A Dish To Die For by Lucy Burdette

Lucy Burdette gives us everything we could ever hope for in a cozy mystery: A pristinely described beachy setting so real, I swear I had sand between my toes; Delightful and interesting characters weaving in and out of the story, adding substance to the suspect pool; A sensible (but nosy) sleuth who lives on a houseboat with her police detective hubby and his dog.

And when all that is tied together with a complex mystery you’ve got yourself A Dish To Die For!

Hayley Snow, is enjoying married life with her hubby, Nathan, and his dog Ziggy. She’s also a food critic for Key Zest magazine. The story opens with Hayley having a picnic on the beach with a friend and Ziggy. Downtime is a precious commodity for Hayley and she’s loving every minute of it. But they soon discover that some folks literally have permanent “downtime” – i.e., like the dead body Ziggy sniffed out in the sand!

Yes, it’s another cold-blooded murder in Key West, and Hayley’s inquisitive nature and amateur sleuthing waste no time in kicking in. She also has no problem in using her status as a fairly high profile food critic (especially in Key West) to get some inside scoops on the victim.

What she finds out is the deceased was a cheat and a scoundrel, especially when it came to money and women. Even at his funeral his wife had nothing decent to say about him. Enemies? Plenty – a questionable business partner and a barrage of scorned women – including his wife.

I loved the fact that Hayley and Nathan live on Houseboat Row next to Gloria, their spunky 80 yr. old neighbor. I love her job (and want her job) as a food critic! I love Hayley’s strong-willed mother and Nathan’s iron-fisted father.

I love the fact that as a food critic researching old recipes for an article in her magazine column, she unearths some long-buried secrets of the past that lead us into the present. This cozy tale reminds us that nothing can stay buried forever.

A Dish To Die For is a Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette that will have readers hankering for a trip to the shore for those “soon to end summer” breezes and good eats! Cozy fans will savor every bite of this deep and intricate mystery. Recently released by Crooked Lane Publishing.

A copy of this book and photo was provided by the publisher.

For more end of summer reading reviews check out Wonder Women Sixty’s End Of Summer Reading Picks under the “books/mystery” category.