Clues in the Crumbs are Taking Shape @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: As I write this, I’m waiting for my developmental editor to send back suggestions on the draft of Key West food critic mystery #13, which I handed over to the publisher in early September. (Actually, strike that sentence--those edits have just landed in my inbox!) I remember being pretty pleased about how it turned out, but I haven't looked at it since—so who knows. While I work on the suggested tweaks, I thought you might be interested in hearing a bit more about how the book goes from a Word file on my computer screen to what you see in a bookstore.

I know ahead of time that I’ll be asked for cover suggestions, a short synopsis, and title ideas so I keep a file going as I’m writing. You might remember there will be a big scene on a tiki hut involving Miss Gloria and the Scone Sisters, Violet and Bettina. I could have easily pictured that boat on the cover, but I sent a second idea just in case:

IDEA #1 (My favorite): A tiki hut bar with a pitcher of bilious green drinks and partly filled glasses on the counter, along with the gray tiger cat. The hut is decorated for St. Patrick’s Day—green tulle and shamrocks, etc. Cat might be looking at the dock on which a white ceramic baking pan is in pieces. Also a butcher knife on the ground. Logo on the pan—Bakeware by the Scone Sisters is written in script. Above the writing, two intertwined S’s steam out of the slits cut into the top of a pie.

IDEA #2: Scene of the kitchen where the bake-off is taking place, including beautiful cakes plus the broken crockery, knife and cat.

Here's what came back from my talented cover artists, Griesbach and Martucci:

Now I know the book will look something like that, with brighter colors, palm trees outside the window, and the cat batting a knife instead of a mouse. (Mice in Martha's kitchen--no way!) It will be called A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS, which I quite like because it has a Nancy Drew-ish feel. I was asked in May to send in a list of title possibilities to my team at Crooked Lane—I’m sure some of you made contributions. I’ve learned by now not to put anything on the list that I really don’t like! Here was the list, with my preferences starred:

The Secret of the Old Conch 

The Clue in the Old Conch

The Clue in the Caramel

*The Clue in the Crumbs

*Drizzled to Death

*Baked Off

*Murder Hosts a Bake Off 

The Clue in the Auld Conch 

The Great Key West Bake Offed 

Key West Baked Off  

Baked Off in Key West

Peril in Paradise

A recipe for murder

Battered by Bakeoff

Royally Iced

Blind Baked

And here’s the opening for the book, which I rewrote a million times—and there may be more versions to come...

Chapter One

Since when has a bad restaurant review been a motive for murder? 

That’s precisely what my boss at the style magazine Key Zest texted me when I expressed my rather dramatic reservations about the possible consequences of trashing local eateries. 

Go deeper, she replied. Ruffle some feathers, Hayley! Man up and do your job!

Man up? Really?? As for ruffling feathers, that was easy for her to suggest—she’s baby green bean skinny because she hardly eats, especially not anything greasy, sugary, carb-ish, or otherwise delicious. She doesn’t care about alienating local restauranteurs because she doesn’t dine out.

So now, on the deck of my Key West houseboat, I was deeply absorbed in the article I was attempting to hammer out about whether the Key West food scene was trying too hard to imitate New York. That definitely meant raising questions about prices and menus. Were Key West diners willing to absorb the cost of a 42-dollar shrimp cocktail? Or a required tasting menu to the tune of a hundred dollars a pop? Not the Key West locals, I suspected. Maybe the folks visiting the island would be accustomed to this kind of expense, and clamor for reservations. Maybe they’d be in the mood to splurge, even if those prices stuck in my own craw.

As I was figuring out how to pose these questions without infuriating anyone, either visitor or resident, a cacophony of sirens went off. One of the disadvantages of living on Key West’s Houseboat Row is the proximity to the noise of the fire and police departments. This afternoon, the sirens blew loud and long, and I heard another set echo in response, from further down island. That probably meant that both the fire stations were calling out their men and women. And that could mean a big fire.

So you see it's getting there! Is there anything you've wondered about this crazy publishing business?

(Meanwhile, the ebook editions of The Key Lime Crime and A Deadly Feast are on sale this month for $1.99!)

And ps, if you're looking for an appetizer that is stunning but not too taxing to make, I shared my recipe for gougeres on Mystery Lovers Kitchen...