be poisoned ending the evening in a bit of chaos. In addition to the college chums, we meet the chef who was responsible for the fateful meal.

There was some tension on this trip and surprisingly it was not because the octogenarian or Hayley’s mother-in-law came along on a honeymoon. No, Vera and her mother’s relationship is severely strained. The college friendships seem to be strained as well and an overbearing spouse of one of them really fans the flames.

Then you have two mysteries to solve and they have to be connected. Hayley does her best to work through the clues but her a-ha moment may be too late. I will say my heart rate picked up as the reveal played out. Ms. Burdette plotted everything out wonderfully and kept me drawn to a certain character. I just couldn’t figure out the motive until the very end.

I did appreciate that the story began and ended in Key West. It gave the book a firm foundation and allowed us to check in with some favorite characters that we would have missed if the book started right out in Scotland.

A Scone of Contention takes readers on a nice little vacay with some unique characters. I do hope Hayley and Nathan do get to take a trip all by themselves someday soon and have a real honeymoon.

Every time I read the latest book in this series I question why I haven’t read the beginning of the series. Although this was not my favorite in the series it was still an enjoyable read. I am not a fan of Outlander (gasp!) so in turn, books set in Scotland aren’t my most enjoyed reads.

My favorite aspect in this book is that Miss Gloria tagged along on the honeymoon and was a prime-focused character. She is a hoot and if she ever dies in the series I will go into mourning.

I could have done without the small secondary mystery back in Key West. It didn’t add much to the story.

There are many yummy recipes at the end and I have plans of fixing several. I like the idea that the scones can be kept in the freezer and taken out as needed.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

A Scone of Contention by Lucy Burdette is the 11th 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. Hayley is excited about her and Nathan's honeymoon to Scotland, until she finds out his mother-in-law, sister and brother-in- law are coming along also. When I read a Hayley Snow mystery it's like visiting my friends. 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.

A Scone of Contention by Lucy Burdette.
I read about half of this series a few years ago and then I kind of lost interest. I guess I never fell for the cop love interest. So I thought I would give this one a try. A group honeymoon in Scotland did not really fit into the series name, Key West Food Critic Mysteries. I don’t usually like it when a book series leaves home because the location is part of the ambience of the story and that is lost. Also, I did not recall that Miss Gloria was this woowoo in the earlier books and I thought it was a bit odd.
Also this was the weirdest honeymoon ever. The groom was out of the picture most of the time.
All told, this one did not really work for me.

Even though this is book 11 in the 'Key West Food Critic Mystery' series, and I have only read two other instalments I still jumped at the chance to read A Scone of Contention, finding it a fun, delightful and amusing cozy.

Hayley and police detective Nathan Bransford are enjoying their life together as a married couple, and are going on their honeymoon. They are staying in Scotland so that Hayley can meet Nathan's sister, Vera, and Nathan's mum and a neighbour are going along also. Vera is writing a book about Scotland and they visit some places of interest as part of some project work. When someone is poisoned and then there is a death, Hayley becomes suspicious as to what may be going on.

Lucy Burdette has created such wonderful characters for this series and this story, and Helen Bransford, Nathan’s mother, is certainly a force to be reckoned with! Miss Gloria, Hayley's octogenarian friend and neighbour provided many comedic moments, and I adore her great relationship with Hayley. All of the characters have excellent parts to play and the dialogue is sharp and punchy. The mystery itself was well-plotted, with the subplot surrounding Vera adding further intrigue. The author did a sterling job of describing the Scottish setting and the local foodie delights. This delightfully entertaining story has given me the inspiration to read more in the series, especially the first book, An Appetite for Murder. Very highly recommended.

Disclosure: Thank you to Crooked Lane for providing a digital ARC of A Scone of Contention by Lucy Burdette, via Netgalley for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I loved Key West the one time I got to visit and it was nice visiting there again. I don’t know if I could live on a houseboat, but with friends like Miss Gloria and Connie, it might be fun. I also enjoyed our trip to Scotland. I never really thought about wanting to visit, but going to see the beautiful scenery might well be worth the trip. Oh, and the food! I could almost feel the pounds adding on. You’ll find some of those delicious recipes at the back of the book. I enjoyed this story and the people in it. I would love to hang out with them again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

This is the 11th installment in the Key West Food Critic mystery. I have read the first couple of these and enjoyed them and just got behind and then I read this and was able to pick up very easily. Hayley Snow has recently married detective Nathan Bransford and they are on their way to Scotland for their honeymoon. The honeymoon is not exactly typical as Hayley’s neighbor Ms. Gloria is going along as is Nathan’s mother Helen as they are visiting Nathan’s sister Vera and her husband William. While at a dinner hosted by a friend (Ainsley) of Vera’s one of the guests Glenda goes to the hospital of suspected poisoning. William has committed Nathan to a golfing tournament for three days and Vera is working on a project with Ainsley, Glenda and her husband Gavin who is the photographer and they need to finish the project in the next week. There is a lot of tension amongst the group and Hayley is and her group are going on the locations with the group and visiting “thin places” which are places where the Earth and Heaven meet. On the first outing, they go to the wheel of Falkirk and it is there someone (Joseph Booth) falls off the boat to his death but later it is suspected that he was pushed. Hayley suspects the friends know more than they are letting on but continue on their journeys thru the thin places. It is clear that the group has very different ideas on the direction of the book and Gavin is pushing to have virtual reality goggles and while in Glencoe (the historical site of the massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbells) Ms. Gloria is given the goggles and freaks out. Hayley is livid with Gavin and Glenda as is Vera and Helen. Hayley cannot wait for Nathan to join them. I enjoyed this mystery as well as the description of the Scottish cuisine and locations. Think this was a nice twist on a cozy by going to a new location. I also enjoyed the growth of the family dynamics and as always, the dynamic of Hayley and her friends. Looking forward to the next installment.

When newlyweds Hayley and Nathan finally get to take their honeymoon in Scotland, it looks a little different than what they’d expected. Family and Miss Gloria tag along.

Things get less than blissful when an attempted murder and an actual one occur. Will it bring a halt to their trip early? Or will they team up to figure out who the
Killer is, just in time.

I loved how diverse the characters were. It was so fun to see how they interacted and the twists and turns they bring to the table. I found the plot to a fun way to travel to place I have never been. The setting was done so splendidly that I got lost in each scene. Absolutely loved it!

When one of my favorite mystery series takes place in one of my favorite places, it’s a vacation in my mind with each book. The Key West Food Critic series featuring the entertaining food critic Hayley Snow and a loveable supporting cast of her family and friends take me back to the quirkiness of Key West time that I have reveled in personally. There’s always a great mystery to go with the familiar streets and restaurants and landmarks Hayley zips around to on her scooter, often with her octogenarian friend Miss Gloria on the back. However, in this book, A Scone of Contention, author Lucy Burdette moves the setting to Scotland, a honeymoon for Hayley Snow and her newly wedded husband Nathan Brandsford. Scotland happens to be one of the places I most want to visit. This series just keeps on hitting all the right notes with me.

Hayley and Nathan have decided to take a honeymoon to Scotland, staying with his sister Vera, who lives there. But, it won’t be a traditional honeymoon. They’ve invited Miss Gloria, Hayley’s former roommate and now neighbor on houseboat row to go with them, and Nathan’s not-so-warm mother, Helen, has invited herself to also go, using the opportunity to see her daughter whom she hasn’t seen in quite a while. With Hayley’s friend Connie and her husband Ray just down the line on houseboat row and Hayley’s mother and stepfather living in Key West, Hayley and Miss Gloria aren’t worried about their treasured cats and Nathan’s dog being well cared for. Although, before they leave, Ray is involved in an incident at the art gallery where he exhibits, and Hayley hates leaving Connie alone with that worry. But, Scotland awaits, so the foursome takes off for a honeymoon trip.

Hayley and Nathan are already anticipating some tension between Helen and Vera. Theirs is a complicated, uneasy relationship that stems from Vera being abducted as a teenager. But the newlyweds encounter even more awkward tension among Vera and her friends who are working on a book about Scotland together. The very first night of their visit there’s a dinner part at Ainsley’s, one of Vera’s closest friends and manager of the book project. Ainsley’s chef has prepared an enormous amount of food with which Hayley can start her article about Scottish food for the Key Zest ezine, her place of employment. The next to last dish is a light salad, what is purposed as a palate cleanser before dessert, but before dessert is over, Glenda, the wife of the book project’s photographer, Gavin, becomes ill. It’s eventually traced to the salad, with only her salad containing foxglove, a plant grown in Ainsley’s yard. Glenda accuses the chef of trying to kill her, but an ongoing investigation into it proves inconclusive.

The salad incident doesn’t keep Vera, Ainsley, Glenda, and Gavin from visiting sites for the completion of their book. Accompanying them are Hayley, Miss Gloria, and Helen. William, Vera’s husband, has commandeered Nathan to play in a golf tournament at the local and famous St. Andrews course for several days, after which they will join the group. The first trip out, a day trip, to the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift in central Scotland that connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, proves to be quite a shocking event. A man falls overboard and dies, and the authorities don’t know if it’s an accident or if the man was pushed. Vera and her book crew deny knowing who the man is when shown a picture of the deceased by the police. Hayley begins to suspect some deviation from the truth, and when that happens, readers know she and her own collaborators of Miss Gloria and Helen will do some digging.

With the deadline for Vera’s book looming, they continue with their visits to the “thin places,” those in which the current world seems to be closest to the past world. It is these places that are the focus of the book and which Vera, who is the writer for the book, captures so beautifully with her words. Miss Gloria is especially interested because her ancestors were a part of the McDonald and Campbell clan history. The rest of the trip involves overnight stays in the places they explore, and the action heats up considerably, as does the tension among the book project team. Hayley is doing behind the scenes investigating, and one of her group is moving closer and closer to a untimely end. With lots to tie up in Scotland, readers still get to see the Key West crew return to their beloved island and Hayley clear up one more mystery.

Lucy Burdette is so adept at bringing a setting to the reader, helping the reader to see and feel the place, that I knew I would enjoy this trip to Scotland in the series. That she includes historical links to the places are a favorite feature for me. A Scone of Contention is the 11th entry into the Key West Food Critic mysteries, and by now the regular cast of characters feel like friends. They have been deftly developed by Burdette, and fans of the series look forward to finding out what is happening in their lives. Of course, the new characters that appear in each book are brilliant, too. I did miss Hayley cooking a bit in this latest book but reading about the Scottish food, especially the scones, helped scratch that itch. And even though Hayley and Nathan were apart on much of this honeymoon trip, I did enjoy the obvious love for one another interwoven into their interactions. So, until I can once more delight in a book in this series, I will just have to imagine my Key West friends living a full life in the sunshine of paradise.

And, as usual, there are mouth watering recipes from the story gathered at the end of the book. The cheeses scones and cinnamon scones are on my list to try.

I was fortunate to be granted an advanced copy from the author and publisher and from NetGalley. My honest review is here with thanks.

Hayley and Nathan are finally going on their honeymoon – if you can call the trip that. They are heading to Scotland so that Hayley can meet Nathan’s sister, Vera, and their neighbor, Miss Gloria, and Nathan’s mother are tagging along. When they arrive, they quickly discover that Vera is in the final stages of a book about Scotland, but the tension among Vera and her coauthors is strong. An attempted poisoning and a suspicious accident make Hayley think that something strange is going on. Can she figure it out?

As a fan of this series, I wondering how I would feel about a book away from Key West since the location is a strong character in the books. Fortunately, we get some scenes before and after on the island and the characters left behind get cameos. The book balances travelogue with mystery well, and anyone who has wanted to visit Scotland will only want to visit more about reading this book. I did feel that both the main plot and subplot’s climaxes were anti-climactic. They did answer all of our questions, but they were a bit abrupt. I did enjoy getting to meet the new characters, and anyone as hungry by the talk of food as I am will be pleased by the recipes at the end of the book. Fans of the series will be glad we got to crash Nathan and Hayley’s honeymoon.

Nathan and Haley's honeymoon to Scotland has begun with Miss Gloria and Nathan's mother along for the trip to see Nathan's sister. Haley and Nathan expect to spend time with Nathan's sister and brother-in-law, they find out that Nathan's brother-in-law has entered Nathan in a golf tournament. The rest will be going with Nathan's sister to several places that appear in a book that she is the co-author of. Through modern technology Haley is able to keep in touch with friends and family at home. That way Haley helps solve the murder that she is involved with in Scotland and another mystery in Key West.

One of the strengths of the series is Miss Gloria and her relationship with Haley. I don't think Haley would have been able to have solved half of the mysteries without her.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pack you bags, grab your passport and join Hayley Snow and her new husband, Nathan, on their honeymoon in Scotland. Don't worry, Miss Gloria will be there, too, as will Hayley's new mother-in-law. We will also meet Nathan's sister, Vera. (She has her own story to tell) Murder and mystery will join you upon your arrival.
As for the mystery and the setting? Both are excellent. The mystery kept me engaged from start to finish with a great conclusion. The setting came alive for this armchair traveler. It's been many years since my last visit to Scotland and I enjoyed this visit immensely. With Miss Gloria and Hayley as company it's certain to be a very entertaining trip.
My thanks to the publisher, Crooked Lane and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the eleventh installment of the Key West Food Critic Mystery. We find Haley and Nathan heading off to Scotland for their honeymoon. Who would have thought Nathan’s mother, sister and brother-in-law would be joining them? Also, along for the ride is Miss Gloria who has been a stapple for Haley over the series.

I loved that the story took place in Scotland. With the vivid descriptions and few stories from a friend, I am more than ready to give this destination a look see, after Covid clears & travel isn’t such a problem. At times, I felt as if I were reading a travelogue, which I avoid like the plague.

I enjoyed learning more about Nathan’s family. There were many layers to the family and the subplots within this book. Happily, these are resolved before book’s end.


Can’t wait to return to the Keys in the next installment.