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Another guest, Lucy Burdett
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I’ve had quite a few times in my life, and those periods when a furry friend wasn’t around to greet at the door felt lonely and sad. my characters in Key West Mystery SeriesHayley Snow and Miss Gloria feel the same way. In the tenth book, key lime offenseT-Bone, the new tiger cat, takes the title role. But since my series focuses on food and killing, cats can’t always be in the spotlight.
In my new book (#12 in the series), A dish to die forCats have settled into the support staff on Houseboat Row, providing comfort, love, and comedic comfort when you need it most. This reminds me of my year as a psychology intern in an inpatient unit that treated troubled teens. The director, who is a psychiatrist, taught us that we are part of the “environmental cure”. This meant that we were always in the background for these patients, providing them with role models, support, and feedback even when they weren’t in therapy sessions. We were the river the young men rowed upon. This is how I think of the animals in my books – they support the characters as they go about their daily chores of writing about food and solving puzzles.
Here’s an excerpt from the new book that will show you what I mean. Just before this scene, Hayley and her husband’s little dog Ziggy found a body on a beach in the Keys naturally shaken.
Eric dropped me off at Houseboat Row at 20:30. Ziggy, exhausted from the fun on the beach, immediately settled into his dog’s bed. I picked up the cat Evinrude and took him out to the deck to sit in the sun. I told him, “It was a nightmare.” “But you don’t need all the bloody details. Just be glad we didn’t take you with you.”
Of course, I would never take myself to the beach, but it would be bad to rub it. I spent a few minutes stroking the cat, and I closed my eyes, listening to him purr – I feel the calm of that raggedy. A rumble seeps through my body. Beyond that, I absorbed the sounds of my neighborhood–the water hitting the hull, the groaning of the saw, the winds of Mrs. Reinhart banging from two doors down.
Here’s a bit taken from a later point, when Hayley thinks back to explore the murder scene:
I peeked at my watch: four and fifteen. If I’m going back to Geiger Key, I have to get there before sunset. This way I can drive to the end of the road first and see if there are details I didn’t notice on the last trip that might relate to Garcia’s murder. I wondered if I should take Ziggy as a company. Mostly not. He had enough trouble the first time we went.
Miss Gloria and her two cats came out of her cabin on the deck, gleaming in the sharp afternoon light as if they had just woken up from a nap. Invite her to say hello.
“How was Nathan’s father?” I asked, and settled once on the deck chair.
Ziggy flicked the ass of the T-bone until the cat slapped him, then retreated to the cabin of my boat. The little yellow tiger jumped on my knees and started kneading my thighs and purring.
“It can’t be hacked,” I said, adding a grimace. “He’s as handsome as Nathan but hard to come by. And that says something, because you know, Nathan isn’t the most sensitive person ever,” I added. “What do you set out for dinner?”
“We haven’t come that far.” He patted her lap, and Evinrod jumped up and rubbed her chin with his head. “Maybe leftovers from last night.”
“I brought some sweet pepper cheese from lunch, if you wanted to.” I have stopped. “Or you can take the keys with me to Fish Camp. That guy who was at the beach yesterday when I found the body thinks the cops blame him. He wants to talk. If I come, I can hear what he’s going to say but I avoid dinner with him.”
She nodded. Nathan will kill you. Then blame me for not talking to you about it. We all know two heads are better than one. Besides, I’m totally dying for a plate of shrimp tacos. Plus a mojito. If you drive.”
Which I knew I would be. By no means would I have let her sit in the driver’s seat of her large Buick when she could barely see over the steering wheel. She was OK driving short distances – I hoped, anyway – but not eleven miles of narrow road in the dark. “Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?”
“I’m ready now,” she said, removing her sweatshirt. “I’m going to visit the bathroom, put the kitties away, and be outside.”
I hope you enjoy this latest episode in the Key West Mystery series. While cats don’t solve any puzzles in A dish to die forThey provide comfort, entertainment, and even the occasional guide. Cat Evinrude would also like to point out that his photo has been featured on every cover, including the most recent!
Around A dish to die for
Food critic ‘Key West’ Hayley Snow’s relaxed outing out of town is interrupted when her husband’s dog goes missing on the beach. Track his bark, only to find him ferociously digging into a shallow grave containing the body of a man. A birdwatcher identifies the dead man as JJ Garcia, a local mob-builder known for over-development of brittle keys, feminization, and refusal to follow city rules. Hayley’s mother was then hired to cater to JJ’s memorial service reception at the Women’s Club, using recipes from the club’s classic Key West cookbook. The real clues materialize as Hayley begins studying an old cookbook, whispers of ancient secrets emerge, dragging the past into the present – with fatal results.
About Lucy Burdett
Biography: New Jersey-born Lucy Burdett aka Roberta Islip is the author of 21 puzzles, including A DISH TO DIE FOR, the latest in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow (coming August 9, 2022, from Crooked Lane Books.) The tenth book in Key West’s food critics puzzle series, THE KEY LIME CRIME, won the Florida Book Award’s Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction. Her first film, UNSAFE HAVEN, was published by Severn House in December. Her books and stories have been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, and McAfetti Awards. She is a former president of Sisters in Crime, and currently serves as the president of the Friends of the Key West Library. Read more on http://www.lucyburdette.com. You can also find Lucy on Facebook And the Instagram.
A dish to die for he is Available from amazon.
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Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former vet hospital director, and veterinary journalist with a passion for cats.
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