LUCY BURDETTE: I’ve loved all of Leslie Karst’s books, and today she’s here to celebrate the beginning of a new series, the Orchid Isle mysteries. Hurray Leslie, we’re dying to hear about your fascination with volcanoes!
LESLIE KARST: I’ve lived half-time on the Big Island of Hawai‘i for sixteen years and have been visiting the place since 1990, and one of the primary reasons I keep returning to the “Orchid Island” is the presence of two active volcanoes (three, if you count HualÄlai, which looms over the tourist town of Kailua-Kona and last erupted in 1801—just yesterday, in geologic terms).
You see, I’m a bit of a volcano junkie. Which is the reason the plot of my new Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death, revolves around hot lava.
Leslie at the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa
So, why, you may ask, would anyone love volcanoes? Aren’t they destructive...and scary?
Yes and yes. But an active volcano is also one of the most awe-inspiring things one can ever see—and feel, hear, and smell, for that matter. Because it’s an experience that truly involves all of your senses:
The mind-boggling sight of the red-and-orange lava beast slithering down the slope towards the ocean.
The intense heat upon your skin, as if the door to a gigantic oven had been opened wide.
The sizzle of the rain on the hot lava, the crackling of the molten rock as it cools, and the explosion of methane gas when the flow overtakes and ignites a small tree.
And finally the acrid smell—and tang—of the sulfuric gas, causing your eyes to sting and your breath to catch.
One of the most memorable volcano experiences I ever had occurred during my first visit to the Big Island, when my volcano-junkie parents (yes, I come by it honestly)—who were spending several months on the island—took my partner (now wife) and me out for a pre-dawn hike to see the current lava flow. After walking for an hour or so over an arid, black landscape more reminiscent of the moon than of a tropical paradise, we spied a red glow and steam rising in the distance and cautiously approached. There at our feet was a gaping hole some ten feet wide that had opened up in the hardened rock.
It was a volcanic skylight: a view down into a lava tube in which a river of molten rock flowed immediately below us, its orange-white magma so bright that it was impossible to stare at for more than a moment. Frightened by the sight—and scalded by the searing-hot steam rising from the hole—we jumped back quickly. Would the rock we were standing upon crumble, too, and send us tumbling into the river of lava?
But the sight proved far too compelling, and as one, the four of us crept forward once again to gaze in awe down into the fiery depths, below.
Leslie and Robin at the lava tube
It was in that moment that I knew I needed to spend more time in this amazing—almost magical—place. A place where the earth is still in flux, growing and breathing before our very eyes, and where we humans bend to the will of the volcano, awed by its majesty and beauty.
Yes, the Big Island was calling out to me to make it my part-time home.
And, okay—I’ll admit it—the tropical flowers, warm, azure ocean, and balmy trade winds are pretty darn compelling, as well....
sexy pink heliconia
Readers: What’s the most awe-inspiring natural phenomenon you’ve ever witnessed? Comment below (with your email address) for a chance to win a copy of my new Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death! (US residents only)
About MOLTEN DEATH: 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 . . .
Leslie Karst is the author of the Orchid Isle Mystery Molten Death, of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari series, and of Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. When not writing, you’ll find her cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California.