JENN McKINLAY: Waiting for the latest release in a series you love is both grueling (WHEN WILL IT COME OUT?) and thrilling (IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!). Being a long time fan of our Lucy's Key West Food Critic Mystery series is one such rollercoaster ride for me and guess what? IT'S HERE!!! TODAY IS THE DAY!!!
 |
| BUY NOW |
Now I have the dreaded decision to make. Do I devour the book the day it comes out or read it in small bites? Or should I wait, saving it for a day where I need a pick me up? Maybe I need to read the entire series again before I start the latest book so that it's all fresh in my mind? What to do...decisions...decisions.
Graphic by Christie Conlee
But back to the book! Here's a description to tantalize you:
National bestselling author Lucy Burdette returns to Key West for another delectable dish of secrets, intrigue, and murder.
Peace and quiet are hard to find in bustling Key West, so Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, is taking the afternoon off for a tranquil lunch with a friend outside of town. As they are enjoying the wild beach and the lunch, she realizes that her husband Nathan’s dog, Ziggy, has disappeared. She follows his barking, to find him furiously digging at a shallow grave with a man’s body in it. Davis Jager, a local birdwatcher, identifies him as GG Garcia, a rabble-rousing Key West local and developer. Garcia was famous for over-development on the fragile Keys, womanizing, and refusing to follow city rules—so it’s no wonder he had a few enemies.
When Davis is attacked in the parking lot of a local restaurant after talking to Hayley and her dear friend, the octogenarian Miss Gloria, Hayley is slowly but surely drawn into the case. Hayley’s mother, Janet, has been hired to cater GG’s memorial service reception at the local Woman’s Club, using recipes from their vintage Key West cookbook—and Hayley and Miss Gloria sign on to work with her, hoping to cook up some clues by observing the mourners.
But the real clues appear when Hayley begins to study the old cookbook, as whispers of old secrets come to life, dragging the past into the present—with murderous results.
Doesn't this mystery sound delicious? This is the 12th book in a series that just keeps getting better and better.
What's being said: “Key West food critic Hayley Snow proves once again that she understands crime as well as cuisine . . . A complex tale of murder and deceit.”
—Kirkus Reviews“Culinary cozy fans are in for a treat.”
—Publishers Weekly
Now tell us, Readers, what do you do when the latest in a favorite series is released? Read it that day? Wait and save it? Read it in small bites to make it last? Or devour it?
Happy Book Birthday, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteWhat do I do when the latest in a favorite series is released? With no bookstore near us, it depends on whether I’m waiting for a book to be delivered . . . . but I always read it as soon as I get it in my hand . . . .
Me, too! Although, if I'm going on vacation (Next week!), I'll pack it and take it with me.
DeleteRoberta, congratulations on your book release. Most likely I'll put the book in my queue as I'm probably already reading another book. Once it is the book turn to read, give me a day or two before I consume it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very orderly, Dru.
DeleteI can't wait! I'll pick up my copy at the bookstore today, but save if for my vacation week - which starts tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your vacation, Edith!
DeleteHave a great vacation, Edith! Are you traveling?
DeleteOnly by car, to New Hampshire and then to Maine!
DeleteOoo, will you see friends while up there? I love to vacation in New Hampshire and in Maine!
DeleteHave a wonderful vacation, Edith!
DeleteThanks, all! We will see different sets of family in each place.
DeleteHave a wonderful holiday, Edith!
DeleteLUCY/ROBERTA: Happy book birthday! When a new book in a series comes out, I usually don't read it right away since several books are already in my ARC queue. Fortunately, I did read an ARC for A DISH TO DIE FOR and enjoyed my time visiting Key West and nearby Geiger Key with Hayley & friends.
ReplyDeleteLucky you, Grace!
DeleteI love this series! Congratulations Lucy!! My copy is on the way and I plan to attend a book signing event, whoopee!
ReplyDeleteJenn, I have a stack of library books that I must read soon and right now I am in the middle of Where the Sky Begins. (So good!)
I'll probably read this book when it arrives but usually it depends on my stack from the library and whether I can renew the books or not. Between JRW and FCF, I am swamped;>)
We do keep our readers busy! LOL.
DeleteCongratulations, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI always intend to savor it and make it last, but that never works.
Like potato chips or donuts.
DeleteOr a pint of blackberry ice cream …from the local “we make it from scratch” ice cream store. Elisabeth
DeleteI love the Hayley Snow series! Love, Love, Love!!! I ordered the book from my local bookstore and am picking it up today! I can't wait. I will try not to read it all in one sitting.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! It's so hard to make it last :)
Deletehappy book birthday, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI used the library a lot more when I was younger. They had two useful services: the wait list and a shelf of quick return selections (3 days, I think). Having a deadline meant that I had to read the book right away. Well, didn't it?
These days, with pre-order and automatic download on the e-reader, I often don't notice that the books are in. Which is ok, because I also noted that day-after-Christmas feel that I got when I devoured that long anticipated volume in a single sitting. Now, I make myself wait until I'm finished with the one I'm reading and the spread them out over a couple of days. Still, I find myself up at 3 a.m. because one cannot sleep with only 40 pages left......
One More Chapter syndrome. I get it. LOL.
DeleteThis is such a wonderful moment! I remember this series before it was born, and wow, it has grown into such a wild a success! Hooray hooray hooray !
ReplyDelete12 in the series! Amazing!!!
DeleteWhen I have a new book in my hand, one that I KNOW will be good because it is written by one of the Reds, I plan to read it slowly, enjoying every word. But you know that isn't what happens. No, I tend to wolf it down like a starving man with his first meal. Then sometimes I go back and read certain sections that have captured my imagination.
ReplyDeleteJudy, I also will reread passages right after I finish a wonderful book. Many series I will reread from the first book in anticipation of the release of a new one in the series.
DeleteYes! I don't reread whole books but favorite passages, absolutely.
DeleteMy new favorite way to reread books is to get the audio books. I've read Wait For It, then listened to the audiobook twice. It's one of my favorites, Jenn!
DeletePuh-leeze! Wait longer once I have a much-awaited book in my hands?? Are you nuts?? The only things that get in my way are the need to feed the young-uns and the need to get at least a couple hours of sleep in order to function the next day. :-) Seriously, I can remember my mom giving me a sleepy smile some mornings and blaming me because I'd brought her a book she couldn't put down. So, I come by my habit naturally.
ReplyDeleteSo, it's genetic. I can see that.
DeleteI'll add a new book in my pile of TBR until I finish the book I'm currently teading. When I read in bits due to reading during lunch breaks and in the evenings after work. On Saturdays, thankfully, I have longer bits of time to savor whatever book I'm reading. I have been know to re-read a series before I read the new book in the set but usually if it's been a long time between New book and the previous one. . Congratulations on the publication of A Dish to Die For, Lucy.
ReplyDeleteI'll usually skim the earlier books just to be back in the story.
DeleteYay Lucy! Celebrate with a good Scottish malt! Rhys
ReplyDeleteExcellent suggestion!
DeleteHurray! Congratulations on the latest book, Roberta! I have a feeling that I’ll devour this one right away, and I look forward to seeing you at your book signing!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
Lucky you! I'd love to see Lucy! :)
DeleteBarnes and Noble in Milford. That's my plan too, Deb!
DeleteGreat, Judy!
DeleteYea! Congratulations on the newest release. Looking forward to catching up with my Key West friends.
ReplyDeleteI've developed a plan to finish all the books on my Kindle so - First I read the oldest, then the newest, then the oldest. You get the idea. If it's been a while since I've read a series when I get to the latest, I do go back to book 1. It's fun and comforting and a wonderful window into the author's psyche to ferret out the foreshadowing that turns up in later books. Makes me feel like a literary archeologist.
Literary archeologist. I love it! That should be a book series!
DeleteI devour … close the book, stand up, get a beverage appropriate to the time of day, sit down, and begin again. Yay! Lucy, Haley, and Miss Gloria! Book set for delivery between 2:30 and 6:30 pm. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteFantastic plan!
DeleteCongrats, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI typically read books in my favorite series before they come out, thanks to advanced review copies. Then my review runs on release day. I don't read them as soon as I get the ARC, however. And I typically read them about as quickly as I'd read any book.
Congratulations Lucy! Ladies' club cookbooks are so much fun to browse through. When I get the latest book from a beloved series I read as much as I can before life interferes. Once I've finished I may go back and reread bits that appealed to me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Book Birthday, Lucy! My review is up on my Reading Room Blog and linked on my FB page. I loved A Dish to Die For! My review speaks for itself, but I will urge you, Jenn, and everyone else to read it right away. This series is absolutely one of my favorites. And, Lucy, there was a certain mention of a certain cake at Firefly's that I was especially thrilled about.
ReplyDeleteI seem to always be playing catch-up in trying to read certain books before their publication date for review. I haven't been doing well in that area, but I do try. I don't usually read a book way ahead of time because of that catching-up. Books that I don't get advanced copies of are usually bought when they come out or pre-ordered, and even if I don't get to them right away, it's wonderful knowing I have so much fantastic reading ahead of me.
I read it as soon as I can find time for it - and I push a lot of things out of the way to make time for it!
ReplyDeleteMy copy arrived this afternoon and of course I will read it right away! I tend to race through long-awaited favorite series books, then go back and reread favorite passages. Congrats on a new book in a wonderful series, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteLibrary books get read first unless I know I won't be going to the library for a while or have an earlier book in the series to finish. Otherwise, physical and Nook books are in the TBR pile. I have to keep up with each format in case I miss a book in the series. Your book coming out in hardback will probably come from the library . I do order some books from the Poisoned Pen to thank them for the Facebook interviews. Looking forward to the new book.
ReplyDeleteSINUS INFECTION AGAIN!!! So sorry to have missed several posts lately!
ReplyDeleteLucy, CONGRATULATIONS on your book launch. I loved, loved, loved the ARC of this novel. Readers are in for a treat!!!
Diana