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!
The annual Key West Loves Literature seminar is drawing the
biggestnames in food writing from all over the country, and
Haley Snow isthere to catch a few fresh morsels of insider
gossip. Superstarrestaurant critic Jonah Barrows has
already ruffled a few foodiefeathers with his recent tell-
all memoir, and as keynote speaker, hepromises more of the
same jaw-dropping honesty.
But when Hayley discovers
Jonah's body in a nearby dipping pool, thecocktail hour
buzz takes a sour turn, and Hayley finds herself at
thecenter of attention--especially with the police. Now
it's up to her tocatch the killer before she comes to her
own bitter finish.
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