by Cynthia Chow & Lucy Burdette

This week we have a review of the latest Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette, along with a fun food guest post about cake from Lucy. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

The Mango Murders: A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette
Review by Cynthia Chow

It is the middle of Key West, Florida’s summer mango season, which is why food columnist Hayley Snow Bransford is helping to host her magazine’s cocktail party on a Hemmingway-inspired yacht. The Pilar Too being wooden and not constructed out of the more modern fiberglass material means that it’s also highly flammable, something that comes into play when an explosion has Hayley and the rest of the guests diving into the ocean to escape death. After winning a contest that gave her the opportunity to cater the event, Hayley’s mother is blamed for being the person who brought onboard a propane tank. Hayley’s not about to let her mother’s catering company take the brunt of the blame though, which is why she begins her own investigation into who among the assortment of guests was the target of an intentional attack that left a woman dead.

It’s not as if Hayley has nothing else on her mind, as her houseboat neighbor Miss Gloria is having an 85th birthday and has planned a week of festive events. Miss Gloria and her best friend Annie Dubisson are “birthday twins,” so they will be celebrating together and not even Miss Gloria’s disapproving and controlling children can put a damper on parties. Hayley’s father and stepmother will be in town as well, meaning that Hayley will be enjoying a number of delicious Floridian meals with her extremely blended families. Hayley’s husband Nathan, the deputy chief of police in Key West, disapproves of his wife’s investigation of the boat explosion, but it’s his mother Helen who instigates the questioning of witnesses and neighboring boat owners. It doesn’t take long for them to wonder whether Hayley was the intended victim due to her previous investigations or negative food reviews, or if her boss or even the boat captain were the targets of jealous business rivals or exes.

In this 15th of the series Hayley is a bit all over the place as she attempts to juggle her visiting family, the birthday celebrations of Miss Gloria, and of course the investigation of the boat explosion and possible murder. That Nathan is irritated by her involvement in his cases doesn’t slow her down a bit, and in fact has her grumbling and just as angered by this speed bump in this marriage. His mother nearly getting run over by a moped certainly doesn’t help, and one can’t help but wonder if Nathan isn’t right to worry about his loved ones’ meddling. Hayley does have her reasons for her impulsiveness and determination though, and readers will be cheering for her and Nathan to work things out by the end.

Recipes of not just Janet Snow’s winning mango cake recipe, but traditional and “fancy” tuna noodle casseroles, will have mouths watering and mystery lovers looking forward to their next vicarious visit to the Florida Keys and its tropical setting. This series by the author also known as Roberta Isleib adds the lore of tarot cards, psychology, and of course food criticism. Chapter heading quotes from respected food critics and writers (including Lucy Burdette) are also intriguing enough to have readers wanting to read more examples of food writing, a skill and genre often overlooked by food Instagrammers and influencers.

Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Let Them Eat Cake
by Lucy Burdette

The first week that my new book The Mango Murders (August 12) was launched, I celebrated with a pop quiz asking readers to test how well they knew my now 15-book series. One of the questions went as follows:

Match the following cakes to the books in which they appear: yellow cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting, Mojito cake, lime cupcakes with lime cream cheese frosting, Eric‘s coconut cake (Almost), one bowl chocolate cake.

A. Made famous by Lucy’s real-life friend
B. This recipe appears twice in the series, once in the Topped Chef contest, and once made for Hayley’s friend Connie’s wedding
C. A recipe not in the books but from Lucy’s grandmother
D. The dessert served by Hayley’s mother Janet in Death on the Menu
E. Hayley makes this cake to try to win over a guy in Fatal Reservations

Wow, that’s a lot of cake! I couldn’t help wondering whether my obsession with cake in the Key West series had some deeper psychological meaning. (I am a clinical psychologist by training after all.) For me (both in real life and fiction), I don’t look at cake as only a delicious detail, but also as a symbol of comfort, community, and connection. In my life and on the pages I write, cakes make a gathering special. I make cakes for birthdays, and holidays, and sometimes just because. Hayley Snow does as well.
As I pondered this, I was also finishing book 16 and choosing the quotes that will head up each chapter.

Turns out there are a lot of writers with an interest in cake! I thought you’d enjoy reading some of them:

“If I’m honest, that’s when I knew we were doomed. I’d lie in bed and think, how can a cake be a problem? It’s a cake.” Adriana Trigiani, The View from Lake Como.

“She was even more impressive close to: no inch of spare flesh, and cheekbones you could cut a knife with. If ever a mouthful of cake crossed her lips, which seemed unlikely.” Ann Cleeves, The Dark Wives.

“Investigations are launched, fingers are pointed, potentially dangerous liaisons unfold, and I was turning those pages like there was cake at the finish line.” Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times Must Read Books for Summer 2022

“Her idea of fun was putting cake frosting on a bran muffin.” J. Ryan Stradal, The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Every one of these authors demonstrate that food (cake in this case) can be used as an excellent way to show character. Cozy mysteries thrive on the contrast of the darkness of crime with the warmth of community. When food critic Hayley Snow is baking a cake, she’s showing how much she cares about the people who will eat it, even if they’re feeling gloomy and frightened about an unsolved crime. In The Mango Murders, Hayley’s stepfather and mother make an upside-down mango cake for one of Miss Gloria’s birthday week celebrations. You’ll see while reading that the cake also makes a lot of trouble for the characters—but can a cake be responsible for murder?

I love this famous quote from Julia Child: “A party without cake is really just a meeting.” Maybe these days she’d say, a novel without cake is really just words on a page.

Xoxo Lucy Burdette

PS: Here are the correct answers to the quiz: Yellow cake (E), Mojito cake (D), Lime cupcakes (B), Eric’s coconut cake (A), Chocolate cake (C)

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of The Mango Murders, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “mango murders” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 20, 2025. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Lucy Burdette writes the USA Today bestselling Key West Food Critic mystery series. A Clue in the Crumbs was awarded the gold medal for popular fiction from the Florida Book Awards 2023. Both A Dish to Die For and The Key Lime Crime won the bronze medal for popular fiction from the Florida Book Awards. She’s a past president of both Sisters in Crime and the Friends of the Key West Library.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.