Author Spotlight: Lucy Burdette

Lucy Burdette is the author of the bestselling Key West Food Critic Mystery Series. This culinary cozy series features a food critic turned amateur sleuth who solves mysteries in sunny Key West, Florida. Lucy has also written women’s fiction and a stand-alone suspense novel. She has written eight other mysteries, including the golf lover’s mystery series and the advice column mysteries, under the name Roberta Isleib.

Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Lucy Burdette

What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?

When I began writing my first golf lovers mystery in the late 1990s, I did not know it would be classified as a cozy mystery! I’d always read mysteries starting with Nancy Drew, the Hardy boys, and Cherry Ames, so I was writing the amateur sleuths I was familiar with-- including a dash of golf. Now, as my 15th Key West food critic mystery will be published in August 2025, I'm still not sure how well I fit into the cozy genre. My books are on the light side but definitely not fluffy. I think my background and training as a clinical psychologist helps me go deeper with my characters. It's every bit as important to them as it is to me to have close friends and family--always with complications.

What essential elements make a cozy stand out to you as a reader?

I read mysteries mostly for the characters, so I love series where the protagonist and sidekicks grow and change. I understand that mystery readers must suspend disbelief with an amateur sleuth, so I work hard to make that possible. Why is a food critic or a golfer getting involved with crime solving? I aspire to make that believable. My attraction to writing a series is related to my first career as a clinical psychologist doing long-term psychotherapy. I love the process of slowly getting to know characters and unraveling their secrets. A detective is like a psychologist in that way!

Do you have a favorite amateur sleuth?

The books that launched me toward writing foodie fiction were those of Diane Mott Davidson, featuring caterer sleuth Goldy Schultz. She was one of the early frontierswomen in the subgenre of cozy culinary mysteries, and I've chosen to create characters who also see food as an important, meaningful part of their lives. And use it to solve mysteries!

What inspired you to write your first cozy mystery?

It was a mysterious midlife crisis!

How do you research and create the “cozy” elements in your books, like the settings and community?

My current series is set in Key West, where we live half the year. I read lots of local papers and blogs and walk all over the town to get the details right. I often say that if you can't find quirky characters and settings in Key west, you aren't looking very hard!