Lucy Burdette’s Key West cozies feature a magazine food critic called Hayley Snow, her husband's nosy dog, Ziggy, and an indomitable sidekick, Miss Gloria, who's rapidly becoming a reader’s favorite, all that set in page-turning beautiful action in Florida's laid back tropical archipelago.

Hi. I'm your host, Jenny Wheeler. And today on Binge Reading, Lucy talks about the joy of combining two of her loves in life, food and Key West, in an award-winning best-selling small town mystery series.

Mystery, Thriller and Suspense Giveaway

Our Giveaway this week as a selection from a group of authors, Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Giveaway, including Sadie's Vow, Book #1  in my own Home At Last trilogy.

It’s San Francisco, 1872. Sadie McGillicuddy’s word is her bond. Swearing to her dying mother to always protect her wilful sister, she’s soon tested when her beautiful younger sibling runs off into the night.

You'll find a link to download these books in the show notes for this episode on the website, the joys of binge reading.com. That's a Free Download Give away for holiday reading.

DOWNLOAD FREE MYSTERIES

And remember if you enjoy the show, leave us a review, so others will find us too. Word of mouth is still the best form of recommendation and it will help people find a show that recommends books they'd love to discover and read.

Links to items mentioned in the show

The Bobbsey Twins, Laura Lee Hope:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/DMJ/the-bobbsey-twins/

Nancy Drew. Carolyn Keene: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/NAD/nancy-drew/

Frank Bruni, Born Round: https://www.amazon.com/Born-Round-Family-Ferocious-Appetite/dp/014311767X#

Ruth Reichl:  http://ruthreichl.com/about/

Dr Laurie Santos: Yale class on happiness:  https://www.drlauriesantos.com/science-well-being

Dr Laurie Santos: Happiness Lab podcast:

https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-laurie-santos

Ann Cleeves:  https://www.anncleeves.com/

Rhys Bowen, Lady Georgiana Royal Spyness series: The Proof in the Pudding, www.rhysbowen.com

Love Marriage by Monica Ali, https://www.amazon.com.au/Love-Marriage-Monica-Ali/dp/1982181478

Ragnar Jonasson, Reykjavík, https://www.amazon.com/Reykjav%C3%ADk-Crime-Story-Ragnar-J%C3%B3nasson/dp/1250907330#

Where To Find Lucy Burdette Online

Website: https://lucyburdette.com/

Facebook: @Lucyburdetteauthor

Instagram: @Lucyburdette

Jungle Red Writers Blog: https://www.jungleredwriters.com/

Introducing mystery author Lucy Burdette

Jenny Wheeler: But now here's Lucy. Hello there, Lucy, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.

Lucy Burdette - Her latest book in the Key West food critic series made the USA Today bestseller list

Lucy Burdette: I am so happy to be here and I really appreciate being invited.

Jenny Wheeler: It's lovely. the wonders of technology to think that you are in Key West, Florida and I'm in New Zealand. It's great, isn't it?

Lucy Burdette: Crazy, Yes. Two islands.

Jenny Wheeler: That's right. Lucy, you've got a flourishing career writing these Key West food critic mysteries. You've just published number 13 in those. How did you get started on fiction writing?

Lucy Burdette: It's a strange story, but your listeners might not know that I'm a clinical psychologist. That was my career before writing and when I met my now husband of 31 years, he was a big golfer and I was not, but I wanted to do whatever it took to spend time with him.

So I started taking golf lessons, and I was just horrible, terrible.

I made every mistake. It was embarrassing. I started thinking about what could I write that would combine psychology and learning golf. I began to pitch some non-fiction stories about the psychology of golf.

I had a few published, but it's very hard as a freelancer to get picked up by magazines.

Why don't you try writing a mystery?