Mahu
Vice
A
Hawai'ian Mystery with Kimo Kanapa'aka
Neil
S. Plakcy
Alyson
Publications (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-59350-111-0 (1593501110)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59350-111-2 (9781593501112)
Publication Date: August 2009
List Price: $14.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): About a year and a half has passed since the flames
engulfed Waahila Ridge State Park at the end of Mahu Fire.
During that time, Kimo and Mike dated for about six months, but the
pressures on them increased to the point where their relationship
ended. But when a fire breaks out at a shopping center Kimo's father
used to own, and a young boy is killed, they are forced to work
together -- and to acknowledge that the embers of their relationship
are still hot.
But a lot stands in the way of their getting together once more,
including a mysterious man who knows how to exploit Kimo's sexual
fantasies, Mike's identity issues, and a deadly little thing called
murder.
Review:
Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka investigates the suspicious
deaths of a number of people indirectly linked to a series of arsons in
Mahu
Vice, the fourth mystery in
this series by Neil S. Plakcy.
A fire at a shopping center, owned at one time by Kimo's parents,
requires Kimo to work with his former boyfriend, firefighter Mike
Riccardi, with whom he had broken up over a year earlier. Kimo isn't
sure if he still has feelings for Mike, but doesn't want that to stand
in the way of his investigation of the dead body found among the ashes.
Then two more bodies are found, this time shot execution style. Kimo's
case gets infinitely more complicated when blackmail enters the picture
and an online gay dating site, one Kimo himself had frequented over the
past year, seems to be a common thread to all the crimes ... and he's
prominently featured in a photograph that may be evidence for
prosecution. Kimo now must discover who is behind the arson, murders,
and blackmail before he becomes a victim himself.
Kimo repeatedly says that his sexual desires (his way of phrasing it is
far more colorful) get him in trouble. True as far as it goes, and it
seems to go quite far here, but the primary problem with Mahu Vice
is not with Kimo, who, given a chance, is a rather interesting
character, but with the author and his inability to exercise any
literary self-restraint. There is no single primary mystery plot here,
but half a dozen or so secondary ones that are ever so loosely and
conveniently connected. Any of these could have made for an interesting
case, with maybe one or two side ones thrown in to add interest and
conflict, or even as red herrings. As it is, there is too much reliance
on coincidence to link everything together, and in the end, at least
two of the cases remain unresolved, their characters curiously
forgotten. Then there's the Kimo/Mike on-again/off-again relationship
arc. What started as an engaging storyline in the previous book of the
series is inexplicably turned into a tedious, drawn out and tiresome
subplot here.
It's always frustrating reading a book as crudely conceived and poorly
executed as Mahu Vice.
Plakcy can clearly write, and all the ingredients for a first-rate
mystery are present; the end result, though, at least for this fourth
entry in the series, is anything but.
Special thanks to Breakthrough Promotions for providing an ARC of Mahu Vice for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Mahu Vice? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Mahu
Haworth Press (Trade Paperback), September 2005
ISBN-10: 1-56023-533-0 (1560235330)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-533-0 (9781560235330)
Mahu Surfer
Alyson Publications (Trade Paperback), August 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59350-007-6 (1593500076)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59350-007-8 (9781593500078)
Mahu Fire
Alyson Publications (Trade Paperback), May 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59350-079-3 (1593500793)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59350-079-5 (9781593500795)
Mahu Vice
Alyson Publications (Trade Paperback), August 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59350-111-0 (1593501110)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59350-111-2 (9781593501112)
Omnimystery
keywords for Mahu Vice
...
Location(s) referenced: Honolulu, Hawaii.
