Leslie Karst

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 Karst 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, Karst 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 split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai'i.

Karst's latest Orchid Isle mystery is Murder, Local Style.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I’m currently reading Fell Murder, by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett, who was a member (along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton) of the prestigious “Detection Club.” First published in 1944, this mystery novel is set in the fells and dales of England not far from the Lake District, and concerns the murder of the patriarch of a family who’d farmed the north country for generations.

What I most love about Fell Murder is the slow pace and detailed descriptions of the tight-knit and insular farming community, the dramatic landscape, and the World War II setting. Reading this book reminds me of how much crime fiction has changed over the years. Time was, slow pace and detailed descriptions were the norm, and readers relished reading the story deliberately and thoughtfully as they tried to outwit the author and sleuth and solve the crime along with them. But of late, it seems mystery novels tend much more towards the fast-paced, with short chapters and action on most every page.

This book reminded me that it’s lovely to slow down when reading a novel and savor the individual words, the accounts of the weather, and the musings of the characters as they ponder their daily life. I think we could all use a little more of this in these complicated and frenetic times.

Visit Leslie Karst’s website.

Coffee with a Canine: Leslie Karst & Ziggy.

My Book, The Movie: The Fragrance of Death.

Q&A with Leslie Karst.

The Page 69 Test: Waters of Destruction.

My Book, The Movie: Waters of Destruction.

Writers Read: Leslie Karst (April 2025).

The Page 69 Test: Murder, Local Style.

--Marshal Zeringue