Topped Chef

Key West Food Critic Mystery #3

by Lucy Burdette

Hayley Snow loves her job as the food critic for Key Zest magazine, tasting the offerings from Key West’s most innovative restaurants. She’d rate her life four stars, until she’s forced into the spotlight…and another murder investigation.

Hoping for some good publicity, Hayley’s boss signs her up to help judge the Key West Topped Chef contest. Stakes are high as the winner could be the next cooking-show superstar. Hayley shows up for the filming nervous but excited, until she sees who’s on the judging panel with her: Sam Rizzoli, big shot businessman—and owner of the restaurant she just panned in her first negative review.

When Rizzoli turns up dead, the police assume his killer is one of his business rivals. But Hayley wonders whether someone is taking the contest a little too seriously. With the police following the wrong recipe, it’s up to Hayley to find the killer before she’s eliminated from the show…permanently.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Food, Murder Mystery, Mystery Thriller

292 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette writes the USA Today best-selling Key West food critic mysteries, a cozy, culinary mystery series starring food critic Hayley Snow, including #16, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION. A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS, won the Florida Book Award's gold medal for popular fiction. Both the 12th book in the series, A DISH TO DIE FOR, and the 10th, THE KEY LIME CRIME, won bronze medals for popular fiction from the Florida Book Awards. Lucy's first women's fiction title, THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS, came out in July 2023.

As Roberta Isleib, she wrote the golf lover's mystery series (SIX STROKES UNDER) and the advice column mysteries (DEADLY ADVICE.)

Lucy's books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards.

She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime and the Friends of the Key West Library.

Reviews

[Nancy]

A reality show cooking competition finds food critic Hayley Snow among the judges. Things get off to a bad start when one of the judges is found dead. Did a chef murder the guy to boost his chances on the show? Or was it one of the fellow judges who had a beef with him? Or perhaps it was one of the judge’s political opponents. Motives abound as our intrepid sleuth tries to keep the cast and crew safe by tracking down the killer. The food descriptions and Key West locales are a scrumptious delight that will make you want to head south to sample the culinary treats.

[Erin]

Oh, how I wish I hadn't already bought the next two books in the series! This was awful! Awful! The book opens with Hayley being a bit fatter and she has gone back to being a ditzy idiot throughout. The mystery takes a backseat to the reality show and the killer/ending isn't believable at all. Worst is the relationship angle. Has this author ever been with a man? The relationship aspect of the series has never been believable, but the detective's sudden return to his ex wife seems bizarre at best. Not that his interest in Hayley was believable at all. This series is just incredibly poorly written.

To the publishers: Most women I know love the idea of cozy mysteries, but we hate the actual books. They all seem to be geared towards spinsters who live alone with cats, who have no experience with men, who listen to NPR and hold far left viewpoints but would wet their pants if they had to drive through a diverse neighborhood. How about writing cozies for the rest of us?

[Yvonne]

Food critic, Hayley Snow, is back for another adventure in Key West, Florida. Much to her dismay, her boss signs her up to be a judge for a new reality cooking show called Topped Chef. As the judges get ready to choose the next big cooking star, Hayley can’t believe her eyes when she sees who one of her fellow judges is – Sam Rizzoli, the owner of the restaurant she recently gave a scathing review to. Talk about an awkward situation!

When Rizzoli is found murdered, everyone connected with the show becomes a suspect. Hayley can’t help wondering if one of the contestants wasn’t taking the contest just a bit too seriously. However, as the saying goes, “The show must go on” and it does. However, things take another sinister turn when one of the other judges nearly dies after being shot at, a tourist nearly dies after tasting the food, and a homeless man is nearly beaten to death.

Despite warnings from her on again/off again detective boyfriend, Hayley throws herself into the middle of the investigation. She finds herself in just as much danger as anyone else associated with the show.

Topped Chef is the third book in the series and what a delight! I adore Hayley and the cast of characters surrounding her. It’s a fun series expertly crafted with a fast-moving plot. I was totally taken off guard by the ending. I will definitely be reading more of this one.



FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Linda Langford]

Excellent cozy!

[Tina]

I fell in love with Key West and Hayley Snow reading this series, she has a job as a food critic, a job any foodie would love to have. I get totally lost reading this series and want to live there forever. It seems like a relaxing life in paradise, living on a houseboat with roomie Miss Gloria, who you can't help but love.

Until Hayley's boss at Key Zest wants her to be a judge on a food reality show called "Topped Chef". When Hayley finds out a fellow judge and chef whom's restaurant she gave a bad review will also be judging along side of her. When the chef, Sam Rizzoli is found dead in the most gruesome way Hayley with her inner detective can't help but let nothing stand in her way until she finds the killer even if it means being on the chopping block herself.

Topped Chef so far is the best of the series, I love food reality shows. That's why I loved this book so much. Food was in the forefront in Topped Chef and a book that any culinary mystery lover will not help but crave to read.

[Emilia]

Ok so I wasn't going to write a review, but then I read the one star from someone there and had to write something. Totally adore the series, am planning to catch up finally. Love Hayley, her friends are sweet and very lively, Key West sounds like a place I'd love to visit. Plot flowing nicely, no dragging stuff around just to fill a space. Loved it!👍 and my suggestion for people searching for the next read- do not pass by ebook just because it has one or two bad reviews. Judge it for yourself, give a book a chance if you like the theme.

[Linda]

I'm really enjoying this series. This time Hayley is getting to be a judge on a reality cooking show taking place in Key West, I really enjoyed this as a setting for the mystery. I was definitely kept guessing and was surprised at the ending. I really like the characters and am looking forward to seeing what goes on in Hayley's personal life in future books. While I was able to keep track of all the characters there was a listing at the beginning which is always nice to help you keep track of who's who. Also recipes are included at the end and there were some yummy sounding ones.

[Edel Waugh Salisbury]

I have been counting down the days until this book arrived (I had it pre-ordered) . Yesterday it arrived and there was much excitement in my household. First the cover !!!..... Sigh...... It's so dreamy...the ocean ,sandy beach, cocktails .. Sigh....... This is the perfect book to chill out with.. I think my blood pressure actually dropped a few notches just looking at the cover.

This series is based in the scenic Key West and the first book is called" An Appetite for murder", the second book is called " Death in Four Courses" and" Topped Chef" is the third and most recent book in this series.

In book 3 we see our main character Hayley Snow struggling a little with her work, she has decisions to make that she is not that comfortable with when she is asked to be a judge on a TV show being filmed in Key West called Topped Chef. You kind of get more of a feel for Hayley and what she stands for in this book. Hayley is brave in life and very honourable in her work and you do have to admire her for that.. Not everyone in Key West is....

With the competition being to a high standard,, temper levels have also risen as well as any souffles that maybe cooking, and it is not long before there is a dead body showing up.. There is a few red herrings in here and I tried to figure out who the bad guy was before the end of the story but no luck... The ending was really great.

My favourite characters are back when we meet Miss Gloria and Hayley's mum Janet( sort of). For those of you not familiar with the series Hayley lives with Miss Gloria on a house boat with both of their cats Evinrude and Sparky. I love Miss Gloria, she is comical with some real get up and go in her and she is a great mother figure for Hayley .It is a really sweet relationship.

It's not all work though for Hayley in book 3 when she goes on her first date with the handsome detective Nate... My lips are sealed as to what happens , you will have to read and see how it goes.

This was another one of Lucy's books that I was sad to say goodbye to , I flew through it and could not wait to find out how it was going to end.. The story keeps a steady pace with not a boring page in sight. if you enjoy a cozy mystery or just a great read in general then def pick this book up.

The next book in the series is out at some point at the beginning of 2014 it will give me just enough time to re-read the entire series again.


P.s If you enjoy cooking then there are some delicious sounding recipes at the back of the book as well as a glimpse at book four in this series.

[Kathy]

It's so hard to stop and review Lucy Burdette's Key West Foor Critic mysteries, as I am reading one after another. Each book is like taking a vacation to my favorite spot of Key West, and it's hard to take a break from that. Haley Snow is growing as both a woman and a critic in each addition to the series. Her understanding of herself and what she wants and deserves out of life are becoming more focused, and her subsequent actions and decisions are a bit more deliberate, although Burdette maintains the wonderful quirkiness and unexpected turns that I have loved about Haley from the beginning. After all, it is Key West, and anything is always possible. People don't choose to live in this laid-back paradise for normalcy.

In Topped Chef, Haley is chosen as a last minute judge in the Key West Topped Chef contest, a contest which is being filmed. The winner will have the chance to star in a reality cooking show. Haley's comfort level plummets as the first day of shooting she discovers one of her fellow judges, Sam Rizzoli, is the owner of a restaurant she just panned in a review, and one of the contestants is a woman she suspected of murder only recently. Haley knows her food, though, and she is determined to do her best to choose the best. Enter a slight bump in the road. Sam Rizzoli is found murdered on his own sail boat on the night that Haley and Detective Nate Bransford are supposed to have their first real date. The murder interrupts the date, and the would-be relationship is once more put on hold. As usual, Haley finds herself in the thick of a murder investigation, as the Topped Chef contest appears to be a target of sabotage with one incident after another. Her own safety as one of the judges is questionable, and she feels a vested interest in steering the police to the right path. The world of foodies is front and center in this latest mystery, and it is oh so delicious.

[Ronna]

In Key West, Florida, Hayley Snow is tooling around town on her little pink motorcycle, tasting and reporting in the KEY ZEST MAGAZINE, on all the restaurant meals she has eaten there. Too bad that she had to pan the last restaurant, but Sam Rizzoli was a selfish councilman and an even worse restauranteur. She loves her new job and her life with elderly, Miss Gloria, and their two cats aboard Miss Gloria's docked boat. The hope of great dates with dreamy detective Bransford kept her blood warm also. But when her boss all but forced her into the roll of Topped Chef judge for the new reality TV show, trouble brews when Sam is murdered.

This third book in the Key West Food Critic series is a real treat, full of references to true life chefs and wonderful sounding foods, plus literary references to foods from other books that head every chapter. My favorite is a take on the French phrase for preparing individual ingredients before putting a food dish together--mise en place. The quote from Pete Wells that Lucy Burdette used was: " Mise en place ( meez en PLASS) comes from restaurant kitchens, where a brigade of helpers spends the day gathering everything ready for the dinner rush. It comes from the French phrase meaning 'make the new guy do it."

Loads of humor, food references, and a delicious mystery fill the pages. Her interesting characters return in this book, including her homeless characters that Burdette wonderfully humanizes, her Tarot card reading friend, her gay psychologist best friend, and her take-charge mom from New Jersey. This mystery draws you in immediately and keep you on a merry chase through food exploits and near dangerous escapes till the culprit is finally captured In the end. I think this book builds interest with the great fun of food and mysteries in Key West.

[Dorothy Timm]

Ordinarily I'd like the topic of food and Key West. However, I just couldn't understand why people thought that the cooking contest was so important that that might be somehow tied to the motive for murder. And when the true murderer was revealed, it was never really clear to me why he'd go to the extreme of murder. There were some cute characters in the book, but so much just didn't make sense.

[Kerri]

The kind of stupid trash better suited for a battered bookcase in a public laundromat. Utterly stupid with an annoying main character; I didn't even finish.

[Melanie is on Storygraph]

Fast paced and full of good food - so much food! I love the Key West setting and the TV cooking show contest was a fun idea. Just an all around solid cozy mystery series.

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle]

Hayley Snow has reached that deeply chaotic career milestone where your boss volunteers you for something without asking and suddenly you’re on a reality TV cooking show trying not to embarrass yourself on camera. And honestly, I would simply pass away.

Topped Chef takes our girl out of her usual “quietly judging food and occasionally finding corpses” routine and throws her into a full-blown televised competition where egos are high, knives are sharp, and everyone is one critique away from a meltdown. Hayley is there as a judge, which should be glamorous, except for the minor detail that one of the other judges is Sam Rizzoli, the exact man whose restaurant she just absolutely roasted in a review. The tension? Immediate. The vibes? Hostile. The secondhand embarrassment? Off the charts.

And then, because the universe refuses to give Hayley a single normal workday, Sam ends up dead. Like…violently dead. At this point, I’m starting to think her LinkedIn should just say “Food Critic / Accidental Grim Reaper.”

What I actually loved about this setup is how inherently ridiculous it is. A reality cooking show already feels like controlled chaos, add in a murder and suddenly it’s giving “lost episode of Top Chef that Bravo buried for legal reasons.” The contestants are intense, the judges are messy, and everyone has just enough motive to make you suspicious of literally every person holding a whisk.

And Hayley, bless her, is still doing her thing where she’s like, “The police say stay out of it,” and she hears, “What if I simply…did not.” There is something deeply consistent about her refusal to mind her business, and at this point, I’ve accepted it like a personality trait. Growth is happening…just very slowly and with a lot of detours.

But I will say, she does feel a little more grounded here. Not dramatically, not like a full character transformation, but there are moments where you can see her trying to be more confident in her job, more thoughtful about her choices. And then five minutes later she’s sneaking around asking questions she absolutely should not be asking, so don’t worry, she’s still our chaotic queen.

The mystery itself is…fun, but a little wobbly. There are a lot of moving parts, between the show, the contestants, Sam’s shady business dealings, and just general Key West weirdness. It keeps things interesting, but it also sometimes feels like we’re juggling too many ingredients and not all of them quite come together into a perfectly plated dish. I didn’t hate the reveal, but I also wasn’t sitting there gasping like I’d just witnessed the plot twist of the century.

What did keep me hooked, though, was the sheer mess of everything surrounding it. There are sabotage vibes, near-misses, people acting deeply suspicious over what is essentially a cooking competition, and I was fully locked into the drama of it all. Like, are we really committing crimes over a reality show title? Apparently yes, and honestly…respect the commitment, I guess?

We also need to talk about Hayley’s love life, because WOW. This woman cannot catch a break. Detective Bransford continues to be the human equivalent of mixed signals, and their relationship is just a series of almost-dates, awkward interruptions, and emotional confusion. At one point I was like, “Do you even like each other, or are you just stuck in a narrative contract?” Meanwhile, there are hints of other potential romantic options floating around, and I found myself rooting for literally anyone who is not this man.

Emotionally, Hayley deserves better. Logistically, she deserves someone who doesn’t keep canceling plans because there’s a corpse. Even if she is usually the one finding it.

And through all of this, Key West is still out here doing the most. The setting, the food, the side characters, the chaotic energy of the island, it’s honestly carrying half the experience. The descriptions of food are still borderline offensive in how good they sound. I was reading about dishes like I was personally being attacked. No one told me I needed snacks to emotionally survive this series, but I do.

This book feels like the series settling into itself. It knows what it is now. It’s a little messy, a little ridiculous, very food-obsessed, and fully committed to putting Hayley in increasingly inconvenient murder situations. It’s not perfect, but it’s entertaining in that “I’m yelling at the characters but I’m still having a good time” kind of way.

A chaotic, reality-TV-fueled mystery where the stakes are high, the chefs are dramatic, and Hayley continues to treat danger like a casual hobby. 3.5 stars.

Whodunity Award: For Making Me Suspicious of Every Reality Show Judge Who Smiles Too Much

[Angela (Kentuckybooklover) Brocato-Skaggs]

Top Chef Murder

An enjoyable third entry in the Key West Food Critic series. As you can guess based off the title, the book was loosely based on the Bravo series Top Chef. My mama and I used to watch that every week it was on. Since her passing I haven’t been able to watch it. This book gave me the happy vibes of so many yummy recipes discussed.

I like how Hayley’s potential romance with the Detective is filled with blunders and embarrassments. It makes it seem like it is pulled from real life. Very few romances are perfect. As we age and relationships grow more baggage comes along with them and figuring out to discuss them can be hard. I do have to my two cents, Detective Bransford is a dodo with how he is handling his ex-wife.

FYI, please note the audiobook available on Hoopla is missing the last chapter, chapter 28.

[Mallory (onmalsshelf) Bartel]

Definitely not my favorite of the series, but enjoyed the cooking competition. Would've loved to see the shrimp and grits recipe in the back. All of the relationship issues are getting messy and I would love to see Haley grow without dealing with men with zero social skills.

A bit confused on the slight homophobia and hate for drag queens here, especially in somewhere such as Key West.

I'll still continue on in the series, Key West is one of my favorite destinations and this makes me feel like I'm back walking around my favorite spots.

[Mac Daly]

A Key West cooking show where both the contestants and the chefs are at each other's throats. What could possibly go wrong? Haley Snow, Key West's resident food critic should have given a resounding "No!" when invited to be a judge on the show's pilot, especially when she found out one of her co-judges was the very chef whose restaurant she had just panned. So was it really unexpected when one of the participants turned up dead hanging from a yardarm?

Maybe not all reality shows end in murder, but I'm going to take a closer look at where the knives end up the next time I watch one.

[Linda Rawlins]

Book #3 of the Lucy Burdette, our Key West Food Critic, Hayley Snow, is a judge for a new chef reality show. Soon strange things start happening on the set including the murder of one of the judges. Hayley is worried another judge may be next. She sets out to solve the murder while helping to arrange the wedding of her best friend. Love the setting of Key West.

[Trish]

Mostly enjoyable - I love the setting and the food and I'm glad she kicked the detective into touch, and hope she realises that Torrence likes her. I'm not sure it followed the "fair play" rules with who the murderer was - the key clue was very late being revealed.

[Caryn Zdan]

I really like this series. And i like that Hayley stood up for herself when they tried to bully her about her weight. Hayley is chosen to be a judge for the next topped chef cooking show star when one of the other judges are killed. Hayley tries to figure out who killed him before she is next! Can’t wait to continue this series!

[Rona]

A further romp on Key West. This one is still a better travel guide than most travel guides. But, the mystery was weakly plotted.

[Nolan]

Topped Chef is the third book in Lucy Burdette’s Key West Food Critic Mysteries, published in May 2013 by Obsidian.

Hayley Snow writes restaurant reviews for Key Zest, the lifestyle magazine that serves residents and visitors in Key West. She lives aboard Miss Gloria’s docked houseboat with their cats, Evinrude and Sparky, and gets around town on a motor scooter. She turned in a scathing review of Just Off Duval, Sam Rizzoli’s new restaurant just off Duval Street, after three visits showed no improvement. It was her first real negative review. Rizzoli owns several restaurants and sits on the city commission, where he has made enemies with self-interested votes, including wider channels for cruise ships. That morning he had already gone to the magazine to complain and to try to get Hayley fired. The editor defended her. When that failed, he set out to have her dumped from the judging panel as well.

Hayley hurried in just as he left, and that is when she learned a friend wanted her to judge a reality television show about to film in Key West. Wally signed her up for the publicity. The winner could become a cooking-show star and host a program of their own. Wally pointed out that Rizzoli would sit on the panel with her. Hayley grew more reluctant than ever, but Wally insisted, and she signed on. To her delight, her friend Deena Smith was producing the show. Peter Shapiro would direct and host. Chefs Randy Thompson, Henrietta Stentzel, and Buddy Higgs would compete to become Key West’s topped chef.

The other judges were Rizzoli, chef Adam Boyd, and chef Toby Davidson. Hayley was the least experienced person on the panel; Key Zest had hired her only months earlier. She also seemed less flighty than she had in book one, more in control, observant, and focused. The Hayley of the first book probably could not have taken on a reality-show judgeship. Starting here also means missing that Hayley once accused Henrietta, a talented Latin-cuisine chef, of murder. The producer’s idea of a camera-ready description was to call Hayley plump like a guinea hen. She was insulted and swallowed it.

Hayley had planned a dinner date with Detective Nate Bransford for days. He could not meet her that night. Embarrassed, she ate alone and boxed his meal to take to him. She found him at a crime scene instead: a body hanging from a sailboat mast, staged like a Key West pirate in a wig and cape. It looked like Turtle, a homeless man she knew. Bransford rebuffed her and demanded to know what she was doing at his crime scene. Sad and frustrated, she told him she had brought dinner so he would not work a murder on an empty stomach. A full detective, she figured, thinks more clearly. Then she recognized the body. It was not Turtle. It was Sam Rizzoli.

Bransford’s claws-out welcome disappointed me. She matters to him, and the harshness comes from concern for her welfare. He just finds it easier to push her away than to say so. The habit looks threadbare. I kept wondering how an otherwise intelligent man cannot find a better way to express concern. He also still seems intrigued by the feminine wiles of his first wife, Trudy, and he and Hayley do not get back together in this book.

The police treat the killing as a business-rival job. Hayley thinks someone is taking the contest too seriously. She investigates against their warning and keeps bringing them what she finds. Before the book is done, that persistence puts her in the path of the killer.

Peter and Deena decided the show would continue with three judges. Peter feeds on the judges’ fights over comfort food versus molecular gastronomy and foams. Days later, walking the harbor with Hayley, Toby Davidson heard what sounded like gunshots, startled, and fell into the ocean. No one moved to help. Hayley dove in after the woman, who could not swim, and got them both back onto dry land. After Rizzoli’s death, they wondered whether this was another attack on a judge. A spectator collapsed after eating something tied to the show. Paramedics got her to the hospital in time. Violence also reached Turtle’s world when a homeless man was nearly beaten. The air around the program was essentially ruined.

The contests went on, though the producers seemed to have chosen a winner long ago. Henrietta never stood a chance. Randy Thompson, who entertained by dressing in drag, angrily charged the producers with discriminating against him. Buddy Higgs looked like the golden boy.

Hayley is maid of honor for a college roommate and spends energy talking the groom out of a pirate-themed wedding, a rhyme with the body on the mast. Miss Gloria becomes a sidekick in the investigation. Lorenzo, the tarot reader, turns up. Hayley’s mother, Janet, appears by Skype. Eric, the psychologist friend, sits more of this one out.

I have always believed there is nothing real in reality television. I despise the genre and do not watch it unless someone ropes me into an unfortunate family activity. What I enjoyed here was watching Burdette point out how synthetic and engineered the form is. Tense storylines can feel real enough to suck you in, but she shows the staff stepping in to manufacture tension that is neither as high nor as pronounced as it looks. It still felt good to see Deena shine. She declared her love for the work, and her organizational skill quietly held the production together. I could not help wondering whether she might return to reality-TV production full time. The show itself reaffirmed my worst beliefs about the form.

Recipes sit at the end of the Bookshare edition. I am so uninterested in them that I skip them and forget they are there. An unabridged audiobook narrated by Laura Jennings runs about seven hours and fifteen minutes and came out in 2023. I did not check whether that version reads the recipes aloud.

This is a four-star book. I finished it a day ago and found myself buzzing through the Bookshare edition to recall details I might have missed. That is not the plot fading while I read. Most books leave me that way after a few days. I am five-star resistant much of the time because I do not want to fling stars like someone on a parade float flinging penny candy. Stars matter. A book earns them. At the end of each calendar year I choose my favorite five fiction and nonfiction books from the five-star ratings I have given. If every book is five stars, they may as well all be one star. The rating has no value. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading, and I suspect you will too if you pick this up.

If you even casually watch the Food Network, the Cooking Channel, or any food-oriented contest, you will likely enjoy this book. It offers plenty of suspense and tension, and at one point the producers encourage the judges to whip up tension among the contestants. Most of the restaurants are real Key West places. Just Off Duval is the fiction. Chapters open with food quotations and literary epigraphs.

You can join the series with this book if you wish, but you will miss a great deal, including Hayley’s shift from flighty to focused and the earlier charge against Henrietta. None of the books I have read in the series so far has disappointed me. If your experience matches mine, starting with book one will not be a slog.

[Nancy Narma]

Chefs, Culinary Creations and Crime in Key West”

Red-sneakered Food Critic, Hayley Snow has done what she has dreaded since she was hired—write a bad review on a local restaurant. She had given the place three tries with mediocre to poor meals each time. She had to be honest, for “Key Zest Online Magazine’s” sake as well as her own integrity. This added more stress to her already “full plate”. She goes to scope out the “Key West Food and Wine Festival” for a future article but has the upcoming date with the off-times sarcastic, “I’m-to-sexy-for–my-badge” Detective Nate Bransford in the back of her mind, as well as her duties as “Maid of Honor”
in her best friend, Connie’s wedding.
When her boss, Wally, hoping for some good publicity for the magazine as well as some “Inside Skinny”, assigns Hayley to be a judge for the reality cooking show “Topped Chef”, being filmed in Key West, she agrees, figuring it will be fun as well as help her career. Little does she know that one of the judges is the owner of the sub-standard restaurant she just reviewed! You’ll enjoy the zany and sometimes pompous chefs vying for this thrust into culinary stardom as well as the varying personalities of the judges. Everything seems to be going along fairly smoothly until, in a bizarre twist of fate, one of the judges is murdered, followed by several strange coincidences. Would one of the chefs want the honor of “Topped Chef” that badly, that they would kill for it? Or is another judge at fault?
Or are the remaining judges in danger also? Will Hayley and Nate finally “find each other”? Will Connie and Ray have a “Pirate-themed” wedding? I enjoyed this book immensely. I want to hug the “sequined/bejeweled” Miss Gloria and have a reading with sweet, kind Lorenzo, but most of all, I want to re-visit the houseboat on Tarpon Pier soon again and see what’s cooking with Hayley. (and Evinrude the cat too!) The Author has included a section of recipes (I’m definitely making the yummy-sounding granola!) and a snippet of the next Hayley Snow Adventure, due out in 2014. I can’t wait! Be sure to make room on your bookshelf for this enjoyable cozy you won’t want to miss!
Nancy Narma

[LORI CASWELL]

Hayley’s boss has volunteered her to be a judge for the Key West Topped Chef contest hoping to score some extra publicity for his magazine. Hayley is both nervous and excited until she realizes one of the other judges is Sam Rizzoli. She just slammed his restaurant in her very first negative review.

When Rizzoli ends up dead speculation is one of his business rivals is responsible but Hayley has a feeling maybe someone is taking the chef contest a little too seriously. Hayley sees the police are not following the right leads so she decides it is up to her to serve up the actual killer.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
Lucy Burdette has me in love with Key West. Life on a boat in nice sunny Florida eating her way through all the delightful cuisine the area has to offer. Hayley better watch out I want to steal her job!

Burdette is such a strong writer and creates really lively characters and puts them in spectacular situations. The plots are tight and the twists are plenty.

The murder takes us from the docks to the inner workings of a reality tv show and even into the world of drag queens. I absolutely loved it. The new characters turned the story on its ear while they recurring characters continue to steal out hearts. Hayley’s mom even appears in Key West via Skype and Gloria becomes Hayley’s sidekick in the investigation..

A new character to this story is someone returning to Key West. She has disrupted Hayley’s life with her return and I am very interested to see how she effects it in future installments. Maybe a new direction is just what Hayley needs.

Add this one to your Summer Reading Lists! An impressive read that will tickle all of your senses. There are recipes included too!! so you can actually tickle your taste buds!!

[Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo]

Hayley Snow is loving her life. She's gotten no bad card readings from her Tarot Reader...yet. She's still the Food Critic at Key Zest Magazine. Her best friend's wedding is in a few months, and she has a big date with Detective Nate. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, she's been asked by her boss to be one of the judges for the reality show, Topped Chef, and one of her fellow judges is Sam Rizzoli, the owner of the restaurant that Hayley's just penned bad food review. Sam is a big time Key West businessman and politician that does not take kindly to anything negative he does or owns. He clearly isn't happy when she walks on set, after he couldn't get her fired.

And then the next day, Rizzoli is found dead, hanging from his yacht's masthead. Sure, many Conch's would have liked to see him dead, but there are a few strange things happening on the set on a daily basis.

"Four little judges, judging for TV. One swinging from the mast, and then there were three. Three little judges, tasting wine and roux. One couldn’t swim, and then there were two..."

Who on Earth wants to sabotage the show? Or is the killer one of the contestants and would he/she resort to murder to become the next Topped Chef?

Another strong outing in Lucy Burdette's Key West Food Critic Series. The novel hooks your interest from the beginning and the characters ring true. We get to see Ms. Gloria helping Hayley. Officer Torrence has a bigger role, as does Tony and Turtle. And I was not expecting whom turned out to be the killer. Again I was fooled.

[Judy]

Hayley Snow is back stronger than ever in this her third outing. She's more settled, a bit more confident of herself and her judgment about food, and a bit more likely to offer her food opinion when she's asked to be a judge on a reality TV project. When one of the judges is killed, Hayley can't help herself from investigating; when a second judge nearly drowns, it's Hayley who jumps into the murky water to help--and nearly drowns. All along she feels there's something wrong about the contest show but has nothing to prove it, just suspicions and odd hints.
Hayley's romance seems to be going awry, so she takes refuge in cooking. She's as inventive as ever, adapting even recipes from the contestants, like lime cupcakes. Find these and more--like her Mom's luscious chocolate cake or Hayley's favorite granola--at the back of the book.
Hayley's pal, Eric, so prominent in earlier books, takes a back seat here, but her homeless pals and Lorenzo, the card reader, are part of the action, showing that Hayley lives on all levels of life on this fascinating island.
Lucy Burdette, as usual, does a great job of pulling the reader into Key West and its unique atmosphere, its festivals and food. All the restaurants mentioned are real--except the one that Hayley feels forced to pan.
Suspense is high, and you won't finger the villain until the very end when Hayley is in grave danger. The book ends with reconciliation of sorts on several levels and a hint that more of Hayley's adventures are to come. In fact, watch for Murder with Ganache in October.

[Mary]

I grabbed this mystery to take to read at the beach. It's part of the Key West Food Critic mystery series. I like Key West and there's a cat on the cover. How can it go wrong? It was very entertaining and a great vacation read. Hayley Snow is a food critic for Key Zest magazine, and she lives on a houseboat with an elderly roommate and their cats. When she is suddenly tabbed to be a judge on a reality cooking series based in Key West, she is less than enthusiastic, especially when she discovers that she has just given a bad review to the restaurant owned by one of her fellow judges. Things get interesting when that judge is murdered and an apparent attempt is made on another judge's life. That, plus the fact that Hayley suspects the show's results might be fixed, leads her to investigate the backstage goings-on. The backdrop of Key West is colorfully portrayed, and the supporting characters are interesting. It never ceases to amaze me that amateur detectives feel free to waltz around questioning suspects and amassing clues. It makes some sense in Hayley's case that she is a journalist and is used to interviewing people. The almost-boyfriend detective is rather cliché, but there is a twist to that plotline that makes it more interesting. Also, there are a couple of other characters that might be boyfriend material.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod]

Food Critic, Hayley Snow has her plate full these days. Hayley is Maid of Honor for her best friend, Connie's wedding, takes care of her house-mate, Gloria, and busy learning the art of writing food reviews of local Key West, Florida restaurants. Added to her plate to make it overflow, Wally, her boss gives her the honor (in his mind,) of being a Judge of the annual Key West Topped Chef reality contest to discover the new Chef of his own television series. Finally, Hayley also has her own love life which appears to be on life-support as well.

When Hayley gets stood-up, for the fourth time, she bikes to the Harbor to give her 'date' his meal, and well, see what is up. The body is Sam Rizzoli, another show judge, and worse yet...Hayley had just panned his restaurant in her latest review! Was he murdered because of his shady business dealings, or his personal life, or because of the Chef-contest? Hayley is thrown into the crime and finds herself embroiled in theories, mysteries, and more food than I could also stand to hear of.

This was an action packed novel. Third in the series. Well written and interesting characters. A find summer reading.

[Rosemary K]

Lucy Burdette has written a fast-paced mystery that has it all. Haley Snow, a food critic for Key Zest magazine, has a knack for getting involved in murder and mayhem. When she is assigned to judge a reality TV cooking competition, murder is on the menu. Sam Rizzoli, another judge, is killed. With Key West as the background, Haley investigates and interrogates as she tries to find the killer and learn why the chef competition is involved. To further complicate her life, Haley has hit a rough patch in her fledgling romance with Detective Nathan Bransford. Good thing she has her friends to provide support and comfort. The author does a great job in keeping you in the dark as to the killer's identity. If you love a good mystery, read Topped Chef. It won't disappoint.

[S.W. Hubbard]

Another winning entry in the Key West Food Critic series! Key Zest food critic Haley Snow is tapped to judge the contest/auditions for a reality TV cooking show. She's anticipating a fun outing that will boost her career, but she gets more than she bargains for when one of her fellow judges is murdered in a very bizarre way. This is such a fun read because the clues to the mystery are woven into great descriptions of food, cooking shows, reality TV and even the drag bar scene in Key West. The supporting cast of larger-than-life Key West characters are all here, adding more depth and fun to the story. In the end, Haley ingeniously escapes the villain and restores order to her little corner of Paradise. A great summer read!