Nathan sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we, the readers, can get to know him better.

What is your full name?
Nathan Andrew Bransford

How old are you?
I’m in my 30s, other than that I’m pleading the fifth.

What is your profession?
I am a lieutenant in the Key West Police Department.

Do you have a significant other?
Hayley Catherine Snow is my wife, and she is a food critic with the online magazine Key Zest. She also has a powerful interest in crime solving, which causes some friction in our marriage. I still don’t think she realizes how very dangerous my profession is.

Do you have any siblings?
My younger sister Vera lives in Saint Andrews in Scotland. We had been estranged for a number of years because of a family tragedy. Hayley has done her best to encourage me to mend the fences. That meant we spent our honeymoon in Scotland with my sister, my mother, and my dear wife’s surrogate grandmother, Miss Gloria. Neither of my parents, who are divorced, live within driving distance of Key West, which is probably for the best. Hayley’s mother, who is a chef caterer and a lovely, bubbly woman, lives in town with her husband. That’s about all the family I need close by.

Who is your best friend?
I would probably say my wife, although my best friends in the police department, Steve Torrence and Sean Brandenburg, are the ones I turn to for support with our job, which is difficult in the best of circumstances. And maybe harder in Key West where people come to get away from their real lives and party hard. Sometimes they don’t realize that the problems come right along with them like unwanted passengers. Think roaches, or rats. Not to sound grumpy, but see above: the job is not easy. Honestly, I fell for Hayley because she isn’t jaded about her fellow humans, she always helps me see the best in people.

Do you have any pets?
Pets are us in this neighborhood. I had a miniature pinscher when I married Hayley and she has a cat. Our next-door neighbor, Miss Gloria, has two cats who are frequent visitors and might as well be considered part of our family.

Do you live in a small town or a big city?
During the off-season, Key West would probably be considered a small town with a population of under 25,000. But as it’s become a more popular tourist destination, the ranks have swelled. In the high season, there can be as many as 100,000 people crammed onto our small island. Think rats in a cage. Oh, Hayley would say I was sounding grumpy again.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I am told that my marriage proposal was one for the record books. I presented a jewelry box to Hayley that contained a key to the houseboat next-door to her dear friend, Miss Gloria. We had it renovated to both of our satisfactions, and it’s a beautiful if small space. I wouldn’t have chosen a houseboat community. It’s a bit too public for a cop. But once I realized that I adored Hayley and wanted her to be part of my family, I went with her preference. My favorite place in our floating home is on the deck in the morning before most people are up. Ziggy Stardust and I like to sit out there with coffee for me and a bone for him and watch the sky turn from gray to spectacular sunrise colors.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
This is a question that should be included in marriage counseling, or so I’ve learned. My bride Hayley lives to eat. She loves to cook and bake and talk about food and write about food. I on the other hand, eat to live. So my favorite meal is whatever she’s made and is excited about.

Do you have any hobbies?
I like to work out with my police department pals and then go out for a burger and a beer. It doesn’t happen too often, but we find it a way to blow off steam that builds up from our high-pressure jobs.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
The only vacation I’ve been on in years was to Scotland for my so-called honeymoon. Even grumpy me had to admit that it’s drop dead gorgeous.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
See above please.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Hmm, maybe An Appetite For Murder? The Key Lime Crime? No Cheeseburger In Paradise?

What is a typical day in your life like in general and when you are on a case?
One thing I do love about my job is that there isn’t a typical day. One minute we might be breaking up a fight between college kids who’ve had way too much fun on the beach. Another minute, we might be dealing with overaggressive panhandlers, or tourists on Duval Street who’ve left their company manners at home. We do a lot of training of new recruits who need to learn that people are always watching—either to learn from us or criticize. There are of course occasional murders—the chief teases me that these seem to come more often since my wife is on the scene.

A Dish To Die For, A Key West Food Critic Mystery #12
Genre: Cozy
Release: August 2022
Purchase Link

Peace and quiet are hard to find in bustling Key West, so Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, is taking the afternoon off for a tranquil lunch with a friend outside of town. As they are enjoying the wild beach and the lunch, she realizes that her husband Nathan’s dog, Ziggy, has disappeared. She follows his barking, to find him furiously digging at a shallow grave with a man’s body in it. Davis Jager, a local birdwatcher, identifies him as GG Garcia, a rabble-rousing Key West local and developer. Garcia was famous for over-development on the fragile Keys, womanizing, and refusing to follow city rules—so it’s no wonder he had a few enemies.

When Davis is attacked in the parking lot of a local restaurant after talking to Hayley and her dear friend, the octogenarian Miss Gloria, Hayley is slowly but surely drawn into the case. Hayley’s mother, Janet, has been hired to cater GG’s memorial service reception at the local Woman’s Club, using recipes from their vintage Key West cookbook—and Hayley and Miss Gloria sign on to work with her, hoping to cook up some clues by observing the mourners.

But the real clues appear when Hayley begins to study the old cookbook, as whispers of old secrets come to life, dragging the past into the present—with murderous results.

About the author
New Jersey born Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleib is the author of 21 mysteries, including A Dish To Die For, the latest in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow (recently released August 9, 2022, from Crooked Lane Books.) The tenth book in her Key West food critic mystery series, The Key Lime Crime, won the Florida Book Award’s bronze medal for popular fiction. Her first thriller, Unsafe Haven, was published by Severn House in December. Her books and stories have 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.

All comments are welcomed.