A STORM, TWO ILLICIT LOVE AFFAIRS, AND MOONSHINE...

In this classic cozy mystery set in northern Florida during the Eisenhower era, the 1950s come alive on the page. Lily Trulock, the owner of Trulock's Grocery & Marine Supply, leads a relatively quiet life until a stranger arrives in town. However, it soon becomes clear that the new guy is not what he appears to be, and some of the residents of St. Elmo have their own secrets as well.

Before Lily can utter the words "down the hatch," she finds herself at the center of a vicious murder and a ruthless bootlegging war, all while a nasty storm is brewing on the horizon. This vibrant, atmospheric, and powerful novel is as filled with energy, mystery, and motion as a hurricane.

"Miss Marple meets Eudora Welty (with a trace of Erskine Caldwell)," writes Kirkus, capturing the essence of this remarkable debut. The New York Times praises the author's "kind of realism that stems from William Faulkner," skillfully portraying the "inbred, suspicious, nasty people" of the region and creating a "microcosm of America" under a powerful microscope.

Reviewers and masters of the genre alike have widely praised Hurricane Season for its pitch-perfect period feel and fine, spare writing. P.D. James commends the author's ability to "create that sense of place, which is so important to any novel but particularly to crime fiction," and her creation of a "middle-aged heroine who is both original and sympathetic." John D. MacDonald, meanwhile, lauds the book's "real people in a real place," factors that are becoming increasingly rare in today's literary landscape.

At its core, Hurricane Season is as much a richly-detailed, spot-on historical novel as it is a captivating mystery. The Washington Post hails it as "a remarkable, compelling first novel ... a storm of a story," while The San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner declares it a work that "deserves readers from far beyond the ranks of mystery fans."

In this vivid and evocative tale, the author skillfully weaves together the threads of a classic cozy mystery with the larger tapestry of American history, creating a reading experience that is both deeply satisfying and remarkably resonant.

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