Aloha, all, I’m Valerie Corbin. My wife Kristen and I moved to the Big Island of Hawai‘i from Los Angeles four months ago, after falling in love with the place on our vacation here the previous spring. (Yes, that trip did include a few hitches—not the least of which was a dead body being covered over by hot, flowing lava—but it thankfully all worked out in the end.)
I’m a retired caterer who worked in the film and TV industry, and I’d been looking forward to spending my days simply relaxing in my new-found home of Hilo. But I quickly found that was not enough: I needed something to do with my life other than taking walks with our rescue pup, Pua, and hanging out on the lānai reading and watching the noisy mynah birds squabble in the back yard.
So when my pal Sachiko, who manages the front of the house at the Speckled Gecko downtown, asked if I’d like to replace a bartender who’d gone AWOL the week before, I jumped at the chance. I’m not working a lot—just a few nights a week—but it’s been a great way to meet new people and interact with the locals. And I get to come up with drink specials, which is a marvelous creative outlet.
Today I’ve been thinking about something with tangerine juice, as the citrus trees around here are positively sagging from the weight of all that delectable fruit. As I gaze out my kitchen window, I spy a flash of red high atop the power pole, followed by a sound reminiscent of a a ray gun in a sci-fi movie. Watching the gorgeous male cardinal, I get an idea: My cocktail needs a flash or red, as well. Something to go with the orange to create the look of a sunset.
That’s it—a Hilo Sunset! My tropical take on the Tequila Sunrise, but substituting gin for tequila and adding a splash of Campari for color and a zing of bitter.
Pleased, I start to write down a list of the ingredients: gin, triple sec, tangerine juice, and Campari, with a garnish of a cherry and tangerine slice. But before I can finish the recipe, my cell buzzes.
It’s Isaac, Sachiko’s partner, and the news is not good: They’ve finally found the AWOL bartender—or his body, rather, which has just been pulled out of the Wailuku River.
“Da braddah, he should-a known bettah than to be messin’ around da river li’ dat,” he says with a sigh.
“Why do you say that?” I ask.
Isaac lets out a dry laugh. “You know what ‘Wailuku’ means in Hawaiian, right?”
“Huh-uh, I don’t.”
“Waters of destruction.”
Note: the recipe for the Hilo Sunset cocktail is included in Waters of Destruction.
Waters of Destruction ~ An Orchid Isle Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: April 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Retired caterer Valerie Corbin investigates a suspicious drowning in this Orchid Isle cozy culinary mystery, featuring a feisty queer couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i
After a vacation of a lifetime in Hilo, Hawai‘i, retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have decided to move permanently to the beautiful – if storm-prone – Big Island. The couple are having fun furnishing their new house, exploring their new neighborhood and playing with their new little dog, Pua. But while they’ve made good friends with local restaurant manager Sachiko and her partner Isaac, they can’t help but feel a little lonely.
So when Sachiko begs Val to fill in for a member of her bar team who’s gone AWOL, Val dusts off her cocktail shaker and happily agrees. It’s a great chance to meet more people – and learn the local gossip.
Such as about Hank, the missing bartender, who vanished after a team-building retreat at a local beauty spot a week ago, and hasn’t been seen since. Until, that is, his body turns up at the bottom of the waterfall, and the police seem very interested in where Sachiko was at the time of his death.
Sachiko couldn’t have killed him . . . could she? Val dives into the murky waters of the case, determined to find out.
This mouth-watering cozy mystery is perfect for fans of Ellen Byron, Jennifer J Chow, Lucy Burdette and Raquel V Reyes, and includes a selection of delicious Hawaiian recipes to cook at home.
About the author
Leslie Karst is the Lefty 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.