Older Hawaiians believe that the sweltering heat of the Kona season is a harbinger of disaster. With the cooling trade winds stilled, the islands cease to be a paradise. In the past, the season has brought tidal waves, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

This time it brings death.

Young, recently married Leslie Farnham returns to her Maui ranch from the mainland only to discover that her older husband, a wealthy Maui castle rancher, has disappeared at sea. Her in-laws have seized the ranch and Leslie finds herself an unwelcome guest in her own home. A stableboy tries to warn her about impending peril but is killed in a sudden, questionable accident.

Leslie’s only ally is novelist Janice Cameron, who has made the trip from Honolulu to Maui on behalf of a friend of the missing rancher. While Janice snoops about the island, her friend Lily Wu does a little sleuthing of her own back on Oahu.

This 1952 mystery is a vivid portrait of a changing society whose native people are battling to hold on to—and preserve—their traditions and history.

Reviews

“Her characters… have depth… an unexpected twist at the end.”
—Reviewing the Evidence

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