num_pages: 298
description: The grim hard facts of a bizarre ritual murder collide with local legends of sorcery and possession for Maui detective Kali Mhoe.In a remote mountainous area of a Maui forest near Haleakala volcano the naked body of a young woman is found hanging from a tree. The devil is in the details: the womans nostrils mouth and lungs are packed with lava sand. Her hands are bound in twine. Her feet are charred and blackened suggesting a fire-walking ceremony. Detective Kali Mhoes suspicions are immediately aroused. It has all the signs of a ritual torture and murder. But Kalis investigation soon leads her down a winding trail of seemingly unconnected clues and diverging pathsfrom the hanging tree itself a rare rainbow eucalyptus to rumors of a witch haunting the high areas of the forest to the legend of the ancient Hawaiian sorceress Pahulu goddess of nightmares. Casting a shadow over it allthe possibility of a Sitting God a spirit said to invade and possess the soul. Aided by her uncle Police Captain Walter Alakai Officer David Hara and the victims brother Kali embarks down the darkest road of all. One that is leading to the truth of the mountains deadly core and a dark side of the island for which even Kali is unprepared.
language: English
title: The Lava Witch
publisher: Kensington Books