Topped Chef Book Tour with Lucy Burdette: Meet Evinrude the Cat

 

EVINRUDE THE CAT ON TOPPED CHEF (by Lucy Burdette)

When people get crazy ideas like moving from New Jersey to Key West to follow a man they hardly know, do they ask the cat what he thinks? No, they do not. And so no one should be surprised when it all goes to heck.

 

 

Luckily for my person, Hayley Snow, we managed to land on our feet after that disaster. Now we are living with the cutest old lady on a houseboat, along with her kitten, Sparky. You might be thinking--cats and houseboats, there's a lousy combination. But once you get used to the gentle rocking, it feels like home to me. And I keep Sparky in line without much trouble.
 

Anyway, Hayley's busy judging some kind of TV cooking contest and I have a feeling she might have a new boyfriend, so I pretty much run the place. As you'll be able to tell when you read the story, we cats are important. We open up the first paragraph, and we're there at the end. Although if Hayley thinks she's going to train me to jump through hoops like the Cat Man of Key West does with his cats, she doesn't know me very well.

If I cared what you people think (I'm a cat after all,) I'd say hope you enjoy this little introduction to TOPPED CHEF:

"Evinrude woke me from a sound sleep, first with his rumbling purr and then with a gentle but persistent tapping of paw to cheek. I blinked my eyes open—the bedside clock read six fifteen. I hissed softly at his gray-striped face.

“I love you dearly, but you’re a monster,” I told him as I rolled out of bed. “Spoiled rotten cat flesh.”

Tail hoisted high, he trotted out of the room ahead of me, meowing loudly. Miss Gloria’s lithe black cat, Sparky, intercepted him before he reached the food bowls lined up in the corner of the tiny galley of our houseboat. He sprang onto Evinrude’s back and wrestled him to the floor. While they boxed and nipped at each other, I poured a ration of kibbles into each bowl, refreshed their water, and then staggered onto the deck to check out the morning.

The plum-colored night sky was shifting to pink to make room for the day, which looked as though it might turn out “glorious and whimsical,” as the Key West Citizen had promised."

 

Hayley Snow loves her job as the food critic for Key Zest magazine, tasting the offerings from Key West’s most innovative restaurants. She’d rate her life four stars, until she’s forced into the spotlight…and another murder investigation.

Hoping for some good publicity, Hayley’s boss signs her up to help judge the Key West Topped Chef contest. Stakes are high as the winner could be the next cooking-show superstar. Hayley shows up for the filming nervous but excited, until she sees who’s on the judging panel with her: Sam Rizzoli, big shot businessman—and owner of the restaurant she just panned in her first negative review.

When Rizzoli turns up dead, the police assume his killer is one of his business rivals. But Hayley wonders whether someone is taking the contest a little too seriously. With the police following the wrong recipe, it’s up to Hayley to find the killer before she’s eliminated from the show…permanently.

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Author Bio: When LUCY BURDETTE turned thirteen, she wanted only two things for her birthday: a date with Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, (which she could never have handled even had it been possible.) And a kitten. Her mother tracked down an orange tiger kitten named Tigger. Lucy adored him as much as she thought she would, prompting her mother's infamous sex-education talk: "One day you'll feel about a man the way you do about the cat." Lucy's husband is still waiting. She's had a cat ever since, and all her mysteries have cats in them. You can read more about the Key West food critic mysteries at www.lucyburdette.com, or follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lucyburdette, or on Twitter @lucyburdette.

 

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There is a tour wide giveaway for Kindle books, a Kindle Touch and gift cards. There are four prize packages for authors Victoria Hamilton, Lucy Burdette, Billie Thomas, and Marie Moore.

The prizes are -

Prize 1 (US/Canada only)
* a Kindle Touch
* a $15 Amazon.com giftcard
Prize 2 (International)
* a Kindle copy of Topped Chef and Bowled Over
* a $15 Book Depository giftcard
Prize 3 (International)
* a Kindle copy of Murder on the First Day of Christmas & Game Drive
* a $15 Amazon.com giftcard
Prize 4 (US/Canada)
* your choice of a cozy mystery paperbacks (up to $25 in value)

To enter:
1. Fill in the form here.
2. There is no requirement to follow any of the blogs participating, but we hope you will support these amazing blogs by following them. They do a great job, many of whom host for us every month.
3. Giveaway ends on May 15, 2013 at midnight and the winners will be contacted via email.