The Key Lime Crime

A Key West Food Critic Mystery

By: Lucy Burdette

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

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 front-runner 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?

©2020 Lucy Burdette (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

A Murder and Some Pie

If you are a fan of Lucy Burdette's Key West Food Critic series, then this story is a "must read." Hayley Snow has married the delectable Detective Nathan Bransford but knows little about his family, none of whom attended their wedding. Now, during the week before New Year's Eve, one of the busiest times of the year for the KW Police and for Hayley, too, Nathan's mom, Helen has decided to visit.

There is a huge Key Lime Pie contest this week, which Hayley must cover as the food critic for her paper. Torn over how much of the drama at that contest should be included in her article, Hayley, her brand new mother-in-law and her elderly roommate Miss Gloria go out on a tour of Christmas light displays. Returning to one of the displays where Miss Gloria saw a tiny tiger kitten, they discover the body of one of the Key Lime Pie Contest Chefs.

During the course of this investigation, much back story on Nathan's family is revealed by both Nathan and his mother. There is lots of good food in this one, lots of sight-seeing of Key West landmarks and celebrations and a few red herrings. Nicely read.

Loved this book

This is my favorite book so far in the key lime crime series. Sweet love story