Pages: 320

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Published: August 11, 2020

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review:

I admit I started this series with book 9 and am mad at myself for waiting so long to start the series. It was very easy to start with books 9 and 10 as the author does a fantastic job giving enough background to know who is who and what is what. One of my reading goals for 2021 is to get caught up on this series.

In book 10 we visit Key West the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Hayley’s mother-in-law comes to visit and excitement seems to have followed her down. The mother-in-law was a little snooty for my tastes. Her comments on food/eating were bothersome. Why make your new daughter-in-law question her food choices and eating habits? First, she just met Hayley, and second, it is Hayley’s job to enjoy food. I hope the mother-in-law softens up her hard edges before visiting again.

There are plenty of yummy recipes included and not all revolve around Key Lime. I also liked that the book quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I have found some new authors to try.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through NetGalley. Any opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

NetGalley: National bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s tenth Key West Food Critic mystery is piping hot with pie-enthusiasts and murder suspects.

When a fierce rivalry between key lime pie bakers leads to a pastry chef’s murder, food critic Hayley Snow is fit to be pied.

During the week between Christmas and New Year’s, the year-round population of Key West, Florida, faces a tsunami of tourists and snowbirds. It doesn’t help that outrageously wealthy key lime pie aficionado David Sloan has persuaded the city to host his pie-baking contest. Every pie purveyor on the island is out to win the coveted Key Lime Key to the City and Key Zest food critic Hayley Snow is on the scene to report it.

Meanwhile, Hayley’s home life is turning more tart than sweet. Hayley’s new hubby, police detective Nathan Bransford, announces that her intimidating mother-in-law is bearing down on the island for a surprise visit. Hayley offers to escort Nathan’s crusty mom on the iconic Conch Train Tour of the island’s holiday lights, but it becomes a recipe for disaster when they find a corpse among the glittering palm trees and fantastic flamingos. The victim–Au Citron Vert’s controversial new pastry chef–was a frontrunner in Sloan’s contest.

It’s bad enough that Hayley’s too-curious mother-in-law is cooking up trouble. Now, the murderer is out to take a slice out of Hayley. Can she handle the heat of a killer’s kitchen?