ARC Review: A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette

A Poisonous Palate
Author: Lucy Burdette
Series: Key West Food Critic (Book 14)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (August 6, 2024)

Description: The heat is turned up for Hayley Snow and her friends in the next installment of the Key West Food Critic mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette.

When food critic Hayley Snow receives an intriguing email about a mysterious, decades-old disappearance, her curiosity is piqued. Writer Catherine Davitt has returned to the Keys to research a book about Hemingway’s wives, but she’s also on the hunt for the truth about her missing friend. Hayley quickly agrees to help investigate and they hit the road to see what clues they might find

Back in the late 1970s, Catherine and her friend Veronica were part of a group of lost souls camping in the mangroves of Big Pine Key, until Veronica vanished, and the sheriff’s office cleared out the camp. Catherine and Hayley begin interviewing Big Pine Key residents who were around at the time of Veronica’s disappearance, but uncover more questions than answers.

Catherine and Hayley stop to speak with a motel owner who frequented the fringes of the commune, but they find him stabbed to death. Then Catherine also goes missing, and signs point to a connection between the old case and the new murder. It’s up to Hayley to unravel the knot of secrets and lies before time runs out.

My Thoughts: Food critic and amateur detective Hayley Snow receives an intriguing email which starts her next mystery. Catherine Davitt spent some time in the Keys in the 1970s but left when her traveling partner disappeared. Now, she's back researching for her next self-help book which concerns toxic love and is using Hemingway's four wives as examples. 

Hayley becomes curious about the disappearance of Veronica so many years earlier and is acting as Catherine's chauffeur as they try to find and talk to people who were part of the same hippie community Catherine and Veronica joined. 

After a chat with Ginny at the No Name Pub leads to Ned who ran a seedy motel then and still runs it now. Unfortunately, when they arrive at the motel, they find that someone has stabbed Ned in the back and killed him. Then Catherine disappears leaving Hayley to investigate all the old relationships to find out who killed Ned, where Catherine is, and what happened when Veronica disappeared. 

I liked the Key West setting. I liked Hayley's curiosity and her wide circle of friends. I liked her relationship with her husband Nathan, and I liked her marriage advice to her friend Danielle. This was a nice cozy mystery complete with recipes. 

Favorite Quote:

If we did visit the retired sheriff's deputy, I wanted to do it without Catherine. In my limited experience with her so far, people changed their stories around her, and she changed hers with every wind blowing though as well. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.