Cozy Wednesday with Lucy Burdette – Author of Fatal Reservations – Giveaway too!

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

Lucy Burdette is my Special Guest today!

Her new book, Fatal Reservations was released yesterday!

LUCY BURDETTE: Pop quiz cozy readers! What’s the most important question for a writer to ask when she starts a new book?

I’ll pause for a minute while you mull things over…

Okay, time’s up. If you said: Why is that nutty amateur sleuth involved in yet one more murder investigation?…you get an A+ for the day! Anyway, that’s where I usually begin. Hayley Snow, the food critic character in the Key West mysteries, has no earthly reason to be solving crimes. Unless of course someone she cares about deeply is involved. And unless they beg for her help…or demonstrate how deeply mired they are in trouble so that good-hearted Hayley can’t help but step up.

As I began to write Fatal Reservations, that’s exactly the question I asked. And the answer came from a character who’s appeared in each book and who has become more and more important to Hayley, Lorenzo the tarot card reader. Lorenzo made his debut in the Key West series with AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. While writing that first book, I’d seen a tarot card reader on Mallory Square among the throng of street performers, and knew he belonged in the story. I imagined my protagonist Hayley Snow taking her mother’s lead, preferring a reading to a psychotherapy session. I had no idea how important Lorenzo would become. And how he’d also become a friend, and a muse.

In FATAL RESERVATIONS, he moves from being a sidekick to the main focus of the mystery. Usually mild-mannered and calm, in the way of a man who can see into the future, Lorenzo is attacked in a City Commission meeting and later accused of murder when one of the other street performers from the Mallory Square sunset celebration is found dead. Rather than stay and face the music, he disappears, leaving Hayley to take care of his new kitten and save him from a future of reading cards in the Florida State Penitentiary.

About FATAL RESERVATIONS: Food critic Hayley Snow sets aside her knife and fork when her dear friend Lorenzo the tarot card reader is accused of murdering his flaming-fork-juggling nemesis. If Lorenzo could read his own cards, he might draw The Hanged Man. He can only hope that Hayley draws Justice as she tries to clear him of murder.

“This strong series continues a unique blend of island mayhem and sparkling characters surrounding a layered mystery.”— Booklist

About Lucy: Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of 14 mysteries, including FATAL RESERVATIONS the sixth in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a past president of Sisters in Crime. Like her food critic character in the Key West series, she is passionate about food.

You can read more about the books on Lucy’s website, www.lucyburdette.com. Follow her on Facebook, or Twitter @LucyBurdette, or Pinterest, or Instagram.

Fatal Reservations:
A Key West Food Critic Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th Book in Series
Setting – Florida
An Obsidian Mystery
An Imprint of New American Library (July 7, 2015)
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451474827
E-Book ASIN: B00PT4IYYG

In the latest Key West Food Critic mystery, Hayley Snow’s beat is reviewing restaurants for Key Zest magazine. But she sets aside her knife and fork when a dear friend is accused of murder…

Hayley Snow looks forward to reviewing For Goodness Sake, a new floating restaurant that promises a fresh take on Japanese delicacies like flambéed grouper with locally sourced seaweed. But nearby land-based restaurateurs would rather see their buoyant competition sink.Sent to a City Commission meeting to cover the controversy, Hayley witnesses another uproar. The quirky performers of the daily Sunset Celebration are struggling to hold onto their performance space. The fight for Mallory Square has renewed old rivalries between Hayley’s Tarot-card reading friend Lorenzo and a flaming-fork-juggling nemesis, Bart Frontgate—but things take a deadly turn when Bart is found murdered.

If Lorenzo could read his own cards, he might draw The Hanged Man. He can only hope that Hayley draws Justice as she tries to clear him of murder…

INCLUDES RECIPES

Dollycas’s Thoughts
Hayley, Miss Gloria, Lorenzo and all the other characters we have grown to love are back in this 6th installment of the Key West Food Critic Mysteries.

This time Lorenzo lands in the soup when one of the performers from the Sunset Celebration is murdered. Seems they were not the best of friends. There is also a bit of a shake up at Key Zest as Palamina tries to put her own touches into both the office and the e-zine. Miss Gloria becomes a tour guide at the cemetery, there is a thief police are trying to catch and a new floating restaurant has many locals all in a tizzy. There is so much packed into 320 pages and it all flows together perfectly.

Lucy Burdette writes a story that not only includes a mystery or two but shines a beautiful light on Key West and its delicious food. The author’s passion for food is clear with all the yummy descriptions sprinkled throughout the book. Yes, she does include recipes too.

Friendship also is a key theme. Hayley will do anything for her friends. She does her best to keep them safe and puts herself in peril to find the truth when one of them is wrongly accused. Her romantic life has been a little rocky but this time the author took the step in that department I was hoping and praying she would take.

What more can I say, I loved this story. Burdette has served up another delightful feast of mayhem and mystery for us readers to enjoy. I really can’t wait for my next escape to Key West with Hayley and all her friends.

Brooke as Fan of the Month will receive a copy of Fatal Reservations
so I have 1 more copy to give away!

Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.

Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.

You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Following the new Google+ Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book Fan Page
will earn you 3 Bonus Entries.

Leave a comment for Lucy for 5 Bonus Entries.

Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries.

If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End July 22, 2015 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

Click Here For Entry Form

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.”