Molten Death is the first book in a new cozy mystery series set in Hawaii by Leslie Karst. Released 2nd April 2024 by Severn House, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback due out late 4th quarter 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.
This is a very well written and engagingly constructed murder mystery with an appealingly intelligent 60 year old female amateur sleuth on holiday in Hawaii after a personal family tragedy. Another bizarre tragedy (seeing a booted foot disappearing under lava) fires her up to find out whose booted leg it was disappearing into the lava, and moreover how and why in a weirdly understandable therapeutic way.
The characters are quite well rendered, believable, and the book is peppered with neat trivia about the islands, their history, and unique geophysical characteristics. The MC is in a F/F stable marriage, and though there's some discussion in the book about their relationship (especially in the aftermath of a personal tragedy), it's not a central feature.
The book is marketed as the first book in a series, but upcoming volume(s) are not on the publisher's schedule yet (presumably second quarter 2025 at the soonest). The mystery here is self contained and it works very well as a standalone.
Four stars. Satisfying, complete, and well written. It would make a good buddy read, or a public or home library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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