Key West newspaper writer Hayley Snow, foodie and food critic for the island's Key Zest magazine, is back from her Scotland honeymoon, settling in with her police detective husband and at peace with her assorted in-laws. So things should be calm and serene, right? Somehow that's never the case for Hayley, although it's hard to say she had any responsibility for her husband Nathan's dog finding a body. Still, most people would then back off and "let the police handle it"—but that's never been Hayley's style.
Even her husband realizes this, as she spills out the discovery on the phone to him. "Is it someone you know? Is there anyone else around? How recently do you think this happened? You could be in danger." Hayley hears his panic, does her best to reassure Nathan, then in spite of herself begins to cry.
And that's what makes Lucy Burdette's mysteries so engaging: Even if the murders-found-per-protagonist is a high number, the emotions involved are fiercely real, and Hayley's determination to protect Nathan from her own side investigation rings totally true: Naturally, she'd want to protect him. And it's not just so he'll try to prevent her from investigating (well, yes, but not entirely for that reason). This couple is realistically in love, working their way into a new marriage, and half the pleasure of reading A DISH TO DIE FOR is watching them solve their own issues while hunting for a murderer.
An author note at the back of the book sheds light on how the case then becomes tangled with both recipes and the Key West Woman's Club. IRL (in real life), Burdette picked up a copy of a 1949 collection of recipes from the club, and used both the food suggestions and the potential characters to generate a set of fictional frictions.
Burdette's "cozy" series goes beyond foodie themes to include that other favorite of this relaxing subgenre, pets. After all, it's a much-loved dog that found the body. And Hayley's involvement with pets of family and friends includes watching the animals for clues:
I repeated the snippets of conversation I'd heard and my reactions to the various characters I summed it up by saying that while GG Garcia wasn't well liked, he seemed to be admired for his ruthlessness, adding that I couldn't be sure I'd gotten a murderous vibe from Mr. Entwistle. "I didn't like him, though, even though some of the dogs did."
Who's picking up the relevant vibes—the dogs, or Hayley?
Burdette's plot threads are clever and make good sense, and when the case resolves—after, of course, some element of risk, because this is a murderer we're dealing with—the book offers a highly satisfying conclusion.
Summer may be half over, but the summer reading stack will sustain you through the next few weeks of heat, humidity, and the kids being home and bored. A DISH TO DIE FOR releases on August 9; if you pre-order, you'll have it ready for those muggy days when staying in a beach chair or hammock makes much more sense than mowing the lawn.
And yes, there are recipes at the end!
PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.
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