[Florida Panhandle Mysteries 03] • Heat Lightning

THIRTY YEARS OF MARRIAGE AND NOT ONE WORD ABOUT A CERTAIN LITTLE MURDER…

In all the years of their marriage, Clara Trent’s husband failed to mention his involvement in a murder—and now he’s not only dead himself, but accused of committing it. When St. Elmo sheriff’s investigator Aaron Malone re-opens the 40-year-old cold case, Ronan Trent’s named—posthumously—as the killer of his previous lover, a vivacious blonde with a jealous husband. Clara’s discovery of sensuous drawings of the woman, unlike any of her husband’s other work, reveals a carefully concealed obsession.

As she tries to reconcile her recently deceased husband with the facts of the brutal bludgeoning, she’s led back to the scene of the crime, a shabby 50s-style motor court where, as befits a dedicated detective, she takes a room to investigate.

Aaron tries to warn her she may be stirring up a hornet’s nest, but she proceeds to pursue the truth with the tenacious grip of a drowning swimmer on a lifeline. And the hornet’s nest materializes—folks are definitely riled up; some of them are even turning up dead.

Longtime Michaela Thompson readers will be thrilled to return to the scene (and time) of Thompson’s first crime novel, Hurricane Season. Heat Lightning ’s Clara Trent has all the same attractions as observant and stalwart amateur sleuth Lily Trulock: an inquisitive mind, a compassionate heart, and a quietly assertive sense of justice… aka the makings of a talented amateur sleuth.

In fact, Hurricane Season fans are in for a little surprise: a sweet and satisfying memory from the St. Elmo archives, that’ll remind you that you can’t go back to the 50’s, but you can go back to St. Elmo, Florida—and it’s still the kind of place where a date might be a picnic of tuna sandwiches, and the sheriff the son of an old friend.

There’s even an unexpected and alluring romance. Sparks fly when Aaron finds himself strangely drawn to protect the persistent interloper—indeed, he finds her irresistible… and Clara finds it difficult to maintain her early indignance towards the attractive investigator.

Lovers of classic, cozy mysteries with a soft spot for a sweet romance, as well as those who like their female sleuths capable and fearless will adore Clara. As will fans of Laura Lippman, Kate Atkinson, Dawn Lee McKenna, author of the Forgotten Coast series, and Wayne Stinnet—or any thoughtful woman detective tales and suspenseful Florida Panhandle mystery series.