Valerie Corbin is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Murder, Local Style, the latest novel in the Orchid Isle mystery series.

Welcome, Valerie. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Murder, Local Style is the story of how in order to make new friends, I joined the neighborhood orchid society here in my new-found home of Hilo, Hawai‘i, how I volunteered to oversee their annual benefit dinner (since I’m a retired caterer for the film and TV industry in L.A.), and how it all went horribly wrong when my food ended up poisoning the guests and killing the elderly president of the society.

Not a good way to make new friends.

That’s how I found myself once again trying to solve a murder and exonerate the prime suspect (myself, in this case). You see, this is the third time I’ve found myself in this situation, crazy as it sounds. The first two murder investigations are recounted in the previous books in Leslie Karst’s Orchid Isle mystery series: Molten Death (involving a body—which only I witnessed—being covered over by hot, molten lava) and Waters of Destruction (in which I undertook to prove my good friend Sachiko innocent when the body of the bartender at her restaurant, the Speckled Gecko, is pulled from the dangerous Wailuku River shortly after a heated argument between her and her barkeep).

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

Oh, I have a say, all right! I mean, c’mon—it’s my story. Leslie may have editorial control over how the story is told and what to emphasize, and she may embellish a bit (I suppose that’s the writer’s prerogative), but she better darn well stick the facts. If not, I may well refuse to let her write any more stories about me.

How did you evolve as the main character?

That’s gotta be obvious, right? Because I’m the one who’s been undertaking to investigate these murders here on the Big Island, and the protagonist of crime writing is always the sleuth. (Okay, I suppose on occasion the main character is the villain. But in my case, I had no idea who the murderer was until very late in the game, so that wouldn’t have been an option for Leslie.)

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

Well, I do love sharing the story with my wife, Kristen, who’s been very supportive of my new…hobby? Can putting yourself in danger as you try to track down a killer be a hobby? I guess it can, but it’s not an advisable hobby for most people out there.

And I also quite enjoy sharing my stories with our pals Isaac and Sachiko, who were the first people we knew here in Hilo. Isaac—who grew up down in Puna, a ways south of Hilo—is a great resource for all things Big Island, and his partner Sachiko not only gave me a part-time job as bartender at the Speckled Gecko, but she’s also a hoot-and-a-half to hang out with. Kristen and I love hangin’ with those two whenever we can, over cocktails and a delicious meal of Kalbi ribs or kālua pork with papaya coleslaw and the ubiquitous scoop of steamed white rice.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Hilo is a charming town on the eastern/windward side of the Big Island of Hawai‘i which, because of its reputation for rain, has far less tourists than the better known Kona coast on the leeward/dry side. I love little Hilo town for so many reasons, including the fact that it seems stuck in the 1960s and ’70s with its small shops and restaurants and walkable downtown and the presence of the university and so much music, art, and constant cultural activities, including the world-famous Merrie Monarch hula festival. And the best-kept secret of the place? The rain falls mostly at night, which is absolutely lovely when it pitter-pats upon your metal roof as you slide into sleep.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

If you like Hawaiian-style food and drink, know that there are recipes included in the book—all tested by me and given my hearty stamp of approval!

Thank you for answering my questions, Valerie, and good luck to you and your author, Leslie Karst, with Murder, Local Style, the latest book in the Orchid Isle mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Valerie and her author, Leslie Karst by visiting the author’s website, Chicks on the Case, and Mystery Lovers Kitchen as well as her Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Instagram pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Bookshop

About Leslie Karst: Leslie is the Lefty and Macavity Award-nominated author of the Orchid Isle mysteries Waters of Destruction and Molten Death, of the Sally Solari mystery series, and of the IBPA Ben Franklin and IPPY award silver medal-winning memoir, 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, then returned to school to study the culinary arts. Now retired from the law, Leslie splits her time between Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California, spending her days writing, cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock.