Hayley Snow is Key Zest magazine's newest food critic, which means she's been upgraded from a self-proclaimed food groupie to someone with a pass to the trendiest restaurants. The timing couldn't be better as the annual Key West literary conference is around the corner and fellow food critics from all around the country are gathering. Hayley has inside information that someone high on the food chain at Key Zest wants her gone, so she knows the pressure is on to deliver some great pieces from the conference, including (she hopes) an interview with the keynote speaker Jonah Barrows.

When Jonah delivers his keynote address, though, he succeeds in angering the gathered critics. He discusses his recently published memoir, paints most critics as hacks with untrained palates, and accuses restauranteurs of driving menus and their resulting prices in a direction that is unreasonable. He closes his address by promising to keep up his streak of honesty throughout the conference as he moderates each presentation and panel.

At a reception that night, Hayley is shocked to discover his body floating in a dipping pool. Although Jonah had shocked and upset most people at the conference, who would go as far as to actually kill him? Hayley is even more shocked when the local police seem to focus their investigation on her friend Eric who seemingly has no connection to Jonah and had left the reception early due to a migraine. But when the police arrest Eric, Hayley starts to wonder what kind of evidence they have against him and if there really is a connection between them.

Between trying to cover the conference and save her job, Hayley now desperately wants to prove that her friend is innocent. The not-so-small hitch is that Hayley and one of the detectives had a date, and her snooping combined with his guys arresting her friend has kind of put a damper on any romance that may have been budding. Things go from bad to worse when another food writer turns up dead. Was it a suicide or a murder? Either way, what would have motivated such an action? Most of all, can Hayley figure all of this out, save her friend, and still save her job?

This book was a quick, fun read that held my attention from the beginning. This book was a delightful combination of chick lit and cozy in that Hayley had the typical contemporary women's concerns regarding her career and romantic life, but she also managed to stumble onto a mystery that involved her to which she needed to find the solution. While it's nice to read about a protagonist who is strong and independent without a romantic partner, it's also nice to occasionally read about a woman who encounters the same issues that many other women do, too. I will eagerly await other releases in the Key West Food Critic series!