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. 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. 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. In this novel, the main character is Lily Trulock. 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. , and also Lane cake, which is a bourbon-laced sponge cake layered with a filling that includes raisins, pecans and coconut. I looked up Sally Lunn, which is evidently a type of sweet bread. 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. 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. Her descriptive passages are vivid, creating mental photos of the landscape and those who populate it. Thompson has a simple writing style that relies more on description than dialogue. 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. I read this book just after Hurricane Michael decimated portions of the Florida Panhandle. Hurricane Season (Florida Panhandle Mystery #1)

Hurricane season novel