Cozy Review: Death on the Menu

* Book 8 in the Key West Food Critic Series *

Hayley Snow's mother just scored the most amazing catering job ever - a three day conference at the Harry Truman Little White House, trying to improve relations with Cuba. Hayley's stretched thin with helping out and writing articles for Key Zest magazine.

On the first day of the event, Hemmingway's medal is stolen from the house. Later that night, a worker turns up dead - murdered. His family begs Hayley to look into his death. She reluctantly agrees.

But the conference is only running for two more days and tensions are already high. Can Hayley help solve the case before it's too late?

My Thoughts: I'm so glad this series is back - it's such a fun one to read. I adored the special guest at the conference - that was fun to read. I liked learning more about the political tensions between the two countries,, Hemmingway, and the Little White House. Of course I enjoyed catching up with old friends like Lorenzo and Miss Gloria. And as usual, this book made me hungry. I really wanted to try to mojito cake! Another delicious installment.

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: My Library
Library Recommendation: This series should be in your mystery section!

Mysterious Saturday Review: Killer Takeout

* Book 7 in the Key West Food Critic series *

It's that time of year in Key West: Fantasy Fest. Hayley Snow has a full week. She has to report on several parties, test out some takeout places for her food critic article, and her mother's getting married.

But the fun goes sideways when she stumbles across a body during a zombie bike ride. The woman dies. At first no one knows either her identity nor how she died, but murder isn't ruled out.

One of Hayley's co-workers didn't get along with the woman who died. Before long, the police are taking a serious look at Danielle for murder.

Hayley knows she must get to the bottom of this, but in a zombie parade, it's hard to search for clues or anything out of place. On top of everything else, a hurricane threatens the island. This death needs to solved quickly.

My Thoughts: I really love this series and I was excited to read more about Fantasy Fest. I know a few people who have attended (no body paint for them), so it was fun to read about it and have stories from friends. I really liked how Hayley's grown as a character since the series started (and not just in terms of sleuthing).  I love reading more about her housemate. I loved the addition of the hurricane and how that threatened and hurried along the murder investigation - but Love how the hurricane worked out as well. I can't wait to read more in this series!

Cover Thoughts: Love it!
Source: Book sent for review
Fun Fact: If you live in CT, Lucy Burdette will be at RJ Julia's next month (May 4th)

Final  Thoughts: If you haven't read Hayley Snow yet,

Mysterious Saturday Review: Fatal Reservations

* Book 6 in the Key West Food Critic series *

Trouble's brewing in Key West between the police and the community. Things aren't so happy between the street artists either. There have been a string of burglaries and when a performer is murdered, Hayley's friend Lorenzo becomes the prime suspect.

Hayley can't believe her friend's capable of murder. But when he runs, she has to admit it looks suspicious. Hayley can't help asking a few questions on behalf of her friend.

With work and relationship both on rocky terms, she could use a distraction. But the more she digs, the more she wonders if she could be wrong about her friend.

My Thoughts: Another great addition to this charming series. I loved learning more about Key West from the politics to the street performers and the hoops the restaurateurs have to jump through. I loved learning more from Miss Gloria's new gig at the cemetery. Lorenzo's been a key characters in these books, I liked learning more about his back story too. As usual, I love the moments where Hayley eats for her reviews or cooks up something delicious. Her troubles at work are better, but a new set of concerns has popped up. I learning about her writing process for her reviews, and how they're changing with new management. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: Sent for Review

Final Thoughts: Reserve your time to read this series, it's delightful. Fatal Reservations digs into the community to create an entertaining book full of characters that jump off the page and mouth-watering food. 

Books I'm Dying to Read: July Edition

July Books I can't wait to get my hands on:

What Pet Should I Get: How can you say no to a NEW Dr. Seuss?

Mission Hindenburg: More 39 Clues

Operation Pucker Up: Grace isn't sure she wants her first kiss to be on stage - in front of everyone

A Wedding on Primrose Street: I love Icicle Falls

Other Daughter: After her mother dies - Rachel finds out the truth about her past.

All We Have is Now: What would you do if you knew the world was ending tomorrow?

Road to You: Loved the first book - can't wait to read more about Bird's journey now that she's made it

Double Cross: New MG spy series with humor.

Ruthless: Thriller that sounds creepy and good!

Rebel Mechanics: Alternative history with spies and magic

Silver on the Blood: New series about society girls and shapeshifters

The Fixer: Perfect for fans of Scandal!

Our Song: Falling in love over music at summer camp

Million Miles Away: How do you get past your twin dying?

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls: Suicide or murder?

Hollywood Witch Hunter: Hunting witches (or Charmed from the other side)

Grace Cries Uncle: Grace's sister turns up and could be in the middle of a deadly plot

Death of an English Muffin: Living in a castle can be deadly

Fatal Reservations: With Lorenzo in trouble, Hayley hopes to help clear him of murder

What books are you waiting for?

Holiday Review Thursday: Death with All the Trimmings

* Book 5 in the Key West Food Critic Series *

Hayley's doing an in depth article about a famous New York chef (once part of a duo), now opening her own restaurant in Key West.  Unfortunately for Edel Waugh, nothing is going her way. Accidents keep happening in the kitchen. She's asked Hayley to help her determine the source of these incidents in hope that everything will run smoothly on opening night.  But when a fire destroys her kitchen and her ex-husband's found dead on the property, Edel becomes the prime suspect. Can Hayley help her clear her name and get her restaurant back in business?

My Thoughts: I really love this series and this one was especially great. Obviously I love Christmas books (As you can see each week). Although I always want snow on Christmas, Christmas by the water seems really nice. I really liked the idea of a woman chef trying to distance herself from her ex-husband and seeing if she can make it on her own. As always, there's lots of talk about food which makes my mouth water. Hayley deals with a lot in this book in her personal life especially with her very unstable job, her potential romance, and her mother. She handled the drama well and I can't wait to see how it all changes in the next book. 

Upcoming Release: This book will be available December 2nd
Cover Thoughts: LOVE it!
Source: ARC sent for review

Books I'm Dying to Read: December Edition

Here are the books I'm looking forward to reading this month. There's still not many, so I'll be playing catch up and reading holiday romances! 

 

Operation Cinderella: I saw this advertised in an Ingram magazine and it caught my eye. Sounds like a good adult thriller 

Death with All the Trimmings: I've started this one and it's great so far! Love this series set in Key West. It always makes my mouth water.

 

Spell Booked: A new series about witches training their replacements when their spell book is stolen.

Ghost and Mrs Meyer: Book 2 in a pet friendly hotel series where a supernatural TV show has come to town for filming.

If You've Got In, Haunt it: New series about ghosts and vintage fashion

 

Top 10 Clues, You're Clueless: Looks really cute!

In the Cards: Debut that sounds really good

Meet Your Baker: Family bakery could be a place to heal, until someone is murdered

There's this Thing: Cute picture book for Valentine's Day

Mysterious Saturday Review: Murder with Ganache

 * 4th book in the Key West Food Critic Series * 

Hayley's BFF is getting married this week. As Maid of Honor, she has a lot on her plate - not to mention hanging out with her family and meeting deadlines for work.

Her stepbrother ditches the Jack and Jill wedding shower to explore Key West. When he doesn't return at the appointed hour, Hayley starts to worry.  When her test and calls go ignored, she starts looking for him.

She finally finds him the next morning, badly hurt with defensive wounds.  When a girl's body turns up, Rory becomes the prime suspect.  While he's still recovering from his injuries, unconscious, can Hayley figure out the events of that night?

My Thoughts: I really liked this book - I enjoyed getting to know Hayley's family more - even though she had to play referee several times. While I liked watching everyone getting ready for the wedding, I felt terrible for Ray and Connie for all the family drama. I hated how Rory was pulled in two direction and not told the truth about his family, but the hospital scenes were touching. I Loved Jai and the work she did helping the teens and creating a safe space for them. My heart went out to all of them, searching for a better life or searching to find themselves. I love how it ended and I can't wait to see what happens next. A fantastic addition to this charming series with just the right amount of work, family, and relationship drama. 

Cover Thoughts: Really Cute
Source: Sent for review

Mysterious Saturday Spotlight: Lucy Burdette

This past week, I hosted an awesome event at the library: Cookies and Crime -with author Lucy Burdette. A group of teens and adults sat around in a circle and talked about writing, crime, and of course food. I had been to one of her release day parties at R.J. Julia's and it was fabulous - so I knew it was going to be a great night.

Lucy introduced her book series - including those under her real name: Roberta Isleib. She got started writing golf mysteries and she started playing golf because her husband liked the game. Her next series starred a clinical psychologist who wrote an advice column. As a psychologist  herself, Dr. Rebecca Butterman was closer in character to herself. Her current series features a young woman who makes her living as a food critic in Key West.

Writing about a food critic means that Roberta and her husband have try the local cuisine in Key West. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!  Roberta adds the flavor of Key West into her books. She told us about several entertainers in Key West.

She also talked about how her pets made it into her books, how she raffles off names of characters for charity, and how she makes Pinterest boards for the feel of the book, which sometimes helps the cover designers.

Because her books come out every 9 months, her writing process changes daily in terms of word count. She divides the time she has with a rough estimate of 70,000 words. Then she creates a weekly word count. Writing also happens on the two blogs:  http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/ and http://www.jungleredwriters.com/
And or course there's time for cooking and baking for the recipes included in her books.

Then we talked food and cookies!

Some photos:

Once Lucy started talking, I forget to take more pictures. I really wanted one together...next time!

The Book Table: if you haven't picked up one of these, they're great books!

The Cookie Table

Close Up of the Cookies

Blog Tour: Topped Chef

 * Book 3 in the Key West Food Critic series*

Hayley Snow just gave her first bad review for a restaurant. It killed her, but after eating there three times, she couldn't justify a positive review for Key Zest magazine. On the day it's printed, she gets called into the office as the owner of the restaurant's complaining about it.  She overhears the conversation between him and her boss - it's not pleasant.

Afterwards, her boss gives her another assignment. She's to represent the magazine as a judge for a reality TV show featuring chefs from Key West. One of the judges is none other than the restaurant owner she just reviewed.

When he ends up murdered, Hayley doesn't believe the show should continue. The producers disagree as the winner of Topped Chef could become the next cooking TV star. As the show proceeds, Hayley wonders if one of the contestants wants to eliminate the competition or if Sam's business practices and politics on the island made him a target. Could someone be targeting the judges?

My Thoughts: I'm a big fan of this series - I love the setting and all the talk about food. It makes me want to get into the kitchen and whip up something delicious. I loved the idea for this book - where a murder happens on a reality TV show setting. It was amusing to see the behind the scenes of TV series - the work that it takes, the encouraged drama, and people it draws. I loved Hayley and how she struggles making decisions, but has a team of great friends for support, including her tarot card reader Lorenzo. I like how she struggled over her critical review. I like that in this book, we learned more about some characters: her ex-boyfriend's secretary and her new house boat mate. I love the romance frustrations and the possibility of romance. All in all, Topped Chef is a  fabulous addition to this charming series!

Cover Thoughts: Perfect
Source: Sent for review for blog tour

I got to meet Lucy when her last book came out and she went to RJ Julia's. I wrote up a post about it. She'll be there next week and I wish I could attend, but I have a program at the library that night. If you're in the area and you like cozy mysteries and/or books about food - go check it out. It's sure to amazing.

Prizes:

To enter:

1. Fill in the form here.

2. There is no requirement to follow any of the blogs participating, but we hope you will support these amazing blogs by following them. They do a great job, many of whom host for us every month.

3. Giveaway ends on May 15, 2013 at midnight and the winners will be contacted via email.

Author Event @ RJ Julia's: Lucy Burdette

Last night I went to see Lucy Burdette at one of my favorite bookstores. There were lots of people there. As Lucy talked, we laughed. I just read her first book in the series Appetite for Murder.We've been talking on twitter and I was so happy to meet her! 

The second book, Death in Four Courses, just came out yesterday. I'm so looking forward to reading it.

Don't you just love the cover?  Her friend took the photo that inspired it!

Ten Things I learned Last Night:

1. All the restaurants in the books are real

2. Except for one in book 3 - where Hayley's forced to write a negative review 

3. Lucy Burdette is a pen name, which comes from her grandmother's name

4. Books in the front of big bookstores windows (like B&N) have been paid to put there! (I found this fascinating)

5. Lucy lives part of the winter months in Key West - and loves it there (which shines through in her book)

6. Reviewers found Hayley dumb - which means she has plenty of time to grow up. I didn't find her dumb. I thought she didn't have a sense of direction until she found her passion.

7. For her first book series - golf mysteries, Lucy paid her entire book advance to join a golf tournament and to take a look behind the scenes. 

8. Her golf game isn't very good.

9. She helps spread the love of cozy mysteries.

10. Topped Chef is the title of the 3rd book, which she wanted to name Fatal Reservations but her editor LOVED this title. 

Here the podium

And check out this cake!!!!

Mysterious Saturday Review: Appetite for Murder

 Hayley's life changed when she found her boyfriend in bed with another woman - the same woman who could be her new boss. Hayley desperately wants to be the food critic for a new magazine in Key West.

Unfortunately, the week her application's due, Kristen winds up dead. The police visit her that afternoon with questions about her whereabouts for the morning. Hayley was at her current address (her college friend's houseboat) the entire time. Unfortunately, she didn't talk or see anyone. Thus making her the prime suspect in the murder.

Now she must finish her application, get her name back on the list after learning Kirsten deleted her, and find out what really happened to Kristen.

My Thoughts: A great first novel in a new series. I loved the setting of Key West and the laid back pace of life. I really liked reading about Hayley critiquing food and trying different dishes at various types of restaurants. I found her housing situation unique, which kicked my imagination into gear. I liked Hayley's quirky obsession with having her cards read. I loved how her two best friends were both in Key West and her relationship with them. I hated her ex-boyfriend, but the scenes with him were amusing.  I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

Cover Thoughts: Charming
Source: my Library

Fun Fact: The author will be at a local bookstore RJ Julia's next week chatting about Death in Four Courses, her new book and the next book out in the series. I can't wait to attend!