Dollycas’s Thoughts

Key West is a place steeped with history. Whether it be the Harry Truman Little White House or the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, both are huge tourist attractions. We visit just in time for a conference bringing a Cuban delegation to Key West to celebrate the similarities and differences hoping to forge a path of working together. Hemingway’s Nobel prize medal has been brought to town to be put on display with other treasures during the conference. Hayley’s mother has been hired to cater the food for the event. Hayley and Miss Gloria have been recruited to help serve. Hayley’s boyfriend Nathan would like the ladies to stay away from the conference. His intel says they may be trouble with all the protestors. But Hayley assures him that security is tight and they will be safe. Then the Nobel prize is stolen and one of her mother’s employees is missing. An all out search doesn’t find the medal but the employee is found in a storeroom, stabbed with a kitchen knife. Someone that passed through security has to be the killer, which means everyone. With suspects galore Hayley dives right in to find the murderer and hoping when she does she will find Hemingway’s prize too and ease the tension with the guests from Cuba.

This story has a slow build as the author introduces all the history and reasons for the conference. Hayley is still working on stories for Key Zest but isn’t in the office much. She spends most of her time with her mother getting food ready and serving. I missed the interaction with the other people at Key Zest. That being said there was so really cool guests to the conference. Jimmy Buffett and Barack Obama surprised the attendees with their appearances. I enjoyed Hayley supporting her mom and going above and beyond to make the event a success. Miss Gloria is always entertaining. I wish I had her energy.

After the body is found the pace picks up as both the police and Hayley need to catch the killer before the conference ends. For Hayley, that means being in the right place at the right time and keeping her ears open. With several twists and a keen insight, Hayley makes a discovery that blows the whole case wide open. I really enjoyed tagging along for this one.

After the killer is caught and the characters get back to their Key West lives the story ends in a way that had me smiling ear to ear and very excited for the next book in this series. I hope we don’t have to wait too long.

By the time you reach the 8th book in a series, the characters and the place have evolved in so many ways. To really enjoy this story I recommend reading the prior books first. Miss Burdette does provide some background details because of the publisher change, but to really know Hayley Snow, you need to start at the beginning.

This is my first venture into The Key West Food Critic Mysteries. It was my first time reading Lucy Burdette’s writing. I received a hardback review copy through a review club on Facebook. The opinions expressed are my honest thoughts.

In the opening of the book we get a bit of information on Cuba and the US relations and history. I’m not into politics and I debated jumping it or at least speed reading it. Don’t make that mistake. It’s there for a reason. Honestly I found it to be more interesting than I was expecting. I did spend a bit of time remembering a friend I had years ago, especially when I read about Carmen’s husband crossing. My friend’s husband came over from Cuba during the sixties. I was reminded of his stories of what his childhood Cuba was, his adventure coming here and how he said his life was changed living here. He was always grateful and proud that he was a citizen here. Thinking about him made the story very relatable. Take the time to really read that even if you are like me and not into politics so much. It is relevant to the story.

This is the eighth book in the series. I was expecting that I missed a lot, especially in regards to the characters and relationships. I was surprised to find that I was able to jump right in. The author is excellent at weaving in the important characters and their relationships. As I was getting acquainted with everyone, I thought that it was so well done that I could have read all eight books and not really noticed she was catching up new readers. That was one of the best jobs I have seen in combining the information in a way that was relevant to both types of readers. I enjoyed many of the characters in this book. They have invested me in the series, making me want to read the previous books as well as new ones.

The mystery itself was well written. There were many possibilities thrown out at the reader. I was deceived more than once thinking it was this one or that one. The author did well in leading me on a chase. Like I said above the politics play a part but the author did well humanizing it. I was enthralled and, as the pace picked up, I found myself racing through, truly interested in it all.

Another thing the author is exceptional at is bringing the sights, the smells and sounds alive. She is excellent at descriptions. You will get to know Key West very well. Warning: you will get hungry. But don’t worry. There are recipes at the end of the book. I cut down the recipe for the flan. I don’t have the equipment to make that much flan at once. I would say I also did not have enough people to eat it but the flan is addictive. Ropa Vieja has a lot of ingredients making it look intimidating. Try it. It is easy to follow and taste amazing! The Cuban sandwiches are easy to make and delicious. The Baked Bananas was incredible! I love plantains so this recipe was actually the first one I tried. I haven’t tried the other recipes but I plan to.

I recommend the book. It was a lot more fun to read than I was initially expecting. I plan to read the rest of the series.

What a lovely book! I never read other instalments in the "A Key West Food Critic" series so this came as a wonderful surprise.
It was fascinating and fun to read and made me fall in love with Key West and wishing to be there to visit the locations that describes.
The plot is somewhat unusual for a cozy mystery as usually they don't mix world affair with the mystery plot, this mix was highly appreciated and it gave an insight on a part of history that isn't very well known.
The historical and political background is well researched and it helps to understand other points of view on the Cuban immigrants.
The cast of characters is very likeable, I really like both the main character and her elderly friend.
The plot is full of twists and turns and the ending came unexpected.
It took me a bit to warm up to this book and then I was hooked and couldn't put it down.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Crooked Lane and Netgalley for this ARC