Review: Death on the Menu

Death on the Menu by Lucy Burdette
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my first venture into The Key West Food Critic Mysteries. It was my first time reading Lucy Burdette’s writing. I received a hardback review copy through a review club on Facebook. The opinions expressed are my honest thoughts.

In the opening of the book we get a bit of information on Cuba and the US relations and history. I’m not into politics and I debated jumping it or at least speed reading it. Don’t make that mistake. It’s there for a reason. Honestly I found it to be more interesting than I was expecting. I did spend a bit of time remembering a friend I had years ago, especially when I read about Carmen’s husband crossing. My friend’s husband came over from Cuba during the sixties. I was reminded of his stories of what his childhood Cuba was, his adventure coming here and how he said his life was changed living here. He was always grateful and proud that he was a citizen here. Thinking about him made the story very relatable. Take the time to really read that even if you are like me and not into politics so much. It is relevant to the story.

This is the eighth book in the series. I was expecting that I missed a lot, especially in regards to the characters and relationships. I was surprised to find that I was able to jump right in. The author is excellent at weaving in the important characters and their relationships. As I was getting acquainted with everyone, I thought that it was so well done that I could have read all eight books and not really noticed she was catching up new readers. That was one of the best jobs I have seen in combining the information in a way that was relevant to both types of readers. I enjoyed many of the characters in this book. They have invested me in the series, making me want to read the previous books as well as new ones.

The mystery itself was well written. There were many possibilities thrown out at the reader. I was deceived more than once thinking it was this one or that one. The author did well in leading me on a chase. Like I said above the politics play a part but the author did well humanizing it. I was enthralled and, as the pace picked up, I found myself racing through, truly interested in it all.

Another thing the author is exceptional at is bringing the sights, the smells and sounds alive. She is excellent at descriptions. You will get to know Key West very well. Warning: you will get hungry. But don’t worry. There are recipes at the end of the book. I cut down the recipe for the flan. I don’t have the equipment to make that much flan at once. I would say I also did not have enough people to eat it but the flan is addictive. Ropa Vieja has a lot of ingredients making it look intimidating. Try it. It is easy to follow and taste amazing! The Cuban sandwiches are easy to make and delicious. The Baked Bananas was incredible! I love plantains so this recipe was actually the first one I tried. I haven’t tried the other recipes but I plan to.

I recommend the book. It was a lot more fun to read than I was initially expecting. I plan to read the rest of the series.


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