A woman named Catherine Davitt reaches out to Hayley Snow asking her to look into the case of her missing friend Veronica whom she traveled with some forty years ago.

According to Catherine, they were traveling from Michigan to the Florida Keys when she disappeared.
All efforts made by the police to locate Catherine’s friend’s whereabouts were futile.

According to Catherine, she even hired a PI who had to halt his investigation because he wasn’t making any progress.

Now Catherine is back on a research trip. She’s writing a book about toxic love and Hemmingway’s wives.

So Catherine and Haley start interviewing Big Key residents who were around at the time of Veronica’s disappearance.

One such resident is Ned Newman, a motel owner who hung around with Catherine and her friends. Although he came across as somewhat creepy.

When Catherine and Hayley stop by Ned’s motel to speak with him, they find him stabbed to death with a pair of scissors. Soon after Catherine goes missing

Thank you to Lucy Burdette, NetGalley, and Crooked Lane Books for the arc of this book

A Poisonous Palate is the 14th book in the Key West Food critic series. Hayley agrees to help writer Catherine Davitt look into a 40 year old cold case of Catherine's missing friend Veronica. They stop to question a motel owner and find him stabbed to death in his office. Then Catherine also goes missing and Hayley continues the investigation on her own, with some help from her elderly friend Miss Gloria. I have read all the books in this delightful series, and this one did not disappoint. It had a great plot, was fast paced, and kept me up reading well into the night! I enjoy the writing style of this author and the likeable and well fleshed out characters, especially spunky Miss Gloria.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of A POISONOUS PALATE (Book 14 of the Key West Food Critic mystery series) by Lucy Burdette in exchange for an honest review. Self-help book author Catherine Davitt connects with Haley Snow and asks her to help her find out what happened to a friend Veronica who disappeared from Big Pine Key in the late 1970s. As Haley and Catherine begin to locate and interview the people who were part of their small camping community back in the day, they find one of the fringe members stabbed to death. Shortly thereafter, Catherine disappears, so Hayley, believing the disappearances and murder are all connected, continues the investigation without Catherine. As Hayley’s quest takes her outside of Key West, her detective husband is outside of the investigation and can only stand by, watch, and hope Hayley doesn’t get hurt.

I enjoyed the book and the series. This book switches between Catherine’s and Hayley’s POVs. I recommend the book to fans of the series and to fans of cozy murder mysteries, featuring Florida, Keys, food, restaurants, cold cases, displaced people, youth finding themselves, and secrets.

#APoisonousPalate #NetGalley

A POISONOUS PALATE by Lucy Burdette

“Wherever you go, there you are.” One of my students liked to write this on the blackboard, a reminder that we carry our character and many of our problems with us. It fits A POISONOUS PALATE with its repetition of hurtful patterns of behavior, old connections, buried secrets, and remains of the ‘70s hippy, flower children commune. (I spent the ‘70s in Minnesota, and Key West would have been quite tempting in January).
Looking into an unsolved mysterious disappearance awakens old problems and traumas, and stirs up new troubles. Haley is unwilling to stay out of it, and her insatiable curiosity, described as being like a “dog with a new bone,” is perhaps a dangerous curse but more likely a potential blessing, especially with the impressive team of family and friends assisting. Special praise to Miss Gloria. What a treasure! I love her more every book. I loved the surprising ending also.
The tie to Hemingway? Rather the opposite, sorry if that offends any fans, but what a mess his life was.
Personal dilemma for this reader: the descriptions of food sparked my appetite, but I didn’t want to stop reading to fix food. The solution might be to prepare some ready-to-eat meals in advance. ;-)
I was halfway through a somewhat tedious book when I received the link to this book. I tried to persist, but decided it was kinder to “table” that book. I just couldn’t wait, and it really wasn’t fair to that book to try to read when my mind was wanting to go see what Haley was up to in Key West . . . the literary version of “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.”

Pub. date is 8/6, so you have time to catch up in the series or reread if you desire.

A cold case disappearance in the Florida Keys and a little Ernest Hemingway!

The Plot: Food critic Hayley Snow investigates the cold case disappearance of a beautiful young woman from a hippie commune in the late 1970s. A modern-day murder and a second disappearance point to a killer who is still out for blood.

The Highlights:

–Likable, down-to-earth characters
–An sunny, warm, and attractive setting in the Florida Keys
–Appetizing descriptions of food
–Good pacing
–A well-constructed mystery that kept me guessing
–Biographical references to author Ernest Hemingway, his home in the Keys, and his four troubled marriages
–Psychological insights into the characters, their histories, and their motives

Misgivings: There was one scene that involved a tarot card reading that I found silly in comparison to the rest of the book, but this is just a personal preference.

Overall Takeaway: This is the first book I've read this series and I really enjoyed it. As mentioned above, the book had many characteristics that kept me reading and engaged until the end. I look forward to reading more in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane books, and author Lucy Burdette for an advanced copy of this lovely book.

I am a big fan of cold case mystery shows, so I really enjoyed the premise of this book. The mystery kept me guessing until the end. The one weak area is Hayley, the main character. She is rude and obnoxious, and has little regard for other people’s time. I did like the supporting characters, especially Miss Gloria.

A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette is a clever mystery novel, another in her series of Key West Food Critic mysteries and it also includes recipes. It’s a tale of a woman who comes back to Key West ostensibly to write a book about Ernest Hemingway and his wives but also to look again for a friend Veronica who disappeared when she visited 40 years ago and was never found.

The writer Catherine contacted Hayley Snow, food critic for the Key Zest e-zine who was known locally for having solved some mysteries. Hayley agreed to meet her for coffee and after talking to her, to help her.

The next day they drove further up the Keys to try to talk to some of the people who might still have been around 40 years ago and unfortunately Catherine discovered the body of Ned, one of the men she remembered, in the office of his hotel.

As Hayley continued her investigation Catherine also disappeared. Hayley continued to talk to waitresses and chefs and retired sheriff’s officers and a veterinarian to try to solve the mystery and the murder, first to no avail, but seemed to be getting closer. She has some really delicious meals along the way. But was it getting dangerous. Then she and someone helping her were shot at. Will she find Catherine? Will she catch the killer? Will she stay alive? You will have to read this delicious and intriguing story to find out.

Lucy Burdette has served up another delicious helping of the Key West Food Critic Mystery Series. Each book is better than the previous one which really seems impossible but is true. I was lucky enough to be given an opportunity to read an advanced copy and loved every chapter. .This time Hayley Snow is approached by a stranger to help solve a 40 year old missing person case. The twists and turns keep you mystified until the very end. I laughed and cried and really enjoyed my trip to Key West. The vivid descriptions of the area as well as the character development is very well done. While is is best to start with “ Appetite for Murder” and work one’s way through the series, this book can be read as a stand-alone without feeling lost. Thank you Lucy. Now, I eagerly await the next book in the series.