CANR
WORK TITLE: Waters of Destruction
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lesliekarstauthor.com/
CITY: Santa Cruz
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: LRC July 2022
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Daughter of a retired law professor (father) and a potter (mother); married; wife’s name Robin.
EDUCATION:University of California, Santa Cruz, B.A.; Stanford Law School, J.D.; also attended Cabrillo College.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Attorney and writer. Research and appellate attorney for a civil law firm, Santa Cruz County, CA, for twenty years. Also played in a new wave rock and roll band.
AVOCATIONS:Singing, gardening, cycling, writing, cooking.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Leslie Karst is an attorney and writer. She has been a research and appellate attorney for a civil law firm in Santa Cruz County, California, for some twenty years. During her years of working in law, she developed an interest in food and cooking, which prompted her to return to school for a culinary arts degree. She is retired from the law field and devotes the majority of her time to cooking and writing. Karst has a B.A. in English literature and Romance languages from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a degree in culinary arts from Cabrillo College. She earned her law degree from Stanford Law School in Stanford, California.
In her debut novel, Dying for a Taste, Karst introduces Sally Solari, a former attorney who has been helping her widowed father at his traditional Italian-style restaurant in Santa Cruz. Bad news arrives when Sally is informed by an ex-boyfriend, Assistant District Attorney Eric Byrne, that her Aunt Letty, the owner of a high-end Polynesian restaurant named Gauguin, has been murdered. Evidence suggests that the murderer is Javier, the sous chef whom Letty had mentored and encouraged in his career. Even more surprisingly, she finds out that her aunt has left her the restaurant. Unexpectedly a restaurant proprietor, Sally has to decide what to do about her new business. Sally doesn’t believe that the loyal Javier would have killed Letty, so she asks him to keep Gauguin running while she undertakes an investigation to find the real killer.
As she looks into the case, Sally makes some surprising discoveries about Aunt Letty, including the existence of a boyfriend, Tony, and a girlfriend from earlier in Letty’s life. Threatening letters from an animal activist also provide clues to what was going on in Gauguin before Letty was murdered. Worse for Sally, she also finds out that there are some individuals who are not at all pleased that she has become the owner of the restaurant. After Javier is arrested, Sally must step up her efforts to find the killer, clear Javier, and impose justice for her departed aunt.
Dying for a Taste “is a successful blend of mystery and foodie novels. Karst does an excellent job of tossing in interesting tidbits about mixology, menu planning, opera, botany, cycling, lesbian culture, small farms, and even accounting,” noted Rachel Jagareski in Foreword Reviews. Karst’s “smart, engaging characters steal the show in this razor-sharp new food series,” remarked Amy Alessio in a Booklist review. “An intelligent sleuth, an unusual murder, and a few recipes add to the appeal” of this debut novel, commented a contributor to Publishers Weekly. “Karst’s series debut features a spunky heroine, a mystery loaded with red herrings, oodles of food lore, and the requisite appended recipes,” observed a Kirkus Reviews writer. An Internet Bookwatch contributor called Dying for a Taste a “terrifically entertaining and deftly written mystery.”
Restaurant owner and sleuth Sally Solari returned in A Measure of Murder. Now she is managing two different restaurants: her family’s Italian restaurant and a different one she inherited. When she joins her ex-boyfriend’s chorus, things turn mysterious when one of her fellow singers falls to his death. To complicate matters, the victim’s girlfriend is sure it was not an accident, and Sally thinks she might be right. As Sally investigates, her new restaurant catches on fire, and she wonders if she herself might be in danger. Contested wills and Mozart’s “Requiem” add to the intrigue, while recipes are included for reader-cooks.
A Kirkus Reviews writer praised the book, noting that Karst’s own interests line up with Sally’s. The result is a “mystery that rings true and features several unexpected twists along with the appended recipes that are de rigueur for culinary cozies.” A Publishers Weekly critic was even more enthusiastic, hailing the novel’s “engaging characters, terrific writing, and a savory blend of musical and culinary erudition.” The review praised the variety of ingredients in the story, describing Karst as a “polymath” who “sauces her plot without masking its flavor.” An Internet Bookwatch reviewer agreed, calling it a “savory sleuth-connoisseur’s delight!”
The third installment in the “Sally Solari” mystery series, Death al Fresco, was published in 2018. When her dog finds a dead body along the shore of the bay, she recognizes the person. The deceased was a regular at Sally’s restaurant, and some neighbors start accusing Sally’s father of giving the victim too much to drink the night he died. That means it is up to Sally to solve the mystery and clear her father’s name, but things become complicated when she finds some compromising evidence and decides to hide it. Adding to the intrigue, the chef at her other restaurant is threatening to quit and start his own business.
A Publishers Weekly writer remarked that “cozy fans should have fun watching her navigate her various crises.” A Kirkus Reviews writer called the novel “a tasty combination” with “an unusual motive for murder.” A reviewer in Internet Bookwatch, praised Karst’s “complete mastery of the genre” and argued the novel will be “an immediate and enduringly popular addition” to local libraries.
Murder from Scratch is Karst’s fourth novel in the series. The possible murder victim this time is Sally’s aunt, who was also a chef and who left behind Sally’s cousin Evelyn, who is blind. Despite what the police believe, Evelyn is convinced that her mother’s death was no accident, and she and Sally are soon sleuthing about. That involves entering the competitive world of commercial kitchens and the rivalries that arise.
A Publishers Weekly writer was impressed with this installment, calling Murder from Scratch “lively” with “cover-to-cover fun for culinary cozy fans.” Shoshana Frank, writing in Booklist, praised the novel for both its “intricately plotted mystery” and for the “engaging and often amusing world” that Karst creates. The review declared that fans of Rita Mae Brown and Darci Hannah will enjoy this “delicious mystery.” An Internet Bookwatch reviewer agreed and called the novel “solidly crafted and unfailingly entertaining” with a “riveting” mystery.
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The Fragrance of Death, the next novel in the series, finds Sally struggling with a sinus infection that makes cooking difficult. Meanwhile, her involvement with too many murders has friends wondering if they should be spending time with her. That is not true for Detective Martin Vargas, whom Sally is now dating. It turns out her friends’ fears were somewhat justified, however, when an old acquaintance of Sally’s is murdered at a cooking competition. There are a number of suspects, and Sally dives into the investigation to discover who did it, even as it aggravates her new boyfriend who believes she has gone too far.
“Lots of suspects and even more food” is how a contributor to Kirkus Reviews described this installment. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly called it a “well-done culinary cozy” that should “win new fans.”
After wrapping up the series with A Sense for Murder, Karst went in a much different direction with Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, & Cooking for RBG, a memoir about Karst’s opportunity to cook for the Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Karst had embraced cooking while she worked as a lawyer, and her father had connections with Ginsburg. When Leslie was given the opportunity to host a dinner party for his retirement, she learned that Ginsburg and her husband would be there. The memoir describes the months of fretting and planning that Karst went through as she tries to host a perfect dinner, both for her father’s sake and for RBG. This includes a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration and a description of the various dishes Karst made and the wines she served.
Reviewers were charmed by Karst’s memoir. A writer in Kirkus Reviews praised the book for its “entertaining anecdotes” and Karst’s “smooth, charming writing style.” They also enjoyed how Karst includes information on “Supreme Court cases and protocol” as well as Ginsburg’s own “personal and professional history.” The result is a “delightful memoir” perfect for “home chefs and Ginsburg fans.” Kristen Rabe, writing in ForeWord, also called the book “delightful” as well as “enthralling,” “suspenseful,” and “exhilarating.” Rabe was taken with Karst’s “self-deprecating humor” and wrote that the book is an “entertaining, engrossing page-turner that documents months of planning and soul-searching.” Writing in MBR Bookwatch, Mary Cowper agreed with those sentiments, as she described the memoir as a “fascinating and fun read from first page to last.” She wrote that the book is an “extraordinary combination of memoir and inspirational self-help guide.”
Molten Death launched a new detective series, the “Orchard Isle Mystery” series, and a new protagonist, Valerie Corbin. Karst told Good Times that as much as she loved the character of Sally Solari, “I felt I was ready to move on—I’d told as much of Sally’s story as I needed to.” Karst was also motivated by the chance to set a mystery series on the Big Island of Hawaii and incorporate its active volcanoes. The mystery begins when Valerie happens to see a body disappearing into hot lava. She is convinced the person has been murdered, but there is no body left, and she was the only one who saw it. That leads her to set out on her own investigation, and she soon determines who the victim was along with a number of potential suspects.
A contributor in Publishers Weekly liked this series opener. They appreciated how the mystery is grounded in “Valerie’s emotional struggles” and how the book does not ignore the “thorny politics of Hawaiian tourism.” “Readers will be hungry for the sequel,” they wrote. A writer in Internet Bookwatch agreed, writing that the book contains “all of the elements of a cozy mystery.” They enjoyed the “unexpected twists and turns.”
Valerie and her wife Kristen return in the series’ second installment, Waters of Destruction. This mystery focuses on a suspicious drowning when a bartender turns up missing and Valerie’s friend is a primary suspect. Valerie has to investigate to clear his name. A reviewer in Kirkus Reviews enjoyed the book, both for its “entertaining mystery” and the “Hawaiian lore” Karst includes.
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2016, Amy Alessio, review of Dying for a Taste, p. 26; March 1, 2019, Shoshana Frank, review of Murder from Scratch, p. 28.
ForeWord, February 27, 2023, Kristen Rabe, review of Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG.
Foreword Reviews, February 29, 2016, Rachel Jagareski, review of Dying for a Taste.
Internet Bookwatch, April, 2016, review of Dying for a Taste; April, 2017, review of A Measure of Murder; May, 2018, review of Death al Fresco; June, 2019, review of Murder from Scratch; June, 2024, review of Molten Death.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2016, review of Dying for a Taste; December 15, 2016, review of A Measure of Murder; February 1, 2018, review of Death al Fresco; June 15, 2022, review of The Fragrance of Death; December 21, 2022, review of Justice Is Served; February 1, 2023, review of Justice Is Served; March 1, 2024, review of Molten Death; February 15, 2025, review of Waters of Destruction.
MBR Bookwatch, April, 2023, Mary Cowper, review of Justice Is Served.
Publishers Weekly, February 29, 2016, review of Dying for a Taste, p. 42; December 5, 2016, review of A Measure of Murder, p. 51; January 29, 2018, review of Death al Fresco, p. 172; February 25, 2019, review of Murder from Scratch, p. 57; June 20, 2022, review of The Fragrance of Death, pp. 119+; February 19, 2024, review of Molten Death, pp. 36+.
Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 20, 2016, Wallace Baine, “Leslie Karst Sets Her New Novel amidst the Clashing Food Cultures of Santa Cruz,” review of Dying for a Taste.
ONLINE
Good Times, https://www.goodtimes.sc/ (May 1, 2024), Christina Waters, author interview.
Leslie Karst website, http:// www.lesliekarstauthor.com (September 8, 2025).
Luxury Reading, http: //www.luxuryreading.cm/ (October 27, 2016), review of Dying for a Taste.
Manhattan Book Review, http://www.manhattanbookreview.com/ (October 27, 2016), review of Dying for a Taste.*
The Wickeds, https://wickedauthors.com/ (April 3, 2025), Edith Maxwell, author interview.
The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned early, during family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. She spent her early years in various locales (Columbus, Ohio; South America and Mexico; Oxford, England; and Santa Monica, California), then moved from Southern California to Santa Cruz to study English literature and Romance languages at UCSC (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs).
Leslie was able to parlay her humanities degree into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock and roll band. Exciting though this life was, however, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.
Having survived the horror that is the California bar exam, Leslie then worked for twenty years as the research and appellate attorney for a civil law firm in Santa Cruz County. During this period, she rediscovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in culinary arts from Cabrillo College.
Now retired from the law, in addition to writing, she spends her days cooking (and eating!), gardening, cycling, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o'clock. Leslie and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Hilo, Hawai‘i, and Santa Cruz, California.
Mystery writer Leslie Karst
A volcanic new direction
By
Christina Waters
May 1, 2024
ALOHA Learn about the real Hawaii in Leslie Karst’s novel. Photo: Contributed
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Local author and parttime Hawai’i resident Leslie Karst has made a volcanic pivot from her popular Sally Solari series with a brand-new adventure mystery, Molten Death. In this debut of her Orchid Isle series, Karst takes the reader well beyond touristic tiki bars and luau buffets. Once her protagonist sees a body being engulfed by hot lava, the hunt is on for a killer, an authentic hula and a cold mai tai. Molten Death is packed with island lore, simmering eco-politics, beaucoup hot lava and, of course, Karst’s tasty menus.
Did the experience of actually watching glowing molten lava from recent volcanoes trigger the idea for this book?
Leslie Karst: Yes and no. Molten Death has actually been a long time in the making. I came up with the idea for the story after I—like my protagonist, Valerie—was taken aback on my first visit to Hawai‘i at how very different the Big Island was from what I’d imagined it would be. But it was different in a captivating, almost magical way.
music in the park san jose, larussell
What makes the island special for this lava junkie is the presence of two active volcanoes. This ongoing volcanic activity has shaped not only the island’s geology, flora and fauna, but also the culture of the intrepid Polynesians who made the long voyage from the South Pacific to the archipelago by outrigger canoe some 800 years ago. Even today, inhabitants of the Big Island pay respect to Pele by leaving her offerings of gin and woven leis of ti intertwined with ‘ōhi‘a lehua blossoms along the rim of Kīlauea crater.
And when Pele sent a river of lava down through the communities of Leilani Estates and Kapoho back in 2018, I knew it was time to write the story. I had to share my awe and love for this geologically dynamic, culturally diverse and stupendously beautiful island and tell a tale of secrets and mystery, friendship and food, and hot molten lava.
This Orchid Isle Mystery is the first of a brand-new series for you. Was it refreshing for you as a mystery writer to move out in a new direction?
LK: It was. Much as I adore Sally Solari and the cast of characters in that series, after six books, I felt I was ready to move on—I’d told as much of Sally’s story as I needed to. I’ve also long been eager to set a book on the Big Island. A large part of that was my fascination with the volcanoes. But I was also taken with the unique cultural makeup of the place as a result of the history of immigration to the Hawaiian islands. Long after the original Polynesians came the whalers, then the missionaries and other haoles, who ended up in control of vast sugarcane and pineapple plantations. Next came wave after wave of workers brought in to work those plantations, including Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Filipinos. As a result, the Big Island is now one of the most culturally diverse places in all the country.
You include plenty of island politics in this new book. Do you have faith in your readers’ interest in the issues?
LK: My guess is that armchair travelers are happy to learn about this “real” Hawai‘i. No one wants to be preached to in a novel, but readers do expect an accurate portrayal of the place where the story is set. And in crime fiction in particular, cultural and political issues specific to the area can be vital to the crafting of the mystery, providing motives for the various suspects. Thus, Molten Death touches on such things as the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and the anger at what some longtime residents see as desecration of their land by the geothermal energy plant down in Puna.
Do you always know how the book ends? Or do you let yourself be surprised by the ultimate outcome?
LK: In the world of crime fiction, writers are often said to be “plotters” or “pantsers”—i.e, they either plot everything in advance or they write by the seat of their pants, making it up as they go.
For my first Sally Solari mystery, Dying for a Taste, I fell firmly into the first category, completing a detailed outline of the entire book before setting fingers to keyboard to begin writing the story. But with each succeeding book, I’ve slipped more and more into that loosey-goosey world of the pantser. That said, I never start writing until I know who did it, and also what prompts my amateur sleuth to investigate the death.
Originally from Southern California, Leslie Karst moved north to attend UC Santa Cruz (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs), and after graduation, parlayed her degree in English literature into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock and roll band. Exciting though this life was, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.
For the next twenty years Leslie worked as the research and appellate attorney for Santa Cruz’s largest civil law firm. During this time, she discovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in Culinary Arts.
Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her time cooking, singing alto in the local community chorus, gardening, cycling, and of course writing. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy, split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai'i.
Leslie Karst
USA flag
The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst spent her early years in various locales: Columbus, Ohio; South America and Mexico; Oxford, England; and Santa Monica, California. She moved from Southern California to Santa Cruz to study English literature and romance languages at UCSC, and has been a Northern California gal ever since.Leslie went on to attend Stanford Law School and then worked for twenty years as the research and appellate attorney for a civil law firm in Santa Cruz County.
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Series
Sally Solari Mystery
1. Dying for a Taste (2016)
2. A Measure of Murder (2017)
3. Death Al Fresco (2018)
4. Murder from Scratch (2019)
5. The Fragrance of Death (2022)
6. A Sense for Murder (2023)
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Orchid Isle Mystery
1. Molten Death (2024)
2. Waters of Destruction (2025)
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Novellas and Short Stories
Curse of the Supertaster (2024)
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Non fiction hide
Justice is Served (2023)
Guest Leslie Karst with a New Orchid Isle Mystery plus #giveaway!
by Edith MaxwellPosted onApril 3, 2025
News Flash: Jarjm is Leslie’s lucky winner. Congratulations, and please check your email!
Edith here, writing from north of Boston where spring bulbs are bursting out and birds are busy building nests.
Spring is also a great to welcome back Leslie Karst, whom I was delighted to spend time with at Left Coast Crime in Denver a couple of weeks ago. She has a fun bit in her new Waters of Destruction that she took from real life!
But first the cover copy: After a vacation of a lifetime in Hilo, Hawai‘i, retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have decided to move permanently to the beautiful – if storm-prone – Big Island. The couple are having fun furnishing their new house, exploring their new neighborhood and playing with their new little dog, Pua. But while they’ve made good friends with local restaurant manager Sachiko and her partner Isaac, they can’t help but feel a little lonely. So when Sachiko begs Val to fill in for a member of her bar team who’s gone AWOL, Val dusts off her cocktail shaker and happily agrees. It’s a great chance to meet more people – and learn the local gossip.
Such as about Hank, the missing bartender, who vanished after a team-building retreat at a local beauty spot a week ago, and hasn’t been seen since. Until, that is, his body turns up at the bottom of the waterfall, and the police seem very interested in where Sachiko was at the time of his death. Sachiko couldn’t have killed him . . . could she? Val dives into the murky waters of the case, determined to find out.
Book two in my Orchid Isle mystery series, Waters of Destruction—which released Tuesday—opens with my protagonists, Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen, at a garage sale in Hilo, Hawai‘i. The two have just moved to the Big Island from Los Angeles and are looking to furnish their new 1930s-era plantation style home.
The problem is, there’s a guy who’s been beating them to every house they’ve visited so far that morning, and he’s buying up all the items they would’ve snagged had they gotten there first: colorful Pyrex bowls, a cast iron skillet, vintage Japanese plates, even a copy of The Joy of Cooking.
Some of Robin’s and Leslie’s early garage sale finds in Hilo
This was a fun scene for me to write, since it’s based on what actually happened to my wife Robin and I when we moved to Hilo and bought a house here some eighteen years ago. We arrived on-island with suitcases full of clothes and other essentials, but the house was almost completely bare. The previous tenants had left a few things at our request: a set of plain white plates and dishes, some towels, an old leather couch, and a couple of plastic waste baskets (which we turned upside-down and used for tiny tables).
Dinner in our their home
So we needed furnishings and kitchenware pronto.
Luckily, the garage sale culture in Hilo is strong. We’d buy the Friday newspaper, peruse the classifieds to check out the addresses of the garage sales the next morning, and then map out the most efficient route to hit them all without not too much back-tracking.
And then we’d get up early on Saturday morning. And I mean early. Folks in Hilo do not sleep in. Most garage sales started at six am—though sometimes even at five—and the classified ads would invariably say “no early birders,” as otherwise they’d have people waiting at their doors at four am.
Scoring a real bed and mattress quickly
Because of the early hour, many homes would offer coffee and food for sale as well as typical garage sale items. So we’d treat ourselves to butter mochi, hot malasadas (a sort of Portuguese donut), and Spam musubi while picking through boxes of kitchen utensils and checking out dressers and end tables.
But there was a problem. This one guy seemed always to get to the houses before us, and he had the exact same taste as did we: mid-century kitchenware, Japanese carved wood furniture, silk aloha shirts, and framed artwork depicting scenes from old Hawai‘i.
We bought out almost all the furnishings of a guy who was moving to the Mainland, and he even helped us move!
So we decided to skip the next house on our route and next go to the one after that. Which worked. For that week. But then, there he was again the following Saturday, already at the first house we’d arrived at. (We later realized he had a stall at a local farmers market/flea market down in Puna and eventually befriended the guy.)
Garage sale-ing—or more accurately, lānai sale-ing—was a terrific introduction to Hilo for us. For not only did we end up with a collection of lovely furnishings for our new home, but by mapping our those routes and then driving through so many different neighborhoods, we quickly acquired a familiarity with the town.
A special find: our monkey bar and Martini glasses!
But most of all, it gave us a glimpse into the local culture that was invaluable to malihinis (newcomers) such as us, as it allowed us to visit the homes of families from all different walks of life: Hawaiian, Filipino, Portuguese, Japanese-Hawaiian, Chinese, haole (foreigners of European descent), and those simply referred to as “locals”—a mishmash of all the above.
I still remember those garage sale-ing days fondly. Though not the getting up at five am….
Readers: Do you like to go to garage sales? What are some of the best finds you’ve made at them? Comment below (with your email address) for a chance to win a copy of the first Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death! (US residents only)
Leslie Karst is the Lefty Award-nominated author of the Orchid Isle Mysteries Waters of Destruction and Molten Death, of the Sally Solari culinary mysteries, and of the IBPA Ben Franklin and IPPY award silver medal-winning memoir Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. When not writing, you’ll find her cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock. Leslie and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California.
Karst, Leslie THE FRAGRANCE OF DEATH Severn House (Fiction None) $29.99 8, 2 ISBN: 978-1-4483-0903-0
What could be worse for a chef than to lose her sense of smell and taste? Wait and see.
Sally Solari is stricken with a head cold just as she's competing in the annual Artichoke Cook-Off in her hometown of Santa Cruz. Among the competitors are her father and Neil Lerici, the brother of her high school bestie, Grace, who's running his parents' artichoke farm. Neil once again wins the People's Choice award, but any enjoyment he might take in his honor ends when his body is discovered with a gash in the head and an artichoke stuffed in his mouth. Since breaking off a romantic relationship with Eric, her closest friend, Sally's been dating Det. Martin Vargas, who, knowing that she's had a hand in solving other murders, asks her to keep her eyes open. All right, maybe Sally gets a little carried away when she renews her friendship with Grace and becomes involved in the family's problems. Their father, who seems to be having memory issues, had been thinking about dividing the farm among Neil, Grace, and their older brother, Ryan, a real estate agent, but their mother's and Neil's opposition to the idea had stirred up bitter feelings within Ryan, who already had a buyer in mind. Mrs. Lerici used to date Sally's dad in high school, and she gets a funny feeling about their relationship after Mr. Lerici makes a vague reference to someone not being his son. Juggling all these problems with her attempts to cook without any sense of smell, Sally learns enough to alienate Vargas, who thinks she's gone too far.
Lots of suspects and even more food.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Karst, Leslie: THE FRAGRANCE OF DEATH." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A706932992/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4dd26c73. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
The Fragrance of Death
Leslie Karst. Severn, $29.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4483-0903-0
At the start of Karst's enjoyable fifth outing for Santa Cruz, Calif., chef Sally Solari (after 2019s Murder from Scratch), Sally realizes that a sinus infection has left her without a sense of smell. The timing couldn't be worse, with the annual Artichoke Cook-Off about to begin. Sally hopes her artichoke salad recipe will place her in the winner's circle, but a chef who can't taste her own cooking is a liability in the kitchen. Cutthroat competition pits Sally against friends and family, including former high school classmate Neil Lerici, an artichoke grower, and her father, restaurateur Mario Solari. When the discovery of Neil's body--with an artichoke wedged in his mouth--cuts short the awards ceremony, the motives for Neil's murder are as abundant as the suspects. Unable to keep her nose out of the investigation, Sally uncovers troubling family secrets, including her father's romance with Neil's mother. Meanwhile, Sally's efforts to ignore her feelings as ex-boyfriend Eric is consumed by his new relationship with another woman adds some emotional depth. This well-done culinary cozy should win new fans for the ever enterprising Sally. Agent: Erin Niumata, Folio Literary Management. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"The Fragrance of Death." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 26, 20 June 2022, pp. 119+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A710383331/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=89f24c4e. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Karst, Leslie JUSTICE IS SERVED She Writes Press (NonFiction Nonfiction) $17.95 4, 4 ISBN: 978-1647424589
A home chef recounts fretting about the exciting opportunity to cook for a United States Supreme Court justice.
In this delightful memoir, culinary mystery series author Karst writes of rediscovering her love of food and cooking in the midst of a career as a small-town appellate attorney. This passion culminates in the pinnacle of her hobby when she is commissioned to cook for Ruth Bader Ginsburg in February 2006. When the author received the news nine months earlier, a lavish menu began spinning inside her head, as did fears and insecurities on how to perfect an important meal for such a distinguished guest. With affable, enthusiastic prose, Karst describes how her father, a constitutional law professor who met Ginsburg in the 1960s, arranged for his daughter to host a dinner party with the prestigious justice in honor of his pending retirement. The dinner menu construction became the author and her partner Robin's raison d'être for visiting Paris to research tempting, delicious, sophisticated, and sumptuous entrees, side dishes, and desserts to incorporate in what came to be known as "the dinner." As the countdown to the event dwindled to mere weeks and all the cookbooks the author could meticulously scour were perused, Karst's anxiety about cuisine, wine selection, and china finally resulted in an impressive, elegant multicourse dinner fit for a Supreme Court justice. The author makes the journey a fun one thanks to a smooth, charming writing style and the food preparation subject matter that readers can relate to. More than just a dabbling chef's journal of the most important meal prep of her life, the book is also educational, fortified by intriguing information about Supreme Court cases and protocols along with "interlude" sidebars that elaborate on everything from Ginsburg's personal and professional history to her outspoken reputation as an outlier. Bonus material features complete recipes for some of the dishes Karst prepared for the justice's meal, including "Seared Sea Scallop with Ginger-Lime Cream Sauce," "Wasabi Mashed Potatoes," and "Blackened Ahi." Home chefs and Ginsburg fans will find this culinary adventure exquisitely delectable.
A savory stew of memories and entertaining anecdotes about a dinner with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Karst, Leslie: JUSTICE IS SERVED." Kirkus Reviews, 21 Dec. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731562547/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=dae3b78c. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Karst, Leslie JUSTICE IS SERVED She Writes Press (NonFiction Nonfiction) $17.95 4, 4 ISBN: 978-1647424589
A home chef recounts fretting about the exciting opportunity to cook for a United States Supreme Court justice.
In this delightful memoir, culinary mystery series author Karst writes of rediscovering her love of food and cooking in the midst of a career as a small-town appellate attorney. This passion culminates in the pinnacle of her hobby when she is commissioned to cook for Ruth Bader Ginsburg in February 2006. When the author received the news nine months earlier, a lavish menu began spinning inside her head, as did fears and insecurities on how to perfect an important meal for such a distinguished guest. With affable, enthusiastic prose, Karst describes how her father, a constitutional law professor who met Ginsburg in the 1960s, arranged for his daughter to host a dinner party with the prestigious justice in honor of his pending retirement. The dinner menu construction became the author and her partner Robin's raison d'être for visiting Paris to research tempting, delicious, sophisticated, and sumptuous entrees, side dishes, and desserts to incorporate in what came to be known as "the dinner." As the countdown to the event dwindled to mere weeks and all the cookbooks the author could meticulously scour were perused, Karst's anxiety about cuisine, wine selection, and china finally resulted in an impressive, elegant multicourse dinner fit for a Supreme Court justice. The author makes the journey a fun one thanks to a smooth, charming writing style and the food preparation subject matter that readers can relate to. More than just a dabbling chef's journal of the most important meal prep of her life, the book is also educational, fortified by intriguing information about Supreme Court cases and protocols along with "interlude" sidebars that elaborate on everything from Ginsburg's personal and professional history to her outspoken reputation as an outlier. Bonus material features complete recipes for some of the dishes Karst prepared for the justice's meal, including "Seared Sea Scallop with Ginger-Lime Cream Sauce," "Wasabi Mashed Potatoes," and "Blackened Ahi." Home chefs and Ginsburg fans will find this culinary adventure exquisitely delectable.
A savory stew of memories and entertaining anecdotes about a dinner with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Karst, Leslie: JUSTICE IS SERVED." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735117857/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c57608e0. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Leslie Karst; JUSTICE IS SERVED; She Writes Press (Nonfiction: Autobiography & Memoir) 17.95 ISBN: 9781647424589
Byline: Kristen Rabe
In the delightful, enthralling memoir Justice Is Served, Leslie Karst describes her nine-month endeavor to plan an elegant, four-course dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband Marty.
When Karst's father, a renowned UCLA law professor, invited his friend Justice Ginsburg to speak at the law school in 2006, the invitation included dinner served by his daughter at their Santa Monica home. While Karst had a lifelong passion for cooking and regularly hosted dinner parties, she had never attempted a meal this ambitious. Her work was as a research and appellate attorney for a Santa Cruz law firm. With self-deprecating humor, Karst concocts an entertaining, engrossing page-turner that documents months of planning and soul-searching.
The book relates the delicious intricacies of choosing the menu -- seared scallops, butternut squash soup (based on a French Laundry recipe), spinach salad with blood oranges, and blackened ahi tuna -- as well as the quest to source ingredients, determine wine pairings, and select china and garnishes to showcase each course. Karst turned to her partner Robin for help, as well as friends, parents, and food and wine experts in her community for advice. The adventure ended in an extraordinary evening with the Ginsburgs and in Karst's renewed resolve to find a vocation that she "truly loved -- as much as Ruth did the law." Fascinating sidebars include striking views of Justice Ginsburg (covering her love of opera, her admiration for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and her reflections on Roe vs. Wade) and Marty's inspiring support of her (including assuming cooking duties after his wife served a "dinosaur" of a tuna casserole).
Justice Is Served is a suspenseful, exhilarating memoir; Karst relays her determination to serve the "perfect" meal to RBG alongside an uplifting, enlightening portrayal of one of the most admired justices in the history of the Supreme Court.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Foreword Magazine, Inc.
http://www.forewordmagazine.com
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Rabe, Kristen. "Justice Is Served; A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG." ForeWord, 27 Feb. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A739741648/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e65b7d07. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG
Leslie Karst
https://www.lesliekarstauthor.com
She Writes Press
www.shewritespress.com
9781647424589, $17.95, PB, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Served-Tale-Scallops-Cooking/dp/1647424585
Synopsis: When Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled--and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice to the daily grind of pumping out billable hours, Karst had never before thrown such a high-stakes dinner party. Could she really pull this off?
"Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG" is Karst's light-hearted yet earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on--starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg's transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation's history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night.
But this memoir isn't simply a tale of prepping for and cooking dinner for the famous RBG; it's also about how this event, and all the planning and preparation that went into it, created a new sort of connection between Karst, her partner, and her parents, and also inspired Karst to make life changes that would reverberate far beyond one dinner party.
A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, "Justice Is Served" is an inspiring reminder that it's never too late to discover (and follow!) your deepest passion.
Critique: A fascinating and fun read from first page to last, "Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG" by Leslie Karst is an extraordinary combination of memoir and inspirational self-help guide. While highly recommended for community library American Biography/Memoir collections, and a 'must' for all Ruth Bader Ginsburg fans, "Justice Is Served" is also available in a digital book format ($8.99).
Editorial Note: Leslie Karst (https://www.lesliekarstauthor.com) waited tables and sang in a new wave rock band before deciding she was ready for "real" job and ending up at Stanford Law School. It was during her career as a research and appellate attorney in Santa Cruz, California, that she rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking, at which point she once again returned to school--this time to earn a degree in culinary arts. Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her days penning the Sally Solari culinary mystery series, as well as cooking, gardening, cycling, and singing alto in her local community chorus.
Mary Cowper
Reviewer
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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Cowper, Mary. "Justice Is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG." MBR Bookwatch, Apr. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A748929351/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e3a3cf10. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Karst, Leslie A SENSE FOR MURDER Severn House (Fiction None) $31.99 8, 1 ISBN: 9781448309054
One good deed leads to another murder hunt for a California chef with a sideline in sleuthing.
Sally Solari co-owns Gauguin, a French Polynesian restaurant in Santa Cruz that she inherited from her aunt. A former lawyer who'd rather be cooking, she gets an earful from her father, who runs the family's Italian restaurant, about the large number of people sleeping outdoors in the town. Feeling guilty, she volunteers to help at a fundraiser at Page and Plums, a newly opened restaurant/bookstore, whose dinner and auction will raise funds for the homeless. All goes fairly well until dining-room manager Alan Keeting is found dead and a valuable set of Julia Child's cookbooks are reported missing. Sally's boyfriend, DA Eric Byrne, is already at the dinner, and her former boyfriend Det. Martin Vargas soon shows up. Vargas, who knows all too well that Sally's been embroiled in past murders, warns her off, but when the bookstore owner becomes a suspect and asks for her help, she agrees. Sally's discussions about living together with Eric, who's unhappy in his job, are far from a satisfactory conclusion when a concussion he gets in a surfing accident makes him very moody, adding to her angst. Sally has found the missing books, sans signed pages, under a dumpster near Page and Plums and compiled a list of suspects to investigate when she's attacked and nearly strangled to death while she's walking her dog, Buster, in a protected green space that's evidently not so protected. The feeling that she's touched a nerve with the killer redoubles her commitment to the case.
An enjoyable read for mystery mavens and foodies alike.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Karst, Leslie: A SENSE FOR MURDER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A754972053/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1591d9bc. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Molten Death: An Orchid Isle Mystery
Leslie Karst. Severn House, $29.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4483-1216-0
Karst (the Sally Solari mysteries) introduces grief-stricken retired caterer Valerie Corbin in this entertaining cozy series launch. Valerie, the traumatized survivor of a car accident that killed her brother, Charlie, knows her emotional numbness has put a strain on her marriage. To brighten things up, she plans a vacation to Hawaii's Big Island with her wife, Kristen. The couple's island respite is short-lived, however. While viewing an active lava flow one day, Valerie spots a man's boot, then notices it's still attached to a leg. Moments later, the leg and boot are covered by molten rock. Though Kristen doubts what Valerie saw, Valerie doubles down on her claim and scours for information about missing people in the area. Soon, she discovers that a local man has recently disappeared, possibly in connection with a rash of avocado thefts, or a protest movement enraged that the island's sacred resources are being exploited. Karst rewards armchair travelers without ignoring the thorny politics of Hawaiian tourism, and firmly grounds the core mystery in Valerie's emotional struggles. Readers will be hungry for the sequel. Agent: Erin Niumata, Folio Literary. (Apr.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Molten Death: An Orchid Isle Mystery." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 7, 19 Feb. 2024, pp. 36+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A785161676/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=438fb2ed. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Karst, Leslie MOLTEN DEATH Severn House (Fiction None) $29.99 4, 2 ISBN: 9781448312160
A recuperative trip to Hawaii doesn't go as planned.
Valerie Corbin and her wife, Kristen, have come to Hawaii hoping that a change of scene will help Valerie recover from the horrors of the car crash that killed her brother and nearly killed her. Staying with a friend on the Big Island, they're glad when the heavy rains stop just in time for a pre-dawn trip to watch the lava flow from a nearby volcano. When her friends start climbing, Valerie stays behind to enjoy "the lava beast spread[ing] its limbs in its nonstop march downhill"--but she soon sees a boot-encased foot disappearing under the lava and instantly flashes back to her crash. Though neither her friends nor the police believe she really saw a body, Valerie resolves to investigate in the absence of any evidence. In the meantime, the couple continues to enjoy what the island has to offer. For Kristen, that's great surfing, while Valerie, whose brother owned a restaurant, enjoys the local foods she finds at the farmers markets. Reading the newspaper over breakfast the next morning, Valerie finds someone who might have belonged to that foot. She pokes around, asking questions about matters that are sensitive to several groups: activists for Hawaiian independence, opponents of a geothermal project, avocado thieves, and some low-level drug dealers. Even as she learns more about Hawaiian culture, she can't forget what she saw and continues to pursue clues likely to put her in danger.
The mystery is overshadowed by the fascinating look at all things Hawaiian.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Karst, Leslie: MOLTEN DEATH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A784238544/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d5bd01c7. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Molten Death
Leslie Karst
https://www.lesliekarstauthor.com
Severn House
www.severnhouse.com
9781448312160, $29.99, HC, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/Molten-Death-Orchid-Isle-Mystery/dp/1448312167
Synopsis: Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawaii to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.
Early one morning, the couple and their friend (tattooed local boy, Isaac) set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg--a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.
Valerie's convinced a murder has been committed. But as she's the only witness to the now vanished corpse. Who is going to believe her?
Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock!
Critique: All the elements of a cozy mystery are to be found in "Molten Death" by Leslie Karst. An amateur female sleuth, a puzzling murder mystery with more unexpected twists and turns than an Oklahoma tornado, all played out against an Hawaiian backdrop. An original and fun read from start to finish for dedicated cozy mystery fans, "Molten Death" is especially recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Molten Death" from Severn House publishers is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781448315154, $18.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99).
Editorial Note: The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst waited tables and sang in a new wave rock and roll band, before deciding she was ready for a 'real' job and ending up at Stanford Law. It was during her career as a research and appellate attorney in Santa Cruz County that she discovered a passion for food and cooking, and she once more returned to school--this time to earn a degree in culinary arts. (www.lesliekarstauthor.com)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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"Molten death." Internet Bookwatch, June 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A803844675/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0b447214. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
Karst, Leslie WATERS OF DESTRUCTION Severn House (Fiction None) $29.99 4, 1 ISBN: 9781448312184
A semiretired couple learns to love Hawaii while making new friends and hunting a killer.
Valerie Corbin and her wife, Kristen, who've recently moved from LA to Hilo, are haunting garage sales for items for their new home, always one step behind a professional picker. Their friend Sachiko, who manages the front of the house at the Speckled Gecko, is so impressed by the cocktail skills Valerie learned at Chez Charles, her late brother's place, that she asks Valerie to help out at the Gecko, where Hank the bartender hasn't shown up for work. Meanwhile, Kristen agrees to use her carpentry skills to help build a lÄnai for a neighbor, and both women enjoy their temporary jobs. Valerie learns why Hank is AWOL when his body is found in the beautiful but dangerous Wailuku River. When the police determine that his death was no accident, they focus on Sachiko, which upsets her partner, Isaac. He begs Valerie--who's already helped solve the case of a body found in a lava flow--to clear her name. The ever-curious Valerie agrees to snoop around at the Gecko in hopes of finding other suspects, and she quickly learns that Hank was not well liked. Since he was a member of a canoe club, Valerie and Kristen visit, get drafted onto the women's team for a practice session, and learn that the cocky Hank was not beloved of the paddlers either. Now that Valerie has plenty of suspects, she just has to figure out which one is the killer before she's the next to die.
Immerse yourself in Hawaiian lore and savor the portrayal of the stunning landscapes while enjoying the entertaining mystery.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Karst, Leslie: WATERS OF DESTRUCTION." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A827101228/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b5701b84. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.