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Florida Panhandle Mysteries #1
Hurricane Season
Sticky, sultry Palmetto had seen its share of hurricanes and evil. But it was an ill wind that blew through the Gulf-coast Florida town in the summer of '52.
Diana Landis, well-known in every barroom, and more than a few bedrooms in town, was found beneath the dock, afloat in a fishing net. Her lover, Bo Calhoun, had already seen his family's moonshine still set ablaze by arsonists. Congressman Robert "Snapper" Landis seemed more interested in his tough reelection campaign with Gospel Roy McInnes than in his daughter's murder. And Wesley Stafford, a young seminarian more familiar with salvation than seduction, was in jail when, it seemed, he confessed to the killing.
All that was before storekeeper Lily Trulock left her neglecting husband to his beekeeping and ran her skiff to the island of St. Elmo, where an even bigger wind threatened to blow the lid off the whole county!
Diana Landis, well-known in every barroom, and more than a few bedrooms in town, was found beneath the dock, afloat in a fishing net. Her lover, Bo Calhoun, had already seen his family's moonshine still set ablaze by arsonists. Congressman Robert "Snapper" Landis seemed more interested in his tough reelection campaign with Gospel Roy McInnes than in his daughter's murder. And Wesley Stafford, a young seminarian more familiar with salvation than seduction, was in jail when, it seemed, he confessed to the killing.
All that was before storekeeper Lily Trulock left her neglecting husband to his beekeeping and ran her skiff to the island of St. Elmo, where an even bigger wind threatened to blow the lid off the whole county!
189 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 1983
1093 people are currently reading
957 people want to read
About the author
Michaela Thompson
23 books59 followersI've written seven mystery-suspense novels, set in wide-ranging locales: Hurricane Season and Riptide explore the beaches and swamps of the Florida Panhandle, where I grew up; Paper Phoenix features a romance between a disillusioned divorcee and a younger crusading journalist in 70's San Francisco; a failure analyst chases private demons to India in Fault Tree; a group of friends plays a deadly game at the Venice Carnival in Venetian Mask; and Magic Mirror and A Temporary Ghost recount the dangerous adventures of freelance journalist Georgia Lee Maxwell, who moves to France with her cat and ends up solving murders in Paris and Provence.
I've been a mystery fan my entire life. I love the form because it's endlessly flexible, yet the structure is always there.
I live in New York City, but spend time in the Florida Panhandle. My books were originally published under the name Mickey Friedman.
I've been a mystery fan my entire life. I love the form because it's endlessly flexible, yet the structure is always there.
I live in New York City, but spend time in the Florida Panhandle. My books were originally published under the name Mickey Friedman.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
June 12, 2023
Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰
I picked this series because I live in Florida and have vacationed in the panhandle. The novel is about a town with moonshine, murder, and a revenue agent. The story has interesting well developed characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the unexpected conclusions. I would recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of mystery novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒😡😮
I picked this series because I live in Florida and have vacationed in the panhandle. The novel is about a town with moonshine, murder, and a revenue agent. The story has interesting well developed characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the unexpected conclusions. I would recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of mystery novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒😡😮
July 2, 2015
Formulaic but nice and good. Well written, it was a quick read and I enjoyed it. Though there was a multitude of characters, it wasn't hard to follow. Got this for free, but I'm not so sure about shelling out $3 for the next book in the series; would have to still think about it.
April 5, 2013
Enjoyable read. Historic setting, Gulf Coast Florida, bootleg whiskey, bait shops, and murder.
March 8, 2019
Excellent writing and great twists.
February 23, 2017
My 4 stars is generous if you are just interested in a good, solid mystery. But I rate it highly because the author has created a wonderful word picture of a specific time (1950s) and place. The small Florida Panhandle town is populated with interesting characters that are fleshed out enough to drive the story and make the locale feel real. It's like a visit to a slightly different and seedier version of Andy Griffith's Mayberry. When the actual action kicks in about three quarters of the way through the book a lot of the book's quirky charm vanishes in favor of the plot. But I was thoroughly hooked by that time. And the book is a quick read so the glow of the beginning lasts to the end.
The actual mystery of who killed Diana Landis is trivial. You will know the answer when the body is discovered. But for me that didn't detract one bit from the book's charm.
Recommended to those who like to read about rural characters in simpler times.
The actual mystery of who killed Diana Landis is trivial. You will know the answer when the body is discovered. But for me that didn't detract one bit from the book's charm.
Recommended to those who like to read about rural characters in simpler times.
September 30, 2019
Guessed who the murderer was right away. Took me a little longer on some of the other things. Overall it was pretty good.
February 23, 2018
Wow, a totally, unexpectedly great read! Set on the Florida panhandle with an interesting cast of characters and a finely crafted mystery, I could not put this one down!
January 13, 2018
Struggled with this one - had a really hard time getting into it. The last few chapters picked up and saved it from being a 1 star read for me. I will not be moving on in the series.
November 30, 2015
I've read 2 other books by Michaela Thompson, the Georgia Lee Maxwell mysteries both of which I adored. Hurricane Season is a completely different kind of mystery. Set on the Florida Panhandle in the 1950s the main character is Lily Turlock a 50ish storekeeper. She stumbles into a feud between two sets of moonshiners and a murder, a real hard-boiled mystery. The author's sense of place and time was uncanny. She sets the scene in a way that puts you right in the middle, sights, smells and emotions. I still wish there were more Georgia Lee Maxwell mysteries but I would be happy to read other books by this talented author.
November 18, 2015
1950's Florida
Well-written, and no sloppy errors. Authentic flavor of time and place. Fast-paced but not frantic. No gratuitous sex or violence, but realistic enough. Interesting story.
Well-written, and no sloppy errors. Authentic flavor of time and place. Fast-paced but not frantic. No gratuitous sex or violence, but realistic enough. Interesting story.
November 28, 2015
Absolutely horrible. I really wanted to like this, instead I couldn't help but keep wondering if the author had ever heard of "show, don't tell". The book was a droning, boring mess of uninteresting characters. Try as I might I can't think of a single good thing about it.
January 8, 2016
There is no mystery in this book. Somebody died. Somebody else is a suspicious person, for a different reason, etc. I felt like everything leading towards mystery was resolved as soon as it developed. Decent work of literary fiction though.
November 10, 2016
Good story but a little hard to get into at first. Some of the descriptions get rather long and I got lost in them. Lots of characters introduced at the beginning, took a while to sort them out. Otherwise it was a good story.
October 19, 2013
Read about a quarter of it and gave up. Was not engaged by the plot or characters.
October 16, 2018
Hurricane Season (Florida Panhandle Mystery #1)
by Michaela Thompson
I read this book just after Hurricane Michael decimated portions of the Florida Panhandle. The book is set in the 1950s. I've read work of Thompson's before, and this book showed similar results: great editing and proof-reading, well-fleshed out characters who are easy to identify with, stellar plotting and pacing, a good mix of introspection and flat out action, some twists and turns to the plot, and a satisfactory resolution.
Thompson has a simple writing style that relies more on description than dialogue. Her descriptive passages are vivid, creating mental photos of the landscape and those who populate it. She laces her prose with words are typical to Southern tongues -- especially in the mid 1900s -- and that sent me off to the internet to look up many of the terms. When the song "A Sleepin' At The Foot of the Bed" is mentioned, I was off to youtube to find it -- and find it I did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuAaH... I looked up Sally Lunn, which is evidently a type of sweet bread https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-c..., and also Lane cake, which is a bourbon-laced sponge cake layered with a filling that includes raisins, pecans and coconut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_cake. There were also some idioms I looked up, such as the word "plashing," which is similar to splashing, but maybe not so watery? The language helped to set the scene for the mid-20th century story.
In this novel, the main character is Lily Trulock. She runs a general store in St. Elmo, near where the ferry from the mainland docks, which allows her to see people as they come and go, and to hear news that concerns the residents she knows. Her husband has never quite been the same since his heart attack, and that has left her with almost total responsibility for the store and for home, while he tends to his bee hives. The story builds on the moonshine operations existing on a small island just off the the coast, and the more mundane lives and affairs of local people involved in that trade. When a local woman is killed, the tidy threads of whom is involved with who begin to unravel, and Lily is trying to patch them together to figure out what and who are responsible.
Great read. I have two more Florida Panhandle mysteries on my Kindle. I'll have to move them up in the que!
by Michaela Thompson
I read this book just after Hurricane Michael decimated portions of the Florida Panhandle. The book is set in the 1950s. I've read work of Thompson's before, and this book showed similar results: great editing and proof-reading, well-fleshed out characters who are easy to identify with, stellar plotting and pacing, a good mix of introspection and flat out action, some twists and turns to the plot, and a satisfactory resolution.
Thompson has a simple writing style that relies more on description than dialogue. Her descriptive passages are vivid, creating mental photos of the landscape and those who populate it. She laces her prose with words are typical to Southern tongues -- especially in the mid 1900s -- and that sent me off to the internet to look up many of the terms. When the song "A Sleepin' At The Foot of the Bed" is mentioned, I was off to youtube to find it -- and find it I did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuAaH... I looked up Sally Lunn, which is evidently a type of sweet bread https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-c..., and also Lane cake, which is a bourbon-laced sponge cake layered with a filling that includes raisins, pecans and coconut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_cake. There were also some idioms I looked up, such as the word "plashing," which is similar to splashing, but maybe not so watery? The language helped to set the scene for the mid-20th century story.
In this novel, the main character is Lily Trulock. She runs a general store in St. Elmo, near where the ferry from the mainland docks, which allows her to see people as they come and go, and to hear news that concerns the residents she knows. Her husband has never quite been the same since his heart attack, and that has left her with almost total responsibility for the store and for home, while he tends to his bee hives. The story builds on the moonshine operations existing on a small island just off the the coast, and the more mundane lives and affairs of local people involved in that trade. When a local woman is killed, the tidy threads of whom is involved with who begin to unravel, and Lily is trying to patch them together to figure out what and who are responsible.
Great read. I have two more Florida Panhandle mysteries on my Kindle. I'll have to move them up in the que!
July 9, 2018
It doesn't have very often that I find a cozy that I just don't really care much for but this is one of them. It didn't stick with me either so I can't remember much about what happened. I wasn't a fan of the format either and felt it had to much going on.
Diana Landis is pretty much a drunk who doesn't seem to mind who she goes home with or whether they are married or not, so it's not hard to find a lot of suspects when she turns up dead. The way she is found leads them to believe her latest lover, Bo is the suspect but he has his hands full enough with his illegal moonshine operation. There is also her father who is campaigning and having an embarrassing daughter doesn't help gain votes.
Lily, takes her boat her boat out and ends up on one of the islands where she not only encounters a huge storm but has run into the moonshining business and it could get her into a lot of trouble. Lily also doesn't believe the person they have in custody actually did it and putting things together from the few she talks to will also get her in a lot of trouble.
I just had a lot of trouble getting into this one and thought there was a lot of things going on and just didn't flow like most cozies I am use too. I do have the next one so I might give it a try but right now I am not real sure.
Diana Landis is pretty much a drunk who doesn't seem to mind who she goes home with or whether they are married or not, so it's not hard to find a lot of suspects when she turns up dead. The way she is found leads them to believe her latest lover, Bo is the suspect but he has his hands full enough with his illegal moonshine operation. There is also her father who is campaigning and having an embarrassing daughter doesn't help gain votes.
Lily, takes her boat her boat out and ends up on one of the islands where she not only encounters a huge storm but has run into the moonshining business and it could get her into a lot of trouble. Lily also doesn't believe the person they have in custody actually did it and putting things together from the few she talks to will also get her in a lot of trouble.
I just had a lot of trouble getting into this one and thought there was a lot of things going on and just didn't flow like most cozies I am use too. I do have the next one so I might give it a try but right now I am not real sure.
May 15, 2017
Good reading but no urgency to discover the murderer
The atmosphere of this book was almost palpable...the weather hot and humid. The little town was filled with people who knew each other their whole lives and the dialogue read true both in style of 1952 and in content.
I found it easy to read and yet the mystery held no urgency for me to solve. That is the main reason I gave it a low score.
The atmosphere of this book was almost palpable...the weather hot and humid. The little town was filled with people who knew each other their whole lives and the dialogue read true both in style of 1952 and in content.
I found it easy to read and yet the mystery held no urgency for me to solve. That is the main reason I gave it a low score.
February 19, 2018
Enjoyable solid read set in the 1950's in the Florida Panhandle. The main character is unexpected, the 50ish proprietor of the local general store/bait shop, Lily Turlock. Her husband had a recent heart attack and stopped talking and working in the store and spends his days tending his bee hives. This leaves Lily with time on her hands to investigate a moonshine dispute, a murder and local politics. The characters are real and the time and area come alive. Want to read more in this series.
September 20, 2019
Honestly didn't think I was going to like this one. It started out slow and with some not particularly remarkable people. Kind of 'small town slice of life' - and although pleasant, a bit of a yawn. But slowly and surely it picked up and a few of those not so remarkable people became quite remarkable after all! Still kind of small town slice of life - but sometimes interesting things happen in small towns. Solid 4 stars. Will read book 2.
April 15, 2019
Moonshine
At first I thought this book was going to be a bout a hurricane but it was a war between 2 moonshine operations. Lily found herself on a island hiding from the hurricane in a old hotel. The hotel is falling apart while she thought of her husband and his recent heart attack.
At first I thought this book was going to be a bout a hurricane but it was a war between 2 moonshine operations. Lily found herself on a island hiding from the hurricane in a old hotel. The hotel is falling apart while she thought of her husband and his recent heart attack.
February 8, 2020
Quick read that provides a glimpse into small town life in an earlier era.
The plot was easy to follow but I never really felt an attachment to any of the characters.
The book was part of a free compilation of mysteries so the price was right. I don’t think I’d purchase another in the series, however.
The plot was easy to follow but I never really felt an attachment to any of the characters.
The book was part of a free compilation of mysteries so the price was right. I don’t think I’d purchase another in the series, however.
July 19, 2023
Not the best, not the worst
Overall the plot wasn't bad, and at times I didn't want to put it down, but honestly it felt like the story dragged on and on. Also, there were a lot of characters, and none really stood out or elicited any kind of emotion in me as a reader. I honestly couldn't care less about any of them.
Overall the plot wasn't bad, and at times I didn't want to put it down, but honestly it felt like the story dragged on and on. Also, there were a lot of characters, and none really stood out or elicited any kind of emotion in me as a reader. I honestly couldn't care less about any of them.
February 7, 2019
Loved this
I thought this would be a quick cute little mystery book. Boy was I wrong. You get wrapped up in the coastline lives of all involved and before you know it you can't figure out what really happened.
I thought this would be a quick cute little mystery book. Boy was I wrong. You get wrapped up in the coastline lives of all involved and before you know it you can't figure out what really happened.
March 18, 2019
Easy reading
Good book well written. Worked well on my phone to read on my breaks at work. Took you into the time period, you could smell the swamp and wish you had an ice cold coke.
Good book well written. Worked well on my phone to read on my breaks at work. Took you into the time period, you could smell the swamp and wish you had an ice cold coke.
July 18, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. It was cleverly written. I enjoyed the twists and turns that kept coming. The plot was wonderful. I liked how the author was descriptive in her writing too. I will be following this author and looking forward to reading more of her works!
May 30, 2020
This is the first story I have read by this author and i was very impressed with her style of writing and her quick wit and eye on detail. I was very pleased with the way this story kept my interest and made me want to keep reading and turning pages. I plan on reading the next one in the series.
March 27, 2021
Good read
Good writing, descriptions of place and people are evocative, story believable without remarkable coincidences, the foreshadowing of conflict with the impending storm. Well done.
Good writing, descriptions of place and people are evocative, story believable without remarkable coincidences, the foreshadowing of conflict with the impending storm. Well done.
January 23, 2023
Who zdid It?
The begining of the book was slow moving, but then things start happening quickly. You will be asking yourself, " who really killed her." A lot of interweaving of stories that make perfect sense toward the end of the book.
The begining of the book was slow moving, but then things start happening quickly. You will be asking yourself, " who really killed her." A lot of interweaving of stories that make perfect sense toward the end of the book.
December 18, 2023
Powerful debut crime novel
Michaela Thompson depicts the feel of the 50s quite well. Her characters are interesting and totally believable. It was easy to get drawn into the story and the lives of her characters.
Michaela Thompson depicts the feel of the 50s quite well. Her characters are interesting and totally believable. It was easy to get drawn into the story and the lives of her characters.
January 29, 2024
Good
This book had a good story line and interesting characters. It was well written with few, if any, errors. The downfall for me was that there were two many characters. If was hard to follow until about halfway through . Still a good book that I would recommend.
This book had a good story line and interesting characters. It was well written with few, if any, errors. The downfall for me was that there were two many characters. If was hard to follow until about halfway through . Still a good book that I would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews