Death in Four Courses:
A Key West Food Critic Mystery
2nd Book in Series
Cozy Mystery
Obsidian (September 4, 2012)
Published by New American Library
A Division of The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451237835
Hayley Snow is the new food critic for Key Zest magazine. The annual Key West literary conference is featuring food writing this year. This is bringing all the famous food writers from across the country to Key West. Hayley is excited to be attending the conference and has asked her mom to join her. They are both such “foodies”.
Superstar food critic Jonah Barrows is the keynote speaker. Hayley hopes to glean some knowledge to make her reviews more modern and cutting edge. But his address is like nothing she or any other attendee or speaker had imagined. He has recently released his memoir and has included many secrets that have many of his colleagues up in arms and in his speech he promises many more secrets will be revealed. He has decided honesty at all costs in his new mantra.
When Jonah is found dead the suspects are many and Hayley is right in the middle of the action. She needs to grill everyone involved and find out who had the biggest beef with Jonah. She has to do it carefully or she could be the one getting burned.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I love this amateur sleuth! In my review of the first book of the series, An Appetite For Murder,
Lucy Burdette takes us on a trip to Key West from the seat of out comfy chairs. She has created wonderful characters in an very engaging mystery that kept me guessing whodunit until the end.
My favorite character was Hayley’s mom. The apple did not fall far from the tree there. We can see clearly where Hayley gets her spunk and drive. The also both love food. I had no trouble at all picturing her mom cruising around Key West on that little pink scooter.
The topic of reviews whether they be for food or books have a lot in common and this installment makes me want to continue to make my reviews better and better. I honestly felt for Hayley when she was “scooped” by another critic from a large newspaper. Reviewers work hard to keep their thoughts original, meaningful and informative. The feeling is awful when you go to post your review around the blogosphere and see other reviewers used the exact same words you did to express their feelings about the book. Sometimes it means a major rewrite in a hurry. Thankfully though most book reviews don’t add to your waistline the way food reviews do 🙂 o.k. some do but darn I try hard to stay away from cookies, cupcakes and Hot Fudge Pie. Yes, there is a super easy recipe for Hot Fudge Pie in the back of this book! Who knew reading could be so delicious
There is no question that this story deserves 5 stars! I am just sad that we have to wait until May for our next Key West adventure!!
About This Author
New Jersey born clinical psychologist Roberta Isleib took up writing mysteries to justify time spent on the links. Her first series, featuring a neurotic professional golfer and a sports psychologist, was nominated for both Agatha and Anthony awards. Roberta is now writing the Key West food critic mystery series as Lucy Burdette.
Check out Lucy’s blog here.
Her alter ego’s website here.
Follow her on Facebook on Twitter or an Pinterest
She is one of the Jungle Red Writers.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”