Key Lime Pie

A Culinary Mystery #4

by Josi S. Kilpack

When Sadie Hoffmiller's new friend, Eric Burton, receives word that his missing daughter's body may have been found in Florida, he immediately packs his bags. Sadie is determined to stay home and prove to everyone that she is not a busybody. But when she senses Eric is hiding something, Sadie is compelled to take action. Before she knows it, she's in the heart of Miami, trying to piece together a trail that might just give Eric the answers he's so desperately searching for. In the process, Sadie finds herself in the company of some colorful characters and some good ol' southern cooking. But despite the drama and intrigue, all Sadie really wants is to go home ... as soon as she does just one more thing. Includes eight new mouthwatering recipes, tested and approved by the official bakers of Sadie's Test Kitchen

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Lds Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Adult Fiction, Adult, Mystery Thriller

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2010

About the author

I wrote my first book while on bed rest with my third child in 1998 and haven't stopped. My most recent books have been Historical Romance through the Proper Romance line with Shadow Mountain Publishing.

I currently live in Willard, Utah with my husband, and children.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot dog! The Sadie Hofmiller we grew to love in Lemon Tart is back, after a descent into obnoxious rudeness in English Trifle and a complete departure from common sense in Devil's Food Cake. Sadie is still an impulsive busybody, but Kilpack takes the time to allow her protagonist to explain herself to herself--she knows she could be perceived as taking terrible chances and meddling where she has no business--but that allows the reader a glimpse of Sadie's inner life that explains her to the reader, not just to herself, and that makes a huge difference. The phrase "inner life" is not one you're going to see in many reviews of this type of formulaic fiction, and there's not too much of it, but it makes the difference between careening inexplicably from one foolish choice to another (as in Devil's Food Cake) and enjoying the ride with Sadie while looking on with fondness instead of irritation.

This time Sadie needs to choose between Eric--with whom she feels a definite chemistry--and her steady police detective, Pete. In the process she gets caught up in Eric's search for his missing daughter. Kilpack takes the time not only to explore Sadie's motivations, but also to create some really interesting characters: the inscrutable Layla, the dependable and unusually loyal Monty, the devoted Tia (whose nature is unresolved--is she a good person involved in criminal behavior or does she think she'd doing the right thing?), and the reluctant criminal, Joe. She alse develops Eric's character further, so that Sadie gains insights that help her decide about her relationships with Eric and Pete.

Meanwhile, it's a fun ride as Sadie can't help but try to tie up an entire mystery into a package complete for presentation to the police, even though they insist that she give them what she has and let them take care of things. Not Sadie--she wants closure, and could get killed in the process. That package-with-a-bow approach may have worked for Nancy Drew, but Sadie, honey, we aren't 18 anymore and you're playing in a bigger, potentially more deadly league! Key Lime Pie is fun and worth reading--and the recipes look great! (More slow cooker recipes, please?) Thanks, Josi Kilpack, for bringing back the original Sadie. I look forward to Blackberry (or is it Blueberry?) Crumble, the next in the series.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie goes to Florida to help her friend Eric. Eric has no clue she is on her way to help him. When she gets there she finds herself in a situation she never wanted to be in.

[Heather Moulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been my favorite in the series so far. I liked that Sadie wasn’t actively trying to solve this case and wanted to do the right thing. I think it was getting annoying in the others that she was being so involved.

[Mattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was spectacular. I love Josi's writing style, and the way that she makes the characters so easy to fall in love with (or hate). Her Culinary Mystery series is a delicious read! ;)

[Madalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

#reread!

Love reading this one again because I forgot most of it. It’s an atypical mystery and there’s a lot of great character development. Love going on adventures with Sadie.

[Claire Maloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

#3. Key Lime Pie by Josi S. Kilpack was a breathtaking story. Sadie’s friend Eric discovers his missing daughter’s body may have been found in Florida, so Sadie follows him there. After finding out it was someone else's body, Eric a meeting with mystery guy and Sadie meets a cab driver named Monty to follow Eric to his meeting. The mystery guy, Joe’s, car gets set off by Sadie and he kiddnapped her so Eric would give him money, but doesn’t hurt her. Later Monty hits him on the head in a park and Sadie leaves with Monty so she can get to a hospital where Megan could be since she’s pregnant. When eric gets in a fight, Sadie runs and calls Monty so she can leave, but Monty picks her up and travels out of town to a place Sadie doesn’t know. Later Magan enters the car and they are both taken hostage. One part of this book that made it hard to put down, is when Sadie met Megan in the hospital. She asked her about her home life now and then, it was intense. Some slow parts in this book was in the beginning when Sadie and Pete went to dinner. I mean, the beginning in all books are usually slow, but I feel it was unnecessary. It was unnecessary because it didn’t really follow the story. Also, when Eric was selling his trailer, none of that mattered in the end. That was only for a small part of the story, and he never even sold it! Although, I did like the twist on Monty’s part. He had a whole other voice when he changed in the end. He didn’t have an accent, or bad grammar, he was normal, kind of. When Sadie goes home though, Pete met her in the airport. I was so happy I could cry. After they broke up in the beginning, I was devastated they split up. But when he met her in the airport, I only knew good things could come from that. They made the best couple, I think. Josi always has a life lesson that could help in the outside world. The one for this book could be, not to trust people you don’t know very well. Sadie thought Monty was just a good ol’ cab driver, but he ended up being a bad man. She thought she could trust him because he was “acting” nice. So, never trust anyone unless you feel you know then extremely well.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10
Based on warnings from my mom and sister, I had low expectations for this book. They told me if I didn't like Devil's Food Cake (which I didn't) then I definitely would not like this one. I guess you can see how much I trust their recommendations! No, the truth is, for me these are just fun books to read. Sadie and her relationships with food, Pete, and crime just crack me up. I like seeing the story unfold, and even if I hate the ending (which seems to be the norm with this series), being in the middle of the book is so fun that I've decided it's worth the poor endings.

So did I hate the ending? Not as much as I thought I would. But that's probably because I was warned that the plot had some similarities to Devil's Food Cake, which I took to mean that the plot would look like it was winding down and resolving itself only to have a major plot twist which reveals the real murderer (the least of the suspects, of course). So I immediately pegged Monty as the bad guy because he was the one I liked best, and so when he turned menacing and wicked, I was still disappointed, but not surprised. And that helped.

The ending was still frustrating though because I was able to figure out the murderer not because I pieced together the clues but because I know the author likes big, surprise endings. I read on her blog that she usually starts writing at the beginning, not knowing what the ending will be. So I have to wonder: Did she plan all along that Monty would be the murderer? Because to me, it seemed like she probably cast him as a good character, but then as she neared the end thought, "Now who would be the biggest shock? Monty!" and so she had him fill in all the details of his evil plot once it looked like Sadie's fate was sealed.

The mystery itself was one of my favorites because it had less to do with actual murder and more with Megan's disappearance. Also, I'm planning on trying out at least half the recipes.

I've decided that these books fit just the right niche if I read them at the right time.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, since all my friends on Goodreads liked this one really well, they must have "caught on" to things that just didn't make sense to me. (Maybe my book was missing the last chapter.) This book was great until the end...when it didn't. I guess it was important to find out how Sadie's love life was going to turn out, and get that last recipe in, but I wanted to know what was going to happen to several of the main characters that were just left "hanging" at the end! I had some real unanswered questions that I can't believe are going to be entertained in future books, since they are pertinent to this particular mystery. If I say any more I will give things away, but I want to know what is going to happen to all those people we were introduced to in Florida that have now just dropped off the face of the earth!

[Annell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do enjoy reading these Culinary Mysteries by Josi S. Kilpack. They are easy to read and clean. Sadie is such a busy body, and gets herself wrapped up into things she shouldn't. However, she is a fantastic cook and I adore the recipes that are included in the books. I CANNOT WAIT to try the Cajun Coleslaw from this one! I'm also excited to read the next book, Blackberry Crumble. Sounds Yummy!!

read more of my review here:
http://dragonflowersandbooks.blogspot...

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

was not a fan. it felt like a cheaply done rip off of Joanne Fluke......even the same title as one of Joannes, minus the word "murder" at the end. The love interest is between two very different guys..... one is even a cop, just like mike. And the main character Sadie..... similar age range, build, and status........but sooo annoying. She can't pull off the unsuspecting murder magnet the way Hannah can. Sigh.If I am going to read the basic same story, I will definitely be sticking with Joanne, as she writes better.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I love this series, I didn't like this one as well. Maybe it was because Sadie breaks up with Pete to see if she really has true feelings for her new friend, Eric. I thought this was a huge mistake, which she did, too, though. It kind of spoiled it a bit for me since I really like the dynamic between Pete and Sadie. The mystery part was interesting and filled with the twists and turns you want in a soft mystery.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok. Finally Sadie is the normal person we met in Lemon Tart. She finally is in the investigation because she wanted to help a friend, not just solve every problem and murder!

Thankfully the main focus if this one wasn't murder. It was an excellent change of pace. There was murder in it, but that wasn't the main focus.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age: 10+
Swearing: None.
Sexual Content: None.
Rating: PG

"None of us can choose our past, but we do have the future ahead of us every day."

I love how EVERY character is so tightly intertwined into the story.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried to read this slowly (so I could savor another Sadie Hoffmiller adventure), but before I knew it, I had devoured the entire thing. I can't wait for the next one!

[Ronni Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was definitely better than the lemon tart book. I still can't stand the main character.

[Lyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not understand the attraction to Eric unless they were going for an (extreme) opposites attract angle. I'm a commitment kind of girl, so I was rubbed the wrong way with Sadie's actions or lack of actions in the opening scenes.

I didn't understand how Gail could be her best friend and yet Sadie couldn't be honest with her and tell her it was too soon. Or how Gail wouldn't know that. Small bit, but it bugged me. I don't have time for that nonsense now and I'm significantly younger. Actually I never have. I prefer a straight shooter.

Anyway. The subject matter is bleak - Missing persons (specifically a 22 year old girl on spring break), which made me nervous. Eric bothers me from beginning to end. From inappropriately asking Sadie to get personally involved in something while refusing to answer basic questions about it, to all of the information that eventually comes out about him and his history. Low respect. Really, really low.

*SPOILERS HERE*
I was shocked at Sadie's loose lips, ADD when it came to the police and relaying important info, and complete trust of yet another stranger. Monty was nice, sure, but didn't act normal and my guard would have been WAY up- for example, if I saw someone appear to be abducted, I would call the police and report it, not follow them and sneak up on the abductor with a billy club. And I couldn't believe she texted him to come in for help/rescue when there were guns involved! She should have texted him to call 911!

The story feels really slow moving. We don't get motives (and therefore suspects) until the end. Sadie is getting herself in the middle of her most dangerous situations yet without a care in the world and it gave me so much anxiety. However, there was so little explanation or back story until the end that I was invested; I wanted to know what happened to Layla and what happened to Megan and that was enough to keep me going.

By the end, I was glad Sadie came to her senses and learned to appreciate quality in her personal relationships and I was finally impressed with how she handled herself in her very last pickle.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After her new friend, Eric, is summoned to Florida, Sadie just has to follow him to Miami and find out where his kidnapped daughter is. She shows up at his ex-wife's home with a box of his daughter's things. The police have found a body that resembles Eric's daughter Megan, and want both Layla (his former wife) and Sadie for questioning. The two girls come home to a trashed house, and the melted box of Megan's possessions. Someone obviously doesn't like them, but no one seems a likely suspect. Sadie has to find out who to trust and who to stalk, and finds out a lot about Eric and Megan. All without being too annoying to the real detectives.

With a mystery book there would normally be only a few different options for a theme. However, due to some later revelation in the book, a good one might be: you can't always trust your evidence. Or something explaining the difference between evidence (what makes you think it was so) and proof (what can't be denied, you know it was so). There is sort of a twist ending, in the middle; which makes it a plot twist that changed your prediction of the ending.

Although it wasn't the best book I ever read, this book was very good. Unlike a lot of series, all of the books aren't the exact same plot with different characters. Instead, there is a different outcome and something completely unrelated to the other books happens. Because I thought it would be similar to the other books, I wasn't expecting the ending. I like that I was surprised. The beginning wasn't even the same, something different happened and for once Sadie didn't discover a hidden body on vacation. The ending was very good in the sense that it was unique and unexpected for most of the book.

[Beth Peninger · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the adventure of the past couple of months, Sadie Hoffmiller is happy to be planting flowers and plants as part of her community service for said adventures and keeping her nose clean, so to speak. But when her new friend, Eric, receives word about his missing daughter and leaves the mountains of Colorado for the beaches of Florida Sadie follows him to "help." Learning more about Eric, and finding herself kidnapped by a rather pleasant criminal, Sadie is confronted with not just her proclivity to get involved in matters unrelated to her but her conflicting feelings toward Eric and her detective boyfriend she just broke up with. She wonders, at 56 years old does one have a boyfriend and if so, is Eric the man for her or did she make a big mistake letting her detective go? Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Eric's daughter's disappearance 3 years ago and her potential reappearance now puts Sadie, and Eric, in more danger than either ever considered. Is Megan alive? And if so, where has she been for the past three years?

There were a couple of problems I had with this title. One was the mystery with Eric's daughter, Megan. The resolution to her disappearance and then reappearance honestly makes no sense. It was a reach from Kilpack that I couldn't swallow and left me annoyed at the time spent reading about this improbable scenario. The other problem I had with this book was Sadie herself. She was annoying in this title. Very. Her schoolgirl-like crush on Eric was beneath a 56-year-old and I don't believe a 56-year-old, in real life, would have behaved the way she did and that annoyed me. There were just too many reaches in this book that didn't, in my opinion, manage to grab hold.

[Clara Madelena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este mistério aconteceu no Miami! Gostei, aqui são meus critiques.

1. Sinto como a autor aproveitou de nossas desejos para uma pessoa, especialmente uma pessoa negra, ser retratado, com o plot twist. Porque não tem representação de pessoas negras em este serie, queriamos este ser um personagem positiva e eramos tão tristes e sorprendido quando não foi de verdade. Acho que eu estaria menos molestada se tem outras pessoas negras no serie e não parecia como uma declaração sobre eles. Quando o único pessoa negra no serie é um villanico que representada esterotipos, é triste. Sei que, talvez Shawn é negro. A gente não sabe com certeza. Mas, em fim, não pensando em raça, o princípio com o traição de Monty foi um plot twist. E eu gosto de isso. :)
2. Tive uma escanaria onde diz “The words for tomorrow, problema and iron sound similar.” “Tomorrow” é “mañana” “problem” é “problema” e “iron” e “plancha” ou “hierro,” não sei o contexto. Não me parece similar!
3. Eu não entendi o fim completamente. E no gosto disso! É...Megan casou com Alex e onde fica Hugo ou Monty? Ainda tô uma pouca confundida, que talvez é um produto de speed reading as vezes. Prazer culpado, sim. 😉

Oh e também! Eric parecia tão diferente neste livro. No “Devil’s Food Cake,” ele foi tão legal, mas isto é um lado novo dele. :(

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another series that I put on hold because the books were only available in mass market paperback, which these old eyes can’t deal with anymore. When I found this book on Audible, I took it as a sign that I was meant to continue the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped.

Most of the disappointment was due to Sadie, the main character. In this book, she’s 56 years old, but acts more like a teenager. She doesn’t need to act like an old lady, not by a long shot, but a lot of her behavior – and her internal dialogue – was incredibly annoying. The entire situation on which this book is based could have been avoided if she had only behaved responsibly, but then where would the story be?

The mystery at the beginning of the book wasn’t a murder, and a good portion of the book was devoted to figuring out if there was indeed a murder – and if not, what happened and who was behind it? There were a few red herrings, but as the story continued, I was pretty sure I knew who the mastermind was. I wasn’t completely correct, but close enough.

If I can find the next book on audio without paying a small fortune for it, I’ll listen to it before deciding whether to continue the series or drop it.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie just can’t catch a break, can she? Or she’s just so nosy that she wouldn’t want one anyway.

With all the mystery and cross-country travel involved in this story, my next comment will seem odd: Can I just say how glad I am that Pete FINALLY stopped acting like a dork? I mean, I know he and Sadie end up together in the end (looked through all the series synopses), but he hadn’t been very impressive so far. But I think he turned a corner in this one. Bravo, good sir!

Yeah, my priorities....

Anyway, the mystery was good, if a teeny-bit farfetched. The draw of these books is Sadie’s antics, though. These sweet, neighborly woman caught up in serious crises with all kinds of dangerous characters - it’s a fun premise. Definitely great for a light, fun read. Nothing wrong with that at all.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining drama as Sadie goes to Florida to help Eric find his missing daughter. She gets into so many "hot" spots but manages to get herself out and safely going to solve the next problem. But when I read the part where Monty throws Sadie's phone out the car window and Sadie realizes he is who is behind all the murders, she is in a jam. Then they stop and get Megan. The ending was great - Megan choking Monty with her coat, Sadie trying to get loose before she drowns, and then someone is there to help her and she goes to the hospital. Eric found his missing daughter, Megan (who is pregnant having twins), and Sadie goes home to Colorado where Pete meets her at the airport and fireworks go off as Sadie kisses him and all's well that ends well.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this might be my favorite book yet, in this "guilty pleasure" mystery series. Yes, there were eye rolling moments and things that were a stretch to believe, but I can't help loving and relating to the heroine Sadie Hoffmiller...a bit more than I care to admit. The action and suspense in this book, were quite intense and I found myself sneaking back for just one more chapter, then one more chapter, when I should have been folding laundry or doing dishes :) The recipes in this book didn't speak to me like the ones in the last book, but maybe I just wasn't as hungry. Now on to some more serious books, but I'll be back when I need some escapist reading.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot twists in this book were insane! I was excited for every chapter. I was worried that there wouldn’t be a book that captured me as much as Lemon Tart, I am glad that I kept giving the series a chance because I really enjoyed this book.

My only issue is how Josi referred to people with brain injuries as slow several times throughout the book. I understand that when this was published people weren’t as knowledgeable of the correct terms but as someone who works with individuals with brain injuries this kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

[Alicia Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was fantastic!

Sadie is dealing with the fallout from her last escapades from the previous book and starts to question this between her and Peter ( her cute cop boyfriend) and trying to figure out if she has feelings for Erik (the cute guy who helped her on her library murder case)

Erik’s daughter has been missing for three years and gets a call that she’s possibly been found. He heads out to Florida right away.

Sadie ends up in Florida and once again in the middle of an investigation and things aren’t looking great!

Such a great read!

[Amanda King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was good, and I can't wait to try the recipes for my husband!

I am amazed that I guessed the bad guy! And Sadie is still hard to take sometimes, but she has a good heart and I'll probably become something like her when I'm in my late 50s, haha, though definitely less impulsive. But that means I won't have as many adventures either, so I can't fault the way her character is.

[Shayne Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series by Josi Kilpack and looking forward to reading more. I have read them out of order though, so I have some catching up to do! This is book #4 and it will be helpful to start from the beginning. There are 12 books in the series in case you are wondering. While the books can stand on their own, you have more understanding of the characters if you start from the beginning. But I must admit this - Sadie definitely has a pension for trouble...

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for the 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge. I used the March mini challenge prompt read a book with pi or pie. The main character annoyed me. The storyline was ok though. I just got frustrated with the way the main character always seemed to make the exact wrong choice. Some of her problems were definatly self created. This would have been a much better story with a main character who was a little less blonde.

[M Summ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite in the series so far. I was annoyed enough by Sadie that I went into this book thinking it would be the last I would read of the series. Well, hooray for her becoming less annoying and the story twists keeping me going. Having Sadie learn some things like recognizing she is a busy body, and analyzing her feelings for both Eric and Pete, was good to watch. I do love her self pep talks too.

[Alchemistix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very pleasant read.

I liked how she doesn’t end up with the second male lead, who was a more emotional choice. By the end, she realizes that stability and maturity are far more important, and that the 2nd ML was not all he was presented to be. Pete is awesome.

I wish there was less talk about food. There was some very slow parts of the book. But then it would pick up again.

I would read another book from the series if I ever wanted just a relaxing read.