Honolulu Noir [Paperback]

This crime anthology offers a kaleidoscopic perspective on Hawaiis capital city, with 13 stories that range from riffs on Agatha Christie to an investigation involving the real police officer who inspired Earl Derr Biggerss Charlie Chan. Akashics Noir series rolls merrily along, across the Pacific to this island state so often called paradise. But, okay, merrily isnt the right word given that the underbelly of Hawaiis capital city is very dark indeed. The residents we meet here are a mixture of the bad, the evil, and the deeply unfortunate. The stories, by authors such as Stephanie Han, Lono Waiwai'ole, Don Wallace, Kiana Davenport, Scott Kikkawa, Mindy Eun Soo Pennybacker, and editor Chris McKinney, range from mystery to thriller to horror, with characters on the right side of the law, the wrong side, and straddling that thin line in between. The writing styles vary, but they have one thing in common: high quality. These are some seriously fine storiesoutstanding writing, after all, is the hallmark of Akashics long-running, world-circling Noir series, now weighing in at 122 titlesand readers may well find themselves spending a lot of time in this fictional Honolulu, savoring the atmosphere and flavor of each tale before moving on to the next. A splendid anthology. Its 13 cases of trouble in paradise for the characters in Akashics solid latest regional crime anthology, which shrewdly exposes the underbelly of Hawaiis capital city . . . Taken together, these stories successfully probe beneath the surface of a locale best known for its white sandy beaches and crystal-blue waters. Its a smart balance of thrills and cultural insight. In his introduction, McKinney aptly notes the diversity of the characters that inhabit these stories, and indeed they present Honolulu less as an idyllic vacation destination than as a multicultural crossroads that attracts Native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, vampires, night watchers, and haoles like the tourils4