The Lava Witch

As Maui detective Kali Māhoe investigates a bizarre ritual murder near Hawaii’s Haleakala Volcano, the hard facts collide with local legends of spirit possession and sorcery in celebrated travel writer Debra Bokur’s third Dark Paradise Mystery…

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 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. For Detective Kali Māhoe, all signs point toward ritual torture and murder.

But Kali’s investigation leads her down a winding trail of seemingly unconnected clues—from 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 all—the possibility of a Sitting God, a spirit said to invade and possess the soul. Aided by her uncle Police Captain Walter Alaka’i, Officer David Hara, and the victim’s brother, Kali embarks down the darkest road of all. One that is leading to the truth of the mountain’s deadly core and a dark side of the island for which even Kali is unprepared.

Debra Bokur is a journalist, editor, screenwriter, illustrator, and author of the acclaimed Dark Paradise Mystery Series set in the Hawaiian Islands. Her writing frequently delves into topics of magic, legend, animals, spirituality and the mystical, and her work has appeared in a variety of outlets, including National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Spa Magazine, Experience Life Magazine, Natural Home, Yoga Journal, Global Traveler, and Women’s Adventure. She is the recipient of the 2015 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award and has been a member of the Society of American Travel Writers since 2002. She lives in Colorado and can be found online at DebraBokur.com.