This is the fourteenth in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series. I found it entertaining but a bit mystifying as Haley soon realizes Catherine isn’t being truthful, is holding something back, or both.

Nathan and her friends want to keep Haley safe but she has a hard time with it even though she tries at times.
It didn’t take me long to peg the killer but the rationale was slow in coming.
I also skipped many of the quotations that begin each chapter as I felt most were not relevant to the story nor did they enhance it for me.

Miss Gloria and Haley’s mother added to the story. I enjoyed it even while shaking my head.

Recipes are included at the end of the book.
Netgalley gave me an advanced reader’s copy and I am not required to leave a positive review.

Hayley lives on Key West on a houseboat with her husband Nathan, a cat names Evinrude, and a dog named Ziggy. A woman named Catherine contacts her about along ago disappearance. Catherine is writing about toxic love relationships between Ernest Hemingway and his 4 wives. While on Key WEst, she wants to look into the disappearnce of her friend Veronica. This ahppened almost 40 years ago when she and Ronnie lived in a camp with other young people. Hayley agrees to help Catherine. Some of the original camp members are still around, but not super helpful. Then one of them turns up dead and Catherine goes missing. Who killed the original camp member, Catherine?, one of the others? Could it even be Catherine?

This was a fun cozy. I enjoy reading about the different food Hayley reviews as well as the food she and her mother make. The myster has some twists and lots of suspects. It is easy-to-read and kept me engaged.

Culinary & Literary Cozy Mystery that follows a Florida food writer and critic who turns sleuth to assist an author hunt down the truth about the decades-old disappearance of her friend.

5/5 stars: This is Burdette's fourteenth entry in the Key West Food Critic series, which is a Culinary and Literary Cozy Mystery that takes place is Florida and features a food writer and critic. Burdette has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Additionally, Burdette's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's a joy to catch up with Hayley and her detective husband, Nathan. I especially get a kick out of her octogenarian best pal Gloria's hi-jinks. I really like how Burdette sets the scene of life in the Keys, from Hayley living on a houseboat, the sticky relationship with tourists, how hurricanes impact everything and it's overall eccentric and complicated history. In particular in this book, tackling the Key's most famous resident, Hemingway and his tumultuous relationships. And one mustn't forget to mention Hayley's adorable little dog, Ziggy and her sassy cat, Evinrude and Gloria's cats, Sparky and T-bone. Oh and I absolutely adore the culinary quotes heading every chapter, reading Hayley's food writing and restaurant critiques and the included recipes sounds yummy. Burdette touches on some sensitive subjects, so take care and check the CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, An Appetite For Murder.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lucy Burdette for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for A Poisonous Palate coming out August 6, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I didn’t actually read the other books in the series. I didn’t realize it was book 14. I was a little lost at first, but I think it was easy to catch up. I thought Hayley was an interesting character. I really enjoyed the dual timelines. I wasn’t expecting a story set in the past as well. It was cool that she had to solve an old mystery as well. I thought the characters were interesting. There were a couple serious topics that didn’t feel as cozy to me. I don’t want to give anything away though. I enjoyed the recipes at the end. I would definitely check out more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries!

A Poisonous Palate is the 14th book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series by Lucy Burdette. Hayley Snow is a food writer in Key West, FL and she is married to Nathan who is a police officer. Hayley receives an email from Catherine Davitt who is an author and had lived in A commune in Key West in the 1970s. Catherine's friend Veronica went missing and Catherine wants to look into her disappeance. They find one of the commune friends who.still lives in the area dead. I have enjoyed this series especially when Hayley and Nathan got married and the Scone Sisters. Cold Case cozy mysteries aren't one of my favorite themes and while this book was good, it wasn't one of my favorites. Catherine was not likable and the pace in the.middle of the book lagged a little. Hayley asked the same people questions. Hayley, Nathan, and Miss Gloria are wonderful characters and overall the book is good and the ending is very exciting. #APoisonousPalate #KeyWestFoodCriticMysteries #NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks

A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette is due to be published August 6th 2024 is the 14th installment of the Key West Food Critic Mystery series with Crooked Lane Books. I only read this one and book 13 of the series but it was okay to read them as standalones. It was easy to follow along without having to have read the whole series but it is my plan to go back and read the whole thing now that I’ve read the last two.

Hayley Snow is the main character in this series. She is a food critic for a magazine. She is married to Nathan Bransford a police lieutenant at the Key West police department.
They live on a houseboat in Key West Houseboat Row. Miss Gloria is an elderly woman who lives next door. Hayley gets an email from Catherine Davitt about her missing friend, Veronica (Ronnie) who disappeared many years ago. She meets with her and decides to help her.
Catherine wants to go to Big Pine where she had been there in a camp in the Mangroves when in her 20's. Both Catherine and Veronica went to FL to escape their families. Hayley and Catherine go to the No Name Pub where they want to ask questions. The waitress, Ginny. was part of the people at the camp when Catherine was there. She tells them that Arthur Combs is now a veterinarin, Ned Newman still owns the run down Ned and Nora Motel and Suzanne is now a cook at a local restaurant. They decide to go to the motel to speak to Ned and find him dead with a knife in his chest. They call the police and Darcy Rogers arrives. Hayley has had run-ins with Darcy before. After they are interviewed Hayley takes Catherine back to her home where Miss Gloria tells them that she knows Ryan Lopez, the policeman who Catherine had spoken to when she reported Veronica's disappearance and plans to speak to him.
Hayley and Miss Gloria go back to Big Pine to speak to him.
He talks to them but they both feel that he knows more than he is saying. He had been the one who went to the camp and closed and demolished the grounds. The next day Hayley and Miss Gloria go to the hotel to pick up Catherine who is staying but find she is not there. She has disappeared.
This is where th story takes off with Hayley trying to find out what happened to Catherine and Veronica.

I just love Haley and her husband and don’t forget her neighbor Gloria .

What an interesting story line. Catherine’s journal was a great addition to help us understand what had taken place. I would never have had the courage to do what Catherine and Veronica did. While I love all these folks, Miss Gloria has to be my favorite. I want to be her when I grow up. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

A Poisonous Palate is the 14th book in the "A Key West Food Critic" Mystery series and the first one I’ve read. I mean look at that beautiful cover - how could I not read a book with a cover like that! I certainly didn’t feel as though I needed to have read the previous books to understand what was happening. Having said that I will certainly go back to the beginning and start reading from book 1 as I enjoyed this one so much.

Hayley Snow is the main character and is a food critic and an amateur sleuth. She is also married to a police lieutenant at the Key West police department. They live on a House boat and their floating neighbour is the elderly Miss Gloria who steals every scene she is in - I loved her!

The book opens with a writer named Catherine emailing Hayley to ask for help looking for a friend who went missing from a campsite in Key West in the 1970s when they were young adults. Some of the group they were hanging out with them are still living in the area and Catherine wants to ask them if they knew anything. So Haley agrees, against the advice of her husband, and off she goes with Catherine to chat to the remaining group members. Not surprisingly they don’t want to talk - and one of the men is particularly sleazy and instantly became my prime suspect. Trouble is, his body is found the next day so I had to cross him off my suspect list. Then Catherine disappears! Eventually all is revealed, and the revelations came as a surprise (which is always good when you’re reading a mystery) and made utter sense.

Overall the mystery is interesting and well plotted, the characters are all realistically portrayed - and here again I have to mention Gloria, I really loved her and she is who I want to be when I get into my 80s!

With thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for my copy to review

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.

I enjoyed the beginning & end of the story. The middle just repeats stuff & wanders around which I found boring. I’d like to see the characters develop. #APoisonousPalate #NetGalley

"A Poisonous Palate" the 14th instalment in the "A Key West Food Critic" Mystery series by Lucy Burdette. This is one of my favourite foodie cozy mystery series. I really enjoyed this story and hanging out with Haley, Nathan and Miss Gloria! I must say I really do love octogenarian Miss Gloria and all the things she does and says. I enjoyed learning about Hemingway and his wives too.

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.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I liked trying to figure out who killed Catherine’s friend in 1978 and one of the suspects today.

I kept second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Food critic Hayley Snow is asked to help investigate the disappearance of a young woman who was last seen at a communal campground on Big Pine Key in the late 1970s. That intrigued me, and so did the idea that one of the characters is researching a book about Hemmingway. This book offered a great chance to visit a different place and time and the solution to the mystery was suspenseful and satisfying.

Love this story had great characters and was a fun read. Looking forward to what the author has in store next

A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette brings a cold case into the present.

Will Hayley uncover what happened to the charismatic Veronica forty years ago?

Hayley Snow
Our sleuth is a food critic by day and a mystery-solving superhero, too. Hayley says she is just curious. However, her mind sees things that most don't notice, making her a great investigator. However, she isn't trained in self-defense, nor does she know how to use a gun.

Hayley is one of my favorite characters. I especially love her relationship with Gloria. The two of them are funny and fantastic together. I enjoyed Hayley's way of moving from appointment to appointment throughout the book. She is a great friend. I am so glad that she found Nathan. The two of them are perfect for each other.

The Mystery
So, we start with Catherine, an author who contacts Hayley to assist with trying to locate her old friend, Veronica, who went missing in 1978. Hayley tries to be careful, but once she hears the story, she is curious to see what they can find. Then they find one of the suspects murdered, bringing the Sheriff's Department into the investigation. Shortly after that, Catherine goes missing, and Hayley can't figure out what happened to her, but she keeps digging for answers.

Five Stars
My rating for A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette is five stars. I absolutely didn't want to put it down and devoured it in one afternoon. What an excellent read. I highly recommend this installment and the whole series. Ms. Burdette is amazing at transporting me to the Keys. I always feel like I am right there with Hayley and her friends.

The recipes included are Nathan's Favorite Italian Pot Roast, Chicken Cacciatore, Crabcakes with Avocado and Mango Salsa, Profiteroles with Hot Fudge Sauce, and Cottage Cheese Oat Waffles.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette.

Until the next time,
~Jen

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out Baroness Book Trove.

Hayley Snow loves her life in Key West. She enjoys her job as a food critic: her marriage to Nathan Bransford, a Lieutenant in the Key West Police Department, is still in the honeymoon stage. They live in a close-knit houseboat community with great neighbors. Life is good.
From time to time, she has found herself involved in criminal cases, including murder, and her amateur sleuthing skills have gained her a reputation as a crime solver. She’s somewhat wary when she receives an email from a stranger with an enigmatic subject line, but she’s also intrigued. Catherine Davitt is writing a book about toxic love centered on Hemingway’s four disastrous marriages. She also wants to enlist Hayley to help in finding out what happened to a friend who disappeared in the area forty years ago. Against her better judgment, Hayley decides to talk with her. It’s a decision she soon comes to regret, as the woman becomes pushy and demanding, but she’s hooked on the case.
It seemed pretty straightforward, but Hayley discovers that digging into long-buried secrets can be dangerous, even deadly. Hayley Snow is a worthy protagonist in an entertaining series. The Key West location is a vital element in a delightful series. The descriptions of the food Hayley gets to sample add to the richness of the mysteries, and the included recipes are the cherry on top.

I definitely did not guess who the killer was, totally thought it was going to be someone else, so that was a pleasant surprise. I love cozy mysteries but I find that there are never serious consequences for the amateur sleuths and that gets frustrating at times. I love that there were consequences in this novel; Lucy Burdette did a great job of making this a realistic situation that the amateur sleuth would find themselves in when being nosy.

Looking forward to reading the next novel in the Key West Food Critic mystery series.

Hayley Snow gets an email from a stranger asking her to help solve a cold case. Catherine Davitt is a writer and wants Hayley to help her find out what happened to her friend Veronica who just disappeared some forty years ago.
As Hayley and Catherine dig more and ask questions to get answers things get more intriguing.
Miss Gloria had me laughing as only someone her age could get away with just about anything.
I very much enjoyed my escape to Key West and adventure with Haley Snow.
Restaurant visits are a must when sleuthing with Hayley. Recipes are included at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book.

"A Poisonous Palate" is the 14th Key West Food Critic Mystery. Haley Snow is asked to help solve a decades-old missing person case. Catherine, the missing woman’s friend, is in Key West to research an article on Hemingway and his four wives. Haley and Catherine find a body, and then Catherine goes missing. The police try to get Haley to quit investigating, but she persists in trying to find the missing women. I’ll admit I got distracted from "A Poisonous Palate" by reading Wikipedia articles on Hemingway and his wives. If you’re a fan of the Key West Food Critic Mysteries, you’re going to enjoy this one.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"A Poisonous Plate (A Key West Food Critic #14)" by Lucy Burdette has us flashing back to a 70's mangrove commune camp and combining a cold case with a current case. At times it wasn't quite obvious we were in a flashback or took a few lines before realizing it. I also started skipping over the quotes at the beginning of chapters since some seemed a stretch to be relevant.

Hayley gets sucked in an old missing person's case when the missing girl's best friend goes missing too after asking for Hayley help with the 40 year old case. This takes Hayley investing an old commune the girls had joined when they ran away from home. It was the 70's in a commune, think stereotypical things that go with that.

There were several possible suspects. However, there was one person that kept being part of the story that I didn't totally think would get mentioned so often if they weren't involved somehow. Especially a couple of comments being made about them that seemed either unnecessary or as a hint hint. My gut instinct about them turned out to be correct.

The next Key West food critic mystery finds Hayley helping a woman find out what happened to her friend 40 years ago.

I enjoy this series a lot! I didn’t enjoy this one as much as others but I think its structure was a little slower. I also don’t know that we needed the 1978 sections - I didn’t hate them by any means but they also did not add to my enjoyment or help me figure out the whodunnit. Regardless, I’m excited to see where Hayley’s adventures take her next!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.