About Molten Death
Molten Death (An Orchid Isle Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – the Big Island of Hawai‘i
Publisher : Severn House (April 2, 2024)
Hardcover : 224 pages
ISBN-10 : 1448312167
ISBN-13 : 978-1448312160
Digital ASIN : B0CKWF5VWT
A glimpse of a quickly melting corpse at the foot of a volcano has amateur sleuth and food enthusiast Valerie Corbin shocked. But how can she investigate a murder, when there’s no evidence the victim ever existed?
The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai’i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions!
Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai’i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.
Early one morning, the couple and their friend – tattooed local boy, Isaac – set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg – a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.
Valerie’s convinced a murder has been committed – but as she’s the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who’s going to believe her?
Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock . . .
The amiable characters, stunning backdrop and culinary delights make this the perfect cozy of fans who enjoy a tropical vacation with a twisty murder mystery and compelling Hawai’ian culture – paired with an added bonus of recipes of local Hawai’ian dishes!
In addition to Molten Death, Leslie Karst is the author of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari mystery series and Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. After years waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock band, she decided she was ready for a “real” job and ended up at Stanford Law School.
It was during her career as an attorney that Leslie rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking and once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in culinary arts. Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her time cooking, cycling, gardening, observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock, and of course writing. She and her wife split their time between Santa Cruz, California and Hilo, Hawai‘i.
Author Links
Website
http://www.lesliekarstauthor.com/
Chicks on the Case
Mystery Lovers Kitchen
https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/
https://www.instagram.com/lesliekarst/
GoodReads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14220589.Leslie_Karst
BookBub
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/leslie-karst
Purchase Links
Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org
CelticLady’s Reviews—Recipe
Leslie Karst—Recipe from Molten Death
Sesame-Shoyu Poke
(serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as an appetizer)
Poke (pronounced “poh-kay”) is a delectable dish prepared with marinated, raw fish—often ahi tuna—similar in some ways to ceviche. It is thought to have been made by ancient Polynesians centuries before Western contact, who prepared it with local reef fish, seaweed, crushed kukui nut (candlenut), and sea salt.
It wasn’t until the 1960s, however, that the name “poke” (Hawaiian for “sliced crosswise into pieces”) was given to the dish, and not until the 1990s that it became well known outside of Hawai‘i. Poke’s rise in popularity is due largely to the efforts of Hawaiian chef and television personality, Sam Choy, who tirelessly promoted the local delicacy and even started a poke contest, an event still held each March in Kona, on the Big Island.
Modern poke recipes commonly include shoyu (soy sauce) and roasted sesame oil, ingredients brought to the islands by Japanese and Chinese immigrants, as well as new innovations such as avocado, kimchee, and Sriracha mayonnaise.
Sesame-Shoyu Poke
Ingredients
1 pound sushi-grade ahi tuna, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
4 tablespoons green onions, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons yellow or white onion, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Direction
If your tuna has a dark bloodline running through it, cut this away and discard, as it has an unpleasant flavor. You’ll need about 1 ¾ pounds of ahi that contains a bloodline in order to end up with 1 ½ pounds of useable fish.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate, covered, at least ½ hour (or up to 6 hours) before it’s time to eat. Serve it with crackers or chips as an appetizer, or over steamed rice for a traditional “poke bowl.”
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