A party boat crammed with mango-themed, cocktail-clutching competitive ‘important’ people explodes during Key West’s sunset celebration. The sinking boat pitches revelers into dark waters, where they must swim through burning debris to save their lives.

After that propulsive start, I just had to keep flipping the pages to reach the conclusion of Burdette’s rollicking mystery tale. Someone died, but was it murder? If it was murder, was the motive ‘love, lust, loathing, or loot’ as one wise character phrases it? Or something else? While the twisty tangled maybe-murder plot develops, beloved Miss Gloria celebrates her 85th birthday, and her clueless family comes down to Key West from up North to haul her off to assisted living, far from her supportive Houseboat Row community and long-time home. Actual Key Westers have watched that scenario play out plenty of times before, so I found the subplot as intriguing as the maybe-murder.

Key West aficionados will recognize local landmarks such as Schooner’s Wharf, the manatee dock, the daily Sunset Celebration, and the airport, and will learn intriguing new facts about Key West. For example: I knew that a hijacked plane had landed at Key West’s airport in 2003. What I didn’t know is that the rusting hulk of that Cuban plane still sits out there in the underbrush beyond the airport. Who knew? Burdette does, and she uses this haunted forgotten corner of her beloved island to expertly craft her mystery tale. You’ll have to read to the end to find out what actually goes down out there in the airport underbrush, as well as what happens to Miss Gloria.

The Mango Murders reads well as a stand-alone, so don’t worry if you’re meeting nosy but well-intentioned Hayley Snow, and her band of endearing characters, for the first time. (..and lucky you if it’s the first Key West Food Critic mystery - you get to go back and read all the rest!) You’ll enjoy solving the exploding boat riddle, as Burdette serves up plenty of red herrings, tantalizing clues, and food: Scrumptious food such as “gold-standard grouper cakes” or a bowl of “garlicky mussels with crispy toast points for dipping” or a rice dish "studded with charred corn and shishito peers, kissed with cilantro, lime, and spicy chili oil”. Yum.
And you’ll find recipes after the last chapter. How cool is that?
(Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book in advance of its publication.)

This has been a long time favorite series of mine. I've been to Key West several times and I love visiting again through the author's books. I love beachy type reads and look forward to a Key West Food Critic Mystery to read each summer. This was a typical entry in the series. I do agree with others that it is time for Nathan to have some character development. Based on the surprise ending (though not a surprise if you followed clues throughout the book) we will see more of that in future additions to the series. I really enjoy the interactions with Miss Gloria. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eArc.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lucy Burdette for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Mango Murders coming out August 12, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I haven’t read all the books in the series, but I really love cozy food mysteries! Mangoes are my favorite fruit. So I had to check this out, lol. It was a really fun book. I loved the characters. I would definitely read more in this series.

a cozy murder mystery always hits the spot for me, but especially when it is set in the keys! the setting was so cozy and everything I wish it was!

This is the 15th book in the Key West Food Critic series. This is one of my favorite series, truly the cast of characters plus the location of Key West. While I have never had the pleasure of visiting Key West, I feel like I would know exactly where to go when I got there. Lucy Burdette spends a lot of time in Key West and it shows.

This book opens with a boom. An explosion happens on a cruise that Haley and her magazine have sponsored. Haley’s mother is also catering the food for the cruise. Hayley searches for clues as to why it happened along with celebrating Miss Gloria’s (Hayley’s neighbor and adopted grandma) 85th birthday.

The author kept me guessing about who the killer was until almost the end, which is always fun.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the free Advanced Reader’s Copy. I gave this book 5 stars. I highly recommend this series. However, I do suggest that you start with an earlier book if you have not read this series previously.

“The Mango Murders” is the wonderfully done fourteenth book in Lucy Burdette’s Key West Food Critic cozy mystery series. There’s a lot to love about this series starting with the Key West setting (which is like a character in the series) and main character Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest e-zine, her husband and extended family (who play a large part in this story), her coworkers at Key Zest (Haley learns quite a bit about her boss in this book), and friends especially her houseboat neighbor Miss Gloria whose 85th birthday is celebrated throughout the course of this book. Also the mouthwatering food descriptions – there are recipes in the back of the book. The mystery is a good one involving an explosion aboard a boat during a cocktail party sponsored by Key Zest – I can’t say too much in fear of spoiling the mystery but it is well plotted with a major twist that I didn’t see coming. Very well done!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

Key Zest is holding the party of the year, a cocktail party on a cruise ship. Hayley’s mom is catering and the ezine is hosting. Unfortunately, just as they leave the dock the ship explodes. People are tossed into the ocean while the crowd watches in the street. Fortunately, Hayley and her family are safe along with the remainder of the passengers. Gloria, Hayley’s neighbor is celebrating her 85th birthday with friends, neighbors, and her Michigan family. But be for the celebration begins, the body of a stowaway is found on the ship. Now Hayley has to protect her mother’s reputation by finding the murderer while still finding time to celebrate Gloria. Good mystery with some unbelievable surprises at the end. #NetGalley

It is the middle of Key West, Florida’s summer mango season, which is why food columnist Hayley Snow Bransford is helping to host her magazine’s cocktail party on a Hemmingway-inspired yacht. The Pilar Too being wooden and not out of the more modern fiberglass material means that it’s also highly flammable, something that comes into play when an explosion has Hayley and the rest of the guests diving into the ocean to escape death. After winning a contest that gave her the opportunity to cater the event, Hayley’s mother is blamed for being the person who brought onboard a propane tank. Hayley’s not about to let her mother’s catering company take the brunt of the blame though, which is why she begins her own investigation into who among the assortment of guests was the target of an intentional attack that left a woman dead.

It's not as if Hayley has nothing else on her mind, as her houseboat neighbor Miss Gloria is having an 85th birthday and has planned a week of festive events. Miss Gloria and her best friend Annie Dubisson are “birthday twins,” so they will be celebrating together and not even Miss Gloria’s disapproving and controlling children can put a damper on parties. Hayley’s father and stepmother will be in town as well, meaning that Hayley will be enjoying a number of delicious Floridian meals with her extremely blended families. Hayley’s husband Nathan, the deputy chief of police in Key West, disapproves of his wife’s investigation of the boat explosion, but it’s his mother Helen who instigates the questioning of witnesses and neighboring boat owners. It doesn’t take long for them to wonder whether Hayley was the intended victim due to her previous investigations or negative food reviews, or if her boss or even the boat captain were the targets of jealous business rivals or exes.

In this 15th of the series Hayley is a bit all over the place as she attempts to juggle her visiting family, the birthday celebrations of Miss Gloria, and of course the investigation of the boat explosion and possible murder. That Nathan is irritated by her involvement in his cases doesn’t slow her down a bit, and in fact has her grumbling and just as angered by this speed bump in this marriage. His mother nearly getting run over by a moped certainly doesn’t help, and one can’t help but wonder if Nathan isn’t right to worry about his loved ones’ meddling. Hayley does have her reasons for her impulsiveness and determination though, and readers will be cheering for her and Nathan to work things out by the end. Recipes of not just Janet Snow’s winning mango cake recipe, but traditional and “fancy” tuna noodle casseroles, will have mouths watering and mystery lovers looking forward to their next vicarious visit to the Florida Keys and its tropical setting. This series by the author also known as Roberta Isleib adds the lore of tarot cards, psychology, and of course food criticism. Chapter heading quotes from respected food critics and writers (including Lucy Burdette) are also intriguing enough to have readers wanting to read more examples of food writing, a skill and genre often overlooked by food instagrammers and influencers.

Food critic Hayley Snow’s employer, Key Zest, is throwing the event of the season, a lavish cocktail party catered by Janet Snow, Hayley’s mother. As Hayley boards the luxurious cruise, she anticipates a smooth sailing soirée filled with shimmering cocktails, mouthwatering mango-infused delicacies, and new supporters for the e-zine. But as the boat sets sail, the festivities take a tragic turn when an explosion rocks the vessel, plunging the party guests into chaos.

In the days that follow, Hayley learns that a local culinary entrepreneur died in the explosion and it was no accident–someone on board had a deadly agenda. With the tropical city of Key West as her backdrop, Hayley navigates a web of secrets and lies. Her investigation takes her from the shadowy corners of island politics to fierce competition between high-end event caterers and personal vendettas.

With the clock ticking and the stakes higher than ever, Hayley must rely on her keen intuition to unmask a cunning culprit before they strike again.

Loved it. Will recommend to others

I'm afraid this is truly not the series for me. I love my cozies and there is nothing wrong with this book. You can see all the wonderful 4 and 5 star reviews. But like the last book I read of the key west food critic, I lost interest in this story rather early. Even though it had a bang of a start! So, I'm calling this a me issue. I want to thank #crookedlanebooks & #NetGalley for the eArc of this book. I really do appreciate the opportunity to read and review. And I do encourage others to read and form your opinion. Not every story can hit the mark for every reader but there is a reader out there who will love this!

OH! I do give credit to the wonderful recipes at the end. I will definitely be trying some of them. So extra star for that.

The Mango Murders by Lucy Burdette is a long-running cozy mystery series featuring food blogger/critic, Hayley Snow. It is a celebration of Key Zest, Hayley’s online magazine, and catered by Haley’s mother’s company. It was taking place on a the Pilar Too, a wooden catamaran, named after Ernest Hemingway’s and one of a kind. Things were going nicely when all of a sudden there is an explosion and Hayley finds herself in the water, surrounded by other people and debris from the boat. Thankfully it all happened right in front of Mallory Square on the waterfront. It was moments before she heard sirens. She had helped a couple of people in the water after ascertaining that her mother was fine. But, how had this happened? Was everyone all right? She would have to wait until her husband, Nathan, the Assistant Police Chief, got home to discover more. It was going to be a busy week. It was her eighty-five-year-old neighbor, Miss Gloria’s birthday and there were several celebrations planned. Her dad and his wife, and her half-brother were coming, as were Nathan’s parents, and of course, Miss Gloria’s family. Hayley simply didn’t have enough time.

Fortunately her step-mother and her mother-in-law helped Hayley investigate. There were a lot of possibilities. Hayley couldn’t believe a jealous caterer would do such a thing. Another boat owner? Someone else? Hayley is a great character as is Miss Gloria. Full of fun and mischief and always ready to go. Nathan, Hayley’s husband is much less outgoing and sometimes has a quick temper, but he’s all about Hayley’s safety, something she isn’t careful about. The three women ask questions, sometimes invading people’s privacy. But they get tidbits and eventually are able to put the pieces of the puzzle together to make a picture. Clever and quick are her step-mother and mother-in-law, a disconcerting fact for poor Nathan. Good mystery. Fun setting. Terrific characters. This is a great series!

I was invited to read The Mango Murders by Crooked Lane Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #CrookedLaneBooks #LucyBurdette #TheMangoMurders

"The Mango Murders" the 15th instalment in the "A Key West Food Critic" Mystery series by Lucy Burdette. This is one of my favourite foodie cozy mystery series. The turquoise waters of Key West are stained with pink. With the clock ticking and the stakes higher than ever, Hayley must rely on her keen intuition to unmask a cunning culprit before they strike again.

I really enjoyed this story and hanging out with Haley, and celebrating Miss Gloria’s birthday! I must say I love octogenarian Miss Gloria and all the things she does and says. With a few surprises thrown in I can’t wait for the next book.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted and 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.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Mango Murders is the fifteenth book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series. Hayley Snow's mother, Janet, is catering a lavish party on a luxurious boat. However, the event takes on a dark turn when an explosion ruins the event and a guest is found dead. Hayley investigates the tragic event and it soon becomes clear that the explosion was not an accident.

Once again, Ms. Burdette treats us to a wonderfully written cozy mystery. The storyline is interesting and keeps us guessing. The main characters are always charming and make us want to keep reading. I felt like I really was in Key West the entire time I was reading the book. I absolutely loved reading this book, it provided a "vacation" from my daily routine. Thank you Ms. Burdette for writing such a great book!

Didn’t really grab me and pull me in. I got easily distracted while reading.

The magazine Hayley works for throws a party on a boat. The boat explodes, among the wreckage the police find a dead body.

The police seem kind of incompetent. The dead body isn’t mentioned to the public until three or four days after the incident (why?) and it seems there is very little left of the body because they think it is “most likely a woman”. Forensics should have been able to tell them if it was definitely (biologically) a woman, as the police think they can positively identify the person with DNA or dental records. If you have enough to ID a dead body, you have enough to determine sex.

Hayley and Nathan’s relationship doesn’t seem healthy. He gets angry quickly and he tries to bully her out of investigating. This is book 15. He should know by now that sticking her nose in is her thing. If he can’t respect that, then why did he marry her? And then there’s that she “ felt embarrassed to have gotten so emotional in front of my poor self-contained husband”. Seriously? He’s the one person that should not judge her for feeling her feels. (As a side note: at one point Hayley mentions her husband has a hair-trigger temper and now he’s self-contained. Those two descriptions don’t go together well.)

I don’t like Hayley much either, for that matter.

Hayley talks to several people, always introducing herself as someone that was on the boat at the time of the incident and therefore with a vested interest to find out what happened. But the first few times she does not acknowledge the role in the incident of the person she is talking to. For instance, when she talks to the captain of the boat in the hospital she doesn’t ask how he’s doing or about his injuries. (Later she comments he was ungracious and unhelpful. He probably felt the same way about her.)

Throughout most of the story I was confussed about where Hayley was going or why, but I wasn’t invested enough to go back and read again. The reveal was anti-climatic.

Hailey is in a busy season with Miss Gloria’s 85th birthday celebrations and a big shindig meant to increase Key Zest’s business.
Key Zest’s party ends with a bang and is the mystery that must be solved.
I enjoyed getting together with all the regulars of the Key West Food Critic mysteries. The inciting event occurred right at the beginning, which for me caused the middle to drag just a tad. Then the climax heated things up before ending softly with familial bonhomie.
I enjoyed reading the Mango Murders. I didn’t suspect the true culprit behind the events. The food sounded delightful and it’s mangoes everywhere.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Hayley is a food critic/writer working a cocktail party given by her employer and catered by her mother with all the movers and shakers of Key West attending. Suddenly there is an explosion sending everyone overboard. A unidentified deceased woman was found below near the start of the explosion. Who was she and why did someone blow up the ship? She is also trying to manage her Septuagenarian friend's birthday celebrations amid family drama.

This was an enjoyable read. While it is the 15th in the series, this is the first one that I have read. While it probably would help if you had read previous books, I enjoyed as a stand alone. I loved Gloria, I can only hope to have her spunk at that age! This is a fun read for the beach or cooling off in the AC on a hot day with your favorite cold beverage.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

The Mango Murders by Lucy Burdette was one that I flew through and could not wait to find out how it was going to end. The story keeps a steady pace with not a boring page one.
This book had a complex mystery with endearing and captivating characters.
Wonderful writing, great characters and a story that kept my interest with its story and its food references and recipes.
If you enjoy a cozy mystery or just a great read in general then I night recommend picking this book up.

Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Mango Murders is the 15th book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery Series by Lucy Burdette. The amateur sleuth is Hayley Snow, a longtime food critic and writer for Key Zest, an ezine that focuses on the food, news, and politics Key West.

In this book, Hayley is joining her catering mother (Janet Snow) and the rest of the Key Zest team for a cocktail cruise aboard "Pilar Too," a hand-crafted wooden Hemingway yacht lookalike. The guest list for the cruise includes everyone from local business people and politicians to foodies like chefs and restaurant owners. 

Things take a tragic turn when an explosion rocks the boat and puts an end to the festivities. When Hayley learns the explosion was no accident, she begins sleuthing with the help of her mother and her neighbor, Miss Gloria.

I loved The Mango Murders. The cocktail cruise, which had all sorts of Mango delicacies since the story is set in May when mangos are in season, was a really fun way to launch the story. 

The mystery is fast-paced and kicks off right away in Chapter One. Hayley once again demonstrates a smart and methodical approach to the case. The mystery ends with a clever reveal.

Author Lucy Burdette does a nice job with her cozy community and brings back everyone's favorite recurring characters.

The book concludes with several mouthwatering mango recipes, including drink, savory, and dessert. You could (and should) create a whole mango themed meal to go with story.

The Mango Murders is a fun installment in one of the best culinary cozy mystery series on the market. I love the Key West setting and the quirky community of locals.

I'm already looking forward to more Key West Food Critic Mysteries!

4.5⭐
Outstanding addition to the Key West Food Critic series! Besides being one of my favorite fictional characters, Hayley Snow is the best friend you've always wanted. She's intelligent, empathetic and loyal to a fault along with an innate curiosity and love of justice. Celebrating her best friend's, Gloria, 85th birthday comes on the heels of a planned sunset cruise to promote Key Zest e-magazine and her mother's catering business. The aftermath of the disrupted cruise leaves Hayley wrangling an investigation as well as the challenging personalities of many of the out of town party guests. Could be read as a standalone, but you're truly missing a treat with reading the series. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book and how it was completely and totally focused on the mystery at hand and the characters’ lives like it always used to be. For a while there, it seemed some of these books took too much of a political turn, something I absolutely don’t wanna read about especially in cozy mysteries. But there’ve been a few recent books that’ve gotten better and this was definitely one of those! I might have to call this one my fave so far.

When the party cruise Hayley, her mom and Sam were on and helping cater blew up, Hayley did her usual sleuthing thing and once again had Nathan’s mom sleuthing with her. That lady cracks me up! She’s a tough cookie but boy can she get things done in an investigation. Helen did have a little run-in with someone’s motorcycle though. Hayley found herself facing off with a killer again but thanks to a couple of awesome helpers with a sweet four-legged along, quick work was made of the nasty perp. The ending was super sweet and I can’t wait for more in this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Crooked Lane via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.