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A Delicious Deception
Not yet published
Expected 14 Jul 26320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 14, 2026
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32 people want to read
About the author
Lucy Burdette
24 books834 followersLucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries. Her first thriller, UNSAFE HAVEN, is out from Severn House this month. As Roberta Isleib, she has also written the golf lovers mystery series and the advice column mysteries. Her books and stories have been nominated for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She is the president of the Friends of the Key West Library.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Hayley is entering the last stretch of her pregnancy and is asked by the police to help with a custody arrangement when the father in the case is found dead.
Let me preface this by saying this is the 16th book in the series and I haven't read any of the others. Still, there were a few key things I look for in cosies that were nowhere to be found here.
First, there are no descriptions of Key West whatsoever. I personally love cosy mysteries because it's a built-in excuse to do some literary tourism - you are given a chance to visit towns which are often charming, even quaint, and have a real sense of the community feel of a place. This had none of that, I still have no idea what's in Key West, which is a shame - I usually finish cosy mysteries wanting to immediately plan a new trip. Key West looks completely gorgeous too, I'm so sad I didn't read anything about it.
I also love it when cosy mysteries have tons of descriptions of whatever niche hobby they are about. Hayley is heavily pregnant so she's not working as a food critic in this book, which probably explains why there are all of two paragraphs dedicated to some of her thoughts about two restaurants. There is very little food in this, I was expecting lots of descriptions of restaurants, the food industry, even cooking. There are a couple of scenes about that and even a few recipes at the end but it wasn't nearly enough. The heroine being pregnant so off work in this is probably why this isn't a good book to start the series with - I'm sure food is more of a topic in other books.
The mystery itself was adequately explained but the subject matter - drugs, child kidnapping, custody battles - was too heavy for me with nothing to counterbalance it. How anyone could think that a pregnant woman is a perfectly logical choice (the police chooses her of all people, poor Hayley just wanted to rest) to investigate these deadly and extremely dangerous situations baffles me. One of the characters also deals with the death of a parent, which I think warrants its own content warning. This is was frankly a bit bleak for a cosy mystery. Even the baby shower that the heroine almost misses didn't make this any more cheerful. The ending is bittersweet, it was so heavy.
The best thing about this book was absolutely the food quotes at the beginning of each chapter, they were excellent and hilarious. Here are a few -
'A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand' - Barbara Johnson
'You can be miserable before you have a cookie, and you can be miserable after you eat a cookie, but you can't be miserable while you are eating a cookie.' - Ina Garten
'It is not a sign of weakness ot feed strangers, it is a sign of strength.'
'Maybe worrying so much about what you eat is worse than actually eating what you're so worried about.'
'When he began to eat pie, he wished he had eaten nothing else' - Laura Ingalls Wilder in Farmer Boy
'The smell of that buttered toast simply spoke to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cozy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries.' - Kenneth Grahame in The Wind in the Willows
'When I am cooking, there is nothing else.'
The three stars reflect my experience with this particular book but again, I haven't read any of the others and it would be unfair to judge the whole series based on this one, it's a very specific book with a specific timeling in the characters' lives and it doesn't seem to me like it's anything like the others. I'd be curious to read the first few books in the series to see if they've got more of a sense of place, more food, and are cosier.
My endless thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!
Let me preface this by saying this is the 16th book in the series and I haven't read any of the others. Still, there were a few key things I look for in cosies that were nowhere to be found here.
First, there are no descriptions of Key West whatsoever. I personally love cosy mysteries because it's a built-in excuse to do some literary tourism - you are given a chance to visit towns which are often charming, even quaint, and have a real sense of the community feel of a place. This had none of that, I still have no idea what's in Key West, which is a shame - I usually finish cosy mysteries wanting to immediately plan a new trip. Key West looks completely gorgeous too, I'm so sad I didn't read anything about it.
I also love it when cosy mysteries have tons of descriptions of whatever niche hobby they are about. Hayley is heavily pregnant so she's not working as a food critic in this book, which probably explains why there are all of two paragraphs dedicated to some of her thoughts about two restaurants. There is very little food in this, I was expecting lots of descriptions of restaurants, the food industry, even cooking. There are a couple of scenes about that and even a few recipes at the end but it wasn't nearly enough. The heroine being pregnant so off work in this is probably why this isn't a good book to start the series with - I'm sure food is more of a topic in other books.
The mystery itself was adequately explained but the subject matter - drugs, child kidnapping, custody battles - was too heavy for me with nothing to counterbalance it. How anyone could think that a pregnant woman is a perfectly logical choice (the police chooses her of all people, poor Hayley just wanted to rest) to investigate these deadly and extremely dangerous situations baffles me. One of the characters also deals with the death of a parent, which I think warrants its own content warning. This is was frankly a bit bleak for a cosy mystery. Even the baby shower that the heroine almost misses didn't make this any more cheerful. The ending is bittersweet, it was so heavy.
The best thing about this book was absolutely the food quotes at the beginning of each chapter, they were excellent and hilarious. Here are a few -
'A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand' - Barbara Johnson
'You can be miserable before you have a cookie, and you can be miserable after you eat a cookie, but you can't be miserable while you are eating a cookie.' - Ina Garten
'It is not a sign of weakness ot feed strangers, it is a sign of strength.'
'Maybe worrying so much about what you eat is worse than actually eating what you're so worried about.'
'When he began to eat pie, he wished he had eaten nothing else' - Laura Ingalls Wilder in Farmer Boy
'The smell of that buttered toast simply spoke to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cozy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries.' - Kenneth Grahame in The Wind in the Willows
'When I am cooking, there is nothing else.'
The three stars reflect my experience with this particular book but again, I haven't read any of the others and it would be unfair to judge the whole series based on this one, it's a very specific book with a specific timeling in the characters' lives and it doesn't seem to me like it's anything like the others. I'd be curious to read the first few books in the series to see if they've got more of a sense of place, more food, and are cosier.
My endless thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!
January 26, 2026
Hayley (FMC) gets involved in a complicated police situation that includes a child kidnapping and a murder. Her pregnancy is VERY advanced, which makes things even harder; she keeps insisting on being the right person to solve the mystery (or mysteries).
I’ll start with the parts that I enjoy:
- I enjoyed a ton of the descriptions of food. I can see that this is the author’s “meat and potatoes” (pun intended!).
- I enjoyed the food quotes.
- I also appreciate the recipes.
Parts that need some work or make no sense for me:
- The police procedure: I don’t need it to be super accurate, but there are general knowledge rules that I feel authors must follow, for example, a civilian taking home a random kid whose parents disappear, we all know that’s a big no no.
- The amount of plots: We are already dealing with a heavily stressed pregnant lady who’s scared of what is coming with her baby (she claims it multiple times) on top of that we have close to 7 other issues that play around during the story, some had no place and add nothing: the home renovations, the “I miss my old neighborhood” complaints, the family member being sick, the love life of the boss, etc.
In conclusion, I’m giving it two stars, but I want to clarify that this is the only book I've read so far in the series. I could be missing some context or character growth. I didn’t give it a higher score because I also didn’t like the ending; the resolution of the mystery was highly anticlimactic.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!
I’ll start with the parts that I enjoy:
- I enjoyed a ton of the descriptions of food. I can see that this is the author’s “meat and potatoes” (pun intended!).
- I enjoyed the food quotes.
- I also appreciate the recipes.
Parts that need some work or make no sense for me:
- The police procedure: I don’t need it to be super accurate, but there are general knowledge rules that I feel authors must follow, for example, a civilian taking home a random kid whose parents disappear, we all know that’s a big no no.
- The amount of plots: We are already dealing with a heavily stressed pregnant lady who’s scared of what is coming with her baby (she claims it multiple times) on top of that we have close to 7 other issues that play around during the story, some had no place and add nothing: the home renovations, the “I miss my old neighborhood” complaints, the family member being sick, the love life of the boss, etc.
In conclusion, I’m giving it two stars, but I want to clarify that this is the only book I've read so far in the series. I could be missing some context or character growth. I didn’t give it a higher score because I also didn’t like the ending; the resolution of the mystery was highly anticlimactic.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
What happened to the Key West Food Critic series?
Hayley is 8+ months pregnant. Her husband leaves and heads to Miami to be with his estranged father during surgery? Hayley agrees to go with a woman she doesn't know during a custody handover? The woman disappears and Hayley brings the little girl to her friend's home, where someone kidnaps her. (And when we learn the kidnapper's identity, that's a bit difficult to believe.) The perpetually hungry Hayley decides to investigate and pesters people who actually talk to her even though she's just a busybody. She's so exhausted from this investigation she was not supposed to be involved in that she forgets her own baby shower and ignores her obstetrician's advice.
A plot that requires this much suspension of disbelief is insulting to the reader. At least recipes are still included. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Hayley is 8+ months pregnant. Her husband leaves and heads to Miami to be with his estranged father during surgery? Hayley agrees to go with a woman she doesn't know during a custody handover? The woman disappears and Hayley brings the little girl to her friend's home, where someone kidnaps her. (And when we learn the kidnapper's identity, that's a bit difficult to believe.) The perpetually hungry Hayley decides to investigate and pesters people who actually talk to her even though she's just a busybody. She's so exhausted from this investigation she was not supposed to be involved in that she forgets her own baby shower and ignores her obstetrician's advice.
A plot that requires this much suspension of disbelief is insulting to the reader. At least recipes are still included. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
No Good Deed . . .
“Very pregnant” Haley agrees to do a simple little favor, accompany a mother to exchange custody of her daughter from her father, simple, safe (right by police department) and a reason to get out of the construction mess at her new home. Then the mayhem begins, with more complications and trouble than anyone could have contemplated and solutions I did NOT expect. Thank goodness for helpful, loyal, and encouraging family and friends who work to keep Haley safe, fed, and. sometimes rested.
As a bonus, I got to read of the warmth of Key West while kept inside by snow and cold . . . and now want shrimp and. mangoes.
“Very pregnant” Haley agrees to do a simple little favor, accompany a mother to exchange custody of her daughter from her father, simple, safe (right by police department) and a reason to get out of the construction mess at her new home. Then the mayhem begins, with more complications and trouble than anyone could have contemplated and solutions I did NOT expect. Thank goodness for helpful, loyal, and encouraging family and friends who work to keep Haley safe, fed, and. sometimes rested.
As a bonus, I got to read of the warmth of Key West while kept inside by snow and cold . . . and now want shrimp and. mangoes.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to Netgalley for this Arc!
Haley is in the late stages of pregnancy and becomes involved in a child kidnapping and murder. She attempts to assist the police with solving the case, claiming that she is the right person for the job.
I did find some issues with the discussions of police procedure. I often found that some things were unrealistic or just truly wouldn’t happen in the real world. I also struggled with how many different things were going on at once which made it very difficult to follow each and every one of them.
I really enjoyed the incorporation of the food quotes at the start of each chapter!
Haley is in the late stages of pregnancy and becomes involved in a child kidnapping and murder. She attempts to assist the police with solving the case, claiming that she is the right person for the job.
I did find some issues with the discussions of police procedure. I often found that some things were unrealistic or just truly wouldn’t happen in the real world. I also struggled with how many different things were going on at once which made it very difficult to follow each and every one of them.
I really enjoyed the incorporation of the food quotes at the start of each chapter!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I enjoy this series, the characters, the food and especially the Key West restaurants and setting. The author has you traveling along from tropical spot to spot. I liked that Sherrif Deputy Darcy took on more of a role, and I look forward to hearing more about Miss Gloria’s new roommate. However, it seems incredulous that the police were this incompetent in their investigation, and it comes down to our heavily pregnant and distracted heroine to unravel the mystery. Nonetheless, looking forward to the next one.
I enjoy this series, the characters, the food and especially the Key West restaurants and setting. The author has you traveling along from tropical spot to spot. I liked that Sherrif Deputy Darcy took on more of a role, and I look forward to hearing more about Miss Gloria’s new roommate. However, it seems incredulous that the police were this incompetent in their investigation, and it comes down to our heavily pregnant and distracted heroine to unravel the mystery. Nonetheless, looking forward to the next one.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews