Mahu by Neil Plakcy

Review by Pat Brown

With word of an impending heroin sale going down, Honolulu detective, Kimo Kanapa’aka, his partner Akoni and several other undercover officers are after the dealers. When the bust goes awry, Kimo ends up at the Rod and Reel Club, a local gay bar.

Because Kimo has been living a lie. He lies to his brother cops, he lies to his family. Mostly he lies to himself. Kimo has known he’s attracted to men since he was a teenager. And he knows he can’t ever tell anyone.

Then disaster strikes. He finds a dead body outside the gay bar. To call it in would mean revealing where he is. So Kimo makes his first mistake. He leaves the scene. From that point on his life unravels. His secret comes out, he is suspended from the force and has to face the dismay of family and friends. But he also finds support from some surprising places.

Skillfully intermixed with Kimo’s self-discovery is a tightly constructed crime novel. Dirty cops, a crime that comes too close to home for Kimo and making sure a brutal killer doesn’t get away with murder are all played against the backdrop of a Hawaii you will never forget.

A wonderful debut for this first mystery by Author Neil Plakcy. I look forward to more in the series. Tight and suspenseful, the main character’s sexuality plays a large role, but it does not define the character. He’s as multidimensional as he is multi cultural. Mahu may be a derogatory word in Hawaiian but in this book it becomes a powerful symbol of a man who won’t surrender himself to empty prejudices. Memorable characters pull you in and won’t let you go. I whole-heartedly recommend this crackling good book to anyone, gay or straight, who loves a good mystery. For more visit www.mahu.com