Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Still posting on auto, but since I'm on Maui, I thought I'd share some pictures from the one other time I was in the Islands, on the Big Island. That trip was mostly about volcanoes: Kiluea Volcano. It wasn't real active when we were there--no lava into the sea, but there was steam and a glow.  One of the amazing things is how the plants manage to colonize the new lava fields. Lots of rain probably helps! I have no idea what this is, but it's cool. Leave those lava fields long enough, and they turn into this: How cool are the giant ferns? Of course, a trip to Hawai'i wouldn't be complete without some time on the beach. Even teens like building castles for the waves to destroy. Beautiful water at the Place of Refuge. We snorkled near here. Because we don't do things like most people, this was one of our Hawai'ian condos... And all that time at the beach, you can't forget the realities of the coastline... The sign as you go the other way shows someone

Title: The Black Thumb Author: Frankie Bow Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press, 2016. 270 pages. Source: Electronic review copy Publisher's Summary: When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness-the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just…academic. My Review: This was a mystery that caught my attention and kept it from the start to the end. Maybe I was a little extra taken with the main character because I've spent most of my adult life in or around academia, but really the book has little to do with Molly's campus life, since it takes place during the summer vacation. It was just a good read in an interesting setting (Hawaii is just a bit exotic to me, since I've only ever been on