Hurricane novels: Great Reading before, between, or after storms (or during if the lights stay on)

Mystery

Bonansinga, Jay     Twisted (Pinnacle, 2006)    Former FBI profiler Ulysses Grove comes to post-Katrina New Orleans for the funeral of a  friend.  As he uncovers disturbing traces of past ritual murder, another hurricane approaches.

Casey, Kathryn     The Killing Storm (Minotaur, 2010)      Lt. Sarah Armstrong, a criminal profiler for the Texas Rangers, searches for a kidnapped 4-year-old as Juanita, a category 4 hurricane, heads for Galveston.

Clark, Mary Jane     Nobody Knows (St. Martin’s, 2002)     TV reporter Cassie Sheridan, now a reporter for a local Sarasota (FL) television station, is following  the course of a hurricane as a hunt for a stolen ring follows its own course.

Connor, Beverly    Skeleton Crew (Cumberland, 1999)     A hurricane interferes with  forensic archeologist  Lindsay Chamberlain investigation of a 500-year-old galleon sunk off the Georgia shore.

Conwell, Kent    Skeletons of the Atchafalaya (Avalon, 2003)     During a family renion at a plantation house in Whiskey Bend, LA, private eye Tony Boudreaux is trapped with everyone else when hurricane Bella blows through—followed by three murders.

Cussler, Clive  Trojan Odyssey (Putnam, 2003)     A hurricane threatens the Ocean Wanderer, a luxury floating hotel in the Caribbean owned by a mysterious billionaire.

Haddam, Jane     Baptism in Blood (Bantam, 1996)     Bellerton, North Carolina, is the scene of a hurricane and the murder of an infant whose body is found on the grounds of a controversial women’s retreat.

Parrish, P. J.     Island of Bones (Pinnacle, 2005)     After a hurricane whips into Florida, Private Investigator Louis Kincaid finds a baby’s skull on the  debris-filled beach on the Gulf.

Wingate,  Anne     The Eye of Anna (Walker, 1990)     Japanese-American police chief of Bayport, Texas Mark  Shigata fights Hurricane Anna as he  searches for a serial killer.

Katrina

Abel, Kenneth    Down in the Flood (Minotaur, 2009)     Set in New Orleans shortly before and during Hurricane Katrina. Danny desperately tries to save Louis Sams, who has been kidnapped to prevent him from testifying against his crooked    concrete manufacturer boss.

Burke, James Lee    Tin Roof Blowdown (S&S, 2007)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, detective Dave  Robicheaux is assigned to investigate the shooting of two looters who were foolish enough to ransack the home of New Orleans’s most powerful mobster.

Downs, Tim     First the Dead (Nelson, 2008)     In New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,  Dr. Nick Polchak, the “Bug Man”, discovers several floating corpses who were dead before the hurricane hit.

Dunbar, Tony   Tubby Meets Katrina (NewSouth Books, 2006)      Tubby winds up in New Orleans’ Convention Center as Hurricane Katrina hits and his daughter finds herself the target of an escaped psychopath who sees himself as the human embodiment of the storm.

Historical

McDonald, Craig    Toros and Torsos (Bleak House, 2008)      The  Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 hits Key West  in a mystery about a killer who rearranges his   victims to resemble surrealistic art.  Ernest  Hemingway and Orson Welles play cameo roles.

Funny

Hiaasen, Carl     Stormy Weather (Knopf, 1995)        New York ad executive Max Lamb decides to add  excitement to his Orlando honeymoon by taking his bride and his camcorder into the teeth of  Hurricane Andrew.

Barry, Dave   Tricky Business (Berkley, 2003)      The usual Dave Barry crooks and fall guys are aboard an offshore gambling boat when a   hurricane hits.

Dorsey, Tim   Hurricane Punch (Morrow, 2007)      Lovable homicidal maniac Serge A. Storm roars across Florida in a stolen Hummer with his  usually drunk or stoned friend, Coleman, following one hurricane after another, evading his  nemesis, Agent Mahoney.

Spooky

Koontz, Dean   Dead and Alive (Bantam, 2009)      As a devastating hurricane approaches New Orleans, the future of mankind depends upon Frankenstein’s original creation.

Lehane, Dennis   Shutter Island (Morrow, 2003)       Two U. S. Marshalls tackle a missing person case at a     hospital for the                 criminally insane.   The gale force winds of an approaching hurricane heighten the suspense.

Light-hearted mysteries (Cozies)

Andrews, Donna   Murder with Puffins (Thomas Dunne, 2000)      Hurricane Gladys hits Maine as Meg  Langslow and her boyfriend travel to Monhegan Island for their vacation.  A very unpopular local artist is murdered soon after they arrive.

Cohen, Nancy    Died Blonde (Kensington, 2004)      Marla Shore, hairdresser and owner of the Cut’N'Dye beauty Salon in Florida is the star of the Bad Hair Day mysteryseries.  In this episode Marla finds a dead body in her shop as a hurricane  hits town.

Hart, Carolyn    Dead Man’s Island (Bantam, 1993)      Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins ( “Henrie O”), a retired investigative reporter, helps an old friend  discover who tried to kill him with poisoned candy.  Hurricane Derek complicates things.

Lakin, Rita    Getting Old Is a Disaster (Dell, 2009)      Fort Lauderdale retiree  Gladdy Gold investigates the long-buried skeleton of a murder victim  is unearthed at the Lanai Gardens apartment complex after a hurricane hits.

Maron, Margaret    Storm Track (Mysterious, 2000)      Judge Deborah Knott investigates the murder of a local woman found strangled in a motel room while Hurricane Fran bears down on the small town of Colleton North Carolina. Her large family clan gathers for hot chocolate and a hurricane party.

Taylor, Phoebe Atwood    Proof of the Pudding (Norton, 1945)       Now here’s an old one:  Cape Cod’s amateur sleuth, Asey Mayo, finds a corpse among the  wreckage following a hurricane

Viets, Elaine     Murder Unleashed (Signet, 2006)       Helen Hawthorne, now working at  the Pampered Pet Boutique must solve a murder and find a   kidnapped Labradoodle puppy before a Category 3 hurricane hits Fort Lauderdale.

–compiled by Janet Husband for www.eSequels.com