Key West Caper

Chef Edel Waugh leaves a successful restaurant in New York City to open Bistro on the Bight in Key West. There's much gossip about why she left. Is it because of her husband's unfaithfulness or was there more? In Death with All the Trimmings author Lucy Burdette sends her effervescent sleuth and style magazine writer Hayley Snow on a mission to interview the chef.

Once Chef Edel begins work on the restaurant in Key West, a series of small accidents plagues the restaurant before the opening. When the restaurant is set on fire and a body is found in the charred shell, Hayley jumps in to investigate. The biggest shock comes when the body is identified as Edel's ex-husband Juan Carlos Alfonso, co-owner of their restaurant in New York.

While Hayley is in the midst of her investigation she discovers the owners of Key West Zest, her magazine, are negotiating with potential investors, leaving the staff and Hayley unsure of their jobs. Complicating issues, as most mothers do, Hayley's mother announces she has rented a place in Key West for the winter and is bringing her new husband along.

I love the Key West vibe to these books. The ancillary characters are entertaining and colorfully drawn. I can just picture Hayley riding around the streets of Key West on her scooter.

The first book in the series is An Appetite for Murder.