Mail carrier Louise came to Oahu to start over. In the comfortable life she has built for herself, there are no surprises. She likes it that way. One day, while delivering the mail, Louise notices something wrong. One of her elderly customers, Mrs. Santos, is missing. Mrs. Santos lives alone and has no close family or friends. Even after Louise alerts the police, she can’t stop worrying. Has Mrs. Santos fallen? Is she suffering from amnesia? Was she assaulted while walking to the store? Louise can’t sit back and wait for the police to do their job. She sets out to find Mrs. Santos, and a bizarre series of events begins to unfold. Louise’s peaceful existence and anonymity are shattered, and she is forced to draw on strengths she didn’t know she had, to stay one step ahead of disaster.


Even before I started my career with the Honolulu Post Office, I noticed that mail carriers move about almost invisibly. They become part of the scenery, allowing them to observe the community without being observed themselves. An avid reader of mysteries since childhood, I thought it would be fun to write a series of mysteries with a mail carrier as the protagonist. ALMOST PARADISE is the first of the series.

Laurie Hanan
Author of ALMOST PARADISE (Savant 2011)