Lucy Burdette is the author of the popular Key West food critic mysteries and the standalone novel, The Ingredients of Happiness (Severn House)
Q: Would you tell us a little about the new book, The Ingredients of Happiness? What inspired it? Is it a standalone or the possible beginning of a new series?
A: Thank you so much for asking me about The Ingredients of Happiness, my first venture into contemporary women’s fiction. The story follows Cooper Hunziker, a new Yale professor, who also has also has a pop psychology book on happiness about to be published. She’s under a lot of pressure at work because four people are vying for the same job. Plus the chair of the department is unhappy about her fluffy sideline project. As penance, she’s sentenced to co-lead a self-help happiness group at the New Haven library, which forces her to examine her own life. Is she happy with the path she’s chosen? Does she have the kind of warm friendships that the women in the group seem to have? Like Cooper, I’m a clinical psychologist. I also spent time at Yale during my internship and post graduate training, though I never faced the kind of pressure that she has. But this question intrigued me: what if an expert on happiness is not happy herself? I love reading this kind of story, the kind that focuses on the emotional journey of the protagonist – not a dead body to be found. HAPPINESS will not be a series, but I’m hoping to take one of the minor characters and put her front stage in a novel set mostly in Paris.
Q: Speaking of series, you also have a new Key West food critic mystery coming this summer. What can you tell us about it? How do you keep a long series fresh?
A: I am also very excited about A Clue In The Crumbs, number 13 in the Key West food critic mystery series, arriving August 8! I’m a little surprised about how long this series has continued, though thoroughly delighted about it too. I’m passionate about trying something new in each book so that I am not foisting a retread of the same plot on potential readers. Luckily, Key West has so many layers that it’s easy to find potential threads and motives for murder. For example, in A Dish To Die For, there was an historical angle based on the Woman’s Club and an old cookbook. In A Clue In The Crumbs, the Scottish Scone sisters from book 11 come to visit Key West to launch a baking contest. This takes place at Williams Hall with the chef (and talented real person) Martha Hubbard in charge. I also work hard to think and write about how the characters will grow and change over the course of the books, as that’s the part of a long running mystery series that I love most.
Q: How did you happen upon a food critic as your protagonist? Are you a foodie yourself?
A: I am not a food critic, but I love to eat, read, and talk about food. I enjoy cooking but also love visiting the Key West restaurants that my character will be reviewing. Back in 2010, as I was searching for the subject of a new mystery series, I heard about an editor who wanted to acquire a series about a food critic, preferably in a tropical setting. Hayley Snow was born!
Q: How long have you called Key West home, and how did you end up here?
A: My husband John and I first visited Key West in 2008, and as happens with so many visitors, we fell in love with the island. By 2014, we’d become residents and now live here six months out of the year. We love being part of the story, rather than outsiders. A big bonus of this for me is serving on the board of the Friends of the Key West Library. This is my fourth year as president, and we’d love to have you join us! https://www.friendsofthekeywestlibrary.org/
Q: What are you reading and recommending these days?
A: I’ve recently read and loved Laura Hankin’s The Daydreams, and J. Ryan Stradal’s Saturday Night At The Lakeside Supper Club. As soon as I finish The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, I’m looking forward to Barbara Ross’s new Maine clambake mystery, Hidden Beneath, Sarah Stewart Taylor’s A Stolen Child, and Gabrielle Zelvin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (because I adored The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry.) I have a teetering TBR pile and the newsletter from Books and Books always adds to the problem—so many books, so little time. All we can do is plug along!