MOLTEN DEATH

A recuperative trip to Hawaii doesn’t go as planned.

Valerie Corbin and her wife, Kristen, have come to Hawaii hoping that a change of scene will help Valerie recover from the horrors of the car crash that killed her brother and nearly killed her. Staying with a friend on the Big Island, they’re glad when the heavy rains stop just in time for a pre-dawn trip to watch the lava flow from a nearby volcano. When her friends start climbing, Valerie stays behind to enjoy “the lava beast spread[ing] its limbs in its nonstop march downhill”—but she soon sees a boot-encased foot disappearing under the lava and instantly flashes back to her crash. Though neither her friends nor the police believe she really saw a body, Valerie resolves to investigate in the absence of any evidence. In the meantime, the couple continues to enjoy what the island has to offer. For Kristen, that’s great surfing, while Valerie, whose brother owned a restaurant, enjoys the local foods she finds at the farmers markets. Reading the newspaper over breakfast the next morning, Valerie finds someone who might have belonged to that foot. She pokes around, asking questions about matters that are sensitive to several groups: activists for Hawaiian independence, opponents of a geothermal project, avocado thieves, and some low-level drug dealers. Even as she learns more about Hawaiian culture, she can’t forget what she saw and continues to pursue clues likely to put her in danger.

The mystery is overshadowed by the fascinating look at all things Hawaiian.