Murder, local style

A couple who moved from California to Hawai'i finds some problems in their seemingly idyllic new home. Even after helping solve two murders, Valerie Corbin and her wife, Kristen, are very happy living in Hilo on the Big Island, where they learn more and more about the local customs and their neighbors, including their unfriendly next-door neighbor, Larry, and his loud and even less friendly dog. In an effort to make some friends, Valerie goes to a meeting of the neighborhood orchid society without Kristen, who's more into surfing, or Kristen's nephew, Sean, a visiting nurse who has to work. Back in California, Valerie was a caterer, so she's happy to volunteer to help with food for the orchid society's benefit that weekend. George Ikeda, who rules the society with an iron fist, is providing homemade vanilla extract for the dessert--chocolate-mac nut tart with vanilla whipped cream--made from his vanilla plants. When Valerie goes to his house to pick it up, he gives her a tour of his orchids and flowering trees, a few of which are less than popular with his neighbors. The dinner goes off well, but several guests become sick the next day, possibly from food poisoning. When George dies, Valerie tries to figure out which dish might have been the problem. It seems that only people who ate the vanilla-flavored whipped cream got sick. Valerie's friend Amy is a police officer who respects her sleuthing abilities enough to order the whipped cream to be tested, and it turns out to contain arsenic. In the meantime, Valerie's continued questions identify many people who might have disliked George. The beauties and customs of Hawai'i provide a striking backdrop for a murder with an unexpected motive. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.