The Stone Lantern

Two men searching for an ancient burial ground on the Big Island of Hawaii finally find it, but they also find something that they were not expecting. In the same tomb with the remains of a thousand year old Hawaiian chief, they find the skeleton of a 20th century murder victim with its skull bashed in. Jessie Bradford’s father has been missing for 36 years and she is sure the skeleton is his, but who would want to murder her father? Detective John “Mac” McIntire investigates, but Jessie does some investigating of her own.

After Jessie Bradford’s uncle died at his South Point ranch on Hawaii’s Big Island, Jessie goes to claim the inheritance her uncle left her. She plans to spend a few weeks settling her uncle’s affairs and return to her home in San Francisco. Her life takes an unexpected turn when two men searching for an ancient burial site at South Point find the tomb, but also find something they were not expecting. In the same tomb with the remains of a 1,000-year-old Hawaiian chief, they find a skeleton of a 20th century murder victim with its skull bashed in. Jessie’s father has been missing for 36 years. She is sure the skeleton is his, but who would want to murder her father? Detective John “Mac” McIntire investigates, but Jessie does some investigating of her own. During her search for her father's killer, Jessie rekindles an old romance with her childhood sweetheart, inherits a sprawling 500 acre cattle ranch, and unwittingly uncovers the truth surrounding the decades-old murder.

Samantha Lei Stevens was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and spent much of her childhood living on the ranch and sugar plantation that are the backdrops of The Stone Lantern. She graduated cum laude from San Francisco State University and was a feature writer on several Bay Area newspapers. Although Samantha lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of her adult life, she taught English to a wide variety of students while living in a jungle village in northern Argentina, a fishing hamlet in China and at the Chisan-Dong Elementary School in Song-tan, Korea. She now resides in Northern California with her husband. The Stone Lantern is her first novel.