Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Lucy Burdette, A SCONE OF CONTENTION, New Key West Food Critic Mystery


Every now and then, a good "cozy" series goes on a journey -- it's a good way to keep the death count lower in the amateur sleuth's home town, and can refresh the narrative with new conflict.

Lucy Burdette's Key West Food Critic mystery series has been intensely enjoyable, prying open the off-kilter culture of the vacation island of Key West through the eyes of year-round residents: food critic Hayley Snow, and her police detective Nathan Bransford, who's become her husband at last. But with her own visit to Scotland and exploration of its gustatory treats as fodder, Burdette came up with this lively diversion for book 11 in the series. 

A SCONE OF CONTENTION offers family stress right away, as Hayley and Nathan's honeymoon trip to the land of tartans, bagpipes, and scones galore begins with a pair of ride-along guests unusual for anyone's first marital vacation: the aging Miss Gloria from the houseboat next door (how could they leave her home when she's always longed to visit Scotland?) and Hayley's new mother-in-law.  Series readers will perk up with interest at that second guest—Helen Bransford has been both strong and mysterious in earlier books of the series.

Most poigant for this round is the fact that they're staying with Nathan's sister Vera, whose early-life abduction damaged Nathan's family structure yet, ironically, gave Hayley and her mother-in-law an area in which to cautiously bond. Then, because after all "these things happen" around Hayley, a tourist who might or might not be involved with Vera dies in a Ferris wheel accident—and a poisoning follows.

It's not great for the newlyweds, who are already struggling with family demands on their time—Nathan is about to play with his brother-in-law in a golf tournament. A big-league one. Wearing a kilt!

Nathan seems willing to let the local police work on the possible crimes taking place. Not Hayley:

Within seconds, his breathing grew slow and easy as he dropped off to sleep. I lay awake for much longer, puzzling over the possible poisoning incident. Had I seen anything that was off-kilter in the kitchen? I had been so distracted by Gavin's buffoonery that I'd noticed nothing out of order at Glenda's end of the table. I also thought about Nathan's sister. True, she seemed very much wound up about her project. I liked her very much, but I hadn't spent enough time with her yet to get a sense of whether she was really anxious about something she interpreted as threatening, or whether the men around her simply couldn't handle her being emotional and having strong opinions.

Either was possible.

Of course, Hayley's nearly an expert by now on dodging Nathan's requests for her to stay out of investigations, and she has an assistant-in-place with Helen on hand. Her thinking and experimenting take her toward a solution. But will Miss Gloria's fragile health and newly arrived resonance with a Highland clan massacre make the investigation more dangerous than usual?

Count on an unusual resolution, and a handful of yummy-sounding recipes to wrap up the book. Burdette's plotting is reliably strong, the dialogue's lively, and her portraits of friendship in action add to the delight of this well-spun story of a truly unique honeymoon excursion. 

 Still have some vacation time ahead? Pre-order A SCONE OF CONTENTION for your hammock reading. The publication date is August 10, from Crooked Lane Books.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

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