Death with All the Trimmings

 This 5th Key West Critic mystery is not your typical holiday book although it is centered around Key West and their Christmas traditions.  Lucy Burdette does a wonderful job of capturing the charm and traditions of the island festivities and interweaving them into the life of her protagonist, Hayley Snow.  I have been in Key West at the beginning of the holiday season and it is fun to see those experiences reflected in this book.  They love any excuse to have a parade.

In this installment we meet some of Hayley's extended family as well as witness more of her interactions with the core group of friends she has made in Key West.  We witness the drama of her workplace and her thrill at meeting the New York Times food critic.  All this is mixed in with a mystery that she finds herself mixed up in unexpectedly.  

The characters and storylines shine in this series and I appreciate the mysteries are a subplot of the bigger story of Hayley's life in Key West.  The characters have realistic reactions to personal situations and Burdette does a wonderful job of capturing this in this book.  

Death with All the Trimmings by Lucy Burdette
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I continue to enjoy reading about the exploits of Hayley Snow. I think what I enjoy the most about this series is there is a story being told with character interactions etc and then a mystery is interweaved in the story. The investigation and crime are part of the bigger story but aren't necessarily the entire focus. Much of this book is about Hayley and her job as a food critic. Again this book has many elements of the character and lifestyle of Key West, both those tourist would recognize and much of the charm that attracts the Conch Nation to live there.

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Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:  

1. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge  Book #41
2. Finishing the Series   #FinishingTheSeries2021 series 13 bk 4
3. Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2021   Book #49
4. Back List Reader  #Backlistreader  Book #56
5. Calendar of Crime  #CalendarOfCrime2021   
6. Cruisin thru Cozies  free choice 18
7. Cloak & Dagger  #CloakDaggerChal  Book #40
8. Craving for Cozies  Book #34
9. Monthly Motif #MonthlyMotifGXO  yes restaurants
10. Medical Examiner Challenge  1 Toe Tags
11. Beachcomber Challenge  
• Crime Scenes 

Row 3
Bar, store, restaurant

• Weapons
• Row 1 
• Fire
• Detectives- Hayley Snow
• Victims- Juan Carlos
12. Six Shooter Challenge  Target # 8  Shot #5