A Scone of Contention Character Guest Post

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Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for A Scone of Contention: A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

A murderer’s out to spoil Hayley’s honeymoon in national bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s eleventh Key West Food Critic Mystery.

A Scone of Contention: A Key West Food Critic Mystery

by Lucy Burdette

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A Scone of Contention: A Key West Food Critic Mystery
Cozy Mystery
11th in the Series
Publisher: ‎ Crooked Lane Books (August 10, 2021)
Hardcover: ‎ 336 pages

Key Zest food critic Hayley Snow and her groom, police detective Nathan Bransford, chose Scotland for their long-delayed honeymoon, hoping to sightsee and enjoy some prize-winning scones. But their romantic duo swells to a crowd when they’re joined by Nathan’s family as well as octogenarian Miss Gloria.

Nathan’s sister Vera takes the women on a whirlwind tour of some of Scotland’s iconic mystic places as research for a looming book project. But the trip takes a deadly tartan turn when a dinner party guest falls ill and claims she was poisoned. And then the group watches in horror as a mysterious tourist tumbles to his death from the famous Falkirk Wheel, high above the Forth & Clyde canal.

Vera and her friends deny knowing the dead man, but after observing their reactions to the fall, Hayley is not convinced. With one person dead, a second possibly poisoned, and the tension among Vera’s friends as thick as farmhouse cheese, Hayley fears her long-awaited honeymoon might end with another murder.

Far away from home, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, eccentric characters, and a forbiddingly gorgeous setting, Hayley must call on all her savvy to keep a killer from striking again and then escaping Scot free.

A Chat with Hayley Snow: Character Guest Post by Lucy Burdette

Hi everyone! I’m Hayley Snow, the food critic for Key Zest magazine in Key West Florida. I live on a houseboat with my new hubby, right next door to my dear octogenarian friend Miss Gloria. Though Nathan and I got married last November, we’re only now setting off on our honeymoon—to Scotland! Can’t wait.

A fair number of people have mentioned to me that they can’t believe I’ve included anyone other than my new husband on our honeymoon. I suppose it does sound a little strange, as if I don’t want to spend time alone with the guy LOL. I adore my Nathan. But I also love dearly my friend Miss Gloria. She has taught me so much about what’s important in life—she’s wise and spunky and up for anything. Here’s how it happened…

Last New Year’s, Nathan’s intimidating mother-in-law showed up on the island with one day’s notice. (The Key Lime Crime) If I say so myself, I was a really good sport. While Nathan was busy working (he’s a Key West police detective,) Miss Gloria and I did our best to show her the sights of the island. And me being me, we stumbled upon a body dressed in a Santa suit. Long story short, the three of us solved that mystery and bonded in the process. So Nathan was feeling grateful and offered to take me anywhere on our long-delayed honeymoon. Because I’m nuts about Outlander, the choice was a no-brainer: we’re going to Scotland, land of scones and men in kilts!

If you could have seen Miss Gloria’s face when I told her Nathan and I were going to Scotland… She was so happy for us, but she then she told me that was the next trip that she and her beloved husband Frank were going to take, before he had the fatal heart attack. Her people are from Scotland, and she’s the one I watch all the Outlander episodes with. And she’s 80-something years old. How many trips does she have ahead of her? And I should say, inviting her was Nathan’s idea. He and I will have 50 or more years together and lots of solo trips if we’re lucky, so the plan sounded perfect.

Now, Nathan’s mother going on our honeymoon, too, and that’s a different story. I did get to know her pretty well last winter and I think we are going to end up fast friends. That said, I would never think of her as a romantic companion. But she was desperate to come along, because we’re staying with Vera, Nathan’s sister. And they’ve been a little bit estranged. And family is family, more important than anything else in the world, I think.

Oh yes, the plot gets thicker…but I promised myself I’ll eat my weight in scones, and no murders if we’re lucky. You might as well come along too, the more the merrier!

About Lucy Burdette

Courtesy Carol Tedesco

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of 19 mysteries, including A SCONE OF CONTENTION, the eleventh book in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow. THE KEY LIME CRIME won the bronze medal for popular fiction in the Florida Book Awards. Lucy’s books and stories have also been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a past president of Sisters in Crime, and currently serving as president of the Friends of the Key West Library.

Author Links

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Website – http://lucyburdette.com

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Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/robertaisleib

Blogs: http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com http://www.jungleredwriters.com

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