Murder With Ganache: A Key West Food Critic Mystery

PRAISE FOR

THE KEY WEST FOOD CRITIC MYSTERY SERIES

Topped Chef

“Burdette fills
Topped Chef
with a fine plot, a delightful heroine, a wealth of food—and all the charm and craziness of Key West. You’ll wish you could read it while sipping a mojito on the porch of a conch cottage in mainland America’s southernmost community.”

—
Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Topped Chef
is three courses of cozy—romance, humor, and mystery—that will leave you satisfied yet looking forward to another serving.”

—
The Florida Book Review

“What’s most fun with this loony crew is Ms. Burdette’s pitch-perfect parody of food talk, as made familiar on
Chopped
and other popular food programs, where judges and competitors try to top each in their descriptions of preparations, styles, successes, and failures. Sweet and savory,
Topped Chef
captures Key West’s sensory enchantment, and Ms. Burdette’s bubbly protagonist is once again the main ingredient in a surefire recipe.”

—
Florida Weekly

“The descriptions of the coastal cuisine, snappish and temperamental cheftestants, and drag queens all combine to make this a very well-written and tasty mystery, sure to please fans of food, reality shows, and mysteries.”

—Kings River Life Magazine

Death in Four Courses

“[A] yummy sequel to
An Appetite for Murder
. . . . Anyone who’s ever overpaid for a pretentious restaurant meal will relish this witty cozy.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Breezy as a warm Florida Keys day,
Death in Four Courses
is a fast-paced mystery that easily combines food and writing with an intricate plot to create an engaging mystery. Lucy Burdette is skilled at creating interesting characters who are very real and familiar. . . . Lots of food talk, a tropical setting, and a hunky detective provide the perfect backdrop for the second Hayley Snow mystery.”

—The Mystery Reader

“This book was a quick, fun read that held my attention from the beginning. . . . I will eagerly await other releases in the Key West Food Critic series!”

—Fresh Fiction

An Appetite for Murder

“What fun! Lucy Burdette writes evocatively about Key West and food—a winning combination. I can’t wait for the next entry in this charming series.”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Diane Mott Davidson

“When her ex-boyfriend’s new lover, the co-owner of
Key Zest
magazine, is found dead, Hayley Snow, wannabe food critic, is the first in line on the list of suspects. Food, fun, and felonies. What more could a reader ask for?”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Lorna Barrett

“For a true taste of paradise, don’t miss
An Appetite for Murder
. Lucy Burdette’s first Key West Food Critic mystery combines a lush, tropical setting, a mysterious murder, and plenty of quirky characters. The victim may not be coming back for seconds, but readers certainly will!”

—Julie Hyzy, national bestselling author of the White House Chef mysteries and the Manor House mysteries

“Burdette laces
An Appetite for Murder
with a clever plot, a determined if occasionally ditzy heroine, and a wealth of local color about Key West and its inhabitants. You’ll eat it up.”

—
Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Florida has long been one of the best backdrops for crime novels—from John MacDonald to Carl Hiaasen—and Burdette’s sense of place and her ability to empathize with a wide strata of Key West locals and visitors bode well for this new series.”

—
Connecticut Post

“An excellent sense of place and the occasional humorous outburst aren’t the only things
An Appetite for Murder
has going for it, though: There is a solid mystery within its pages. . . . Not only does Burdette capture the physical and pastoral essence of Key West—she celebrates the food. . . . Although you might want to skip the key lime pie, don’t skip
An Appetite for Murder
. Let’s hope it is just an appetizer and there will be a feast of Food Critic mysteries to follow.”

—The Florida Book Review

“Burdette cleverly combines the insuperable Key West location with the always irresistible hook, food. . . . Hayley is a vibrant young character to watch, and she writes scrumptious food reviews as well.”

—
Mystery Scene

“Hayley herself is delightful. Exuberant and naive, rocking back and forth between bravado and insecurity, excitable and given to motormouth nervousness, she’s a quick study who has a lot to learn. I’m sure that many readers will be happy to make her acquaintance and follow her through future adventures.”

—Florida Weekly

Other Key West Food Critic Mysteries by Lucy Burdette

Book 1: An Appetite for Murder

Book 2: Death in Four Courses

Book 3: Topped Chef

MURDER WITH GANACHE

A Key West Food Critic Mystery

Lucy Burdette

OBSIDIAN

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014

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A Penguin Random House Company

First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

Copyright © Roberta Isleib, 2014

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

OBSIDIAN and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

ISBN 978-1-101-63603-9

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

    The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

For Steve Torrence and Jai Somers,
who carry their light to dark places

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I love writing the Key West Food Critic Mysteries, and I’m extremely grateful for the many folks who help me along the way. My friends in the writing community, especially the women at Jungle Red Writers and Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, make the hard parts fun. Special thanks go to Leslie Karst for the title; Yvonne Sparling for brainstorming plot and character details; Ang Pompano and Chris Falcone, who read every word (often more than once); Jeff Chanton and John Brady for the trip around the island; Donna Vanderveen for introducing me to the Hemingway cats; Susan Hubbard and Hallie Ephron for reading drafts and talking things over; Leslie Budewitz for legal expertise; Mary Pat Maloney for the flyswatter; Pat Kerens for the chocolate ganache bars; Jennifer Cornell for tips on catering and the wedding menu; Dr. Molly Brady and Micah Mazzacane for medical details; Killer Character readers for foodie quotes; and Mo Walsh for Purple Moan. (Is that a brilliant name or what?) Thank you to Linda Remer for her donation to the SPCA for the use of Schnootie’s name and character. More of Schnootie to come in the next book. . . .

As I wrote
Murder with Ganache,
Steve Torrence shared his advice on police procedure and introduced me to the fabulous Key West Citizen’s Police Academy—but he should not be blamed for the quirks of his character or any mistakes, which are entirely mine. Thank you to Detective Janeth Calvert for patiently answering questions, and ditto to Officer Dennis Ryan, who took me on a night shift ride-along. (Steve, you needn’t tell them I insisted on being home by eleven.) Thank you also to Jai Somers, with great admiration for her work with homeless teens.

Thank you to Lucy’s Street Team for their enthusiasm and dedication. Special thanks to Peter and Sally Shapiro, for the same. John Brady and Susan Cerulean are not only family, but the best supporters a writer could wish for.

Paige Wheeler at Folio Literary plucked me from the slush pile thirteen years ago and has been my champion ever since. Thank you, Paige! And thank you to Sandy Harding, fabulous editor, who takes utterly seriously her mission to make every book better than the draft I submitted. And thanks to the rest of the team at Penguin/New American Library, who bring the book to life and send it out into the world. (That’s you, Kayleigh Clark!) Artists Griesback and Martucci—I am crazy about these covers.

Readers, librarians, and booksellers: If I could, I’d thank you each by name. Without you, the rest wouldn’t matter.