Motive
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Official Blurb
Just months before Hawaii's gubernatorial primary election, a body is found on the floor of the open air capitol, a macabre scene specifically manipulated to draw attention to a sitting governor with waning political support. Frantic, he calls on the Honolulu Chief of Police Walter Tseng, demanding that the perpetrator be brought to justice as swiftly and silently as possible, fearful a scandal might destroy whatever chance he still has at gaining re-election. Blackmailed into complicity and unable to draw from his active force, Tseng calls in Kalani Lewis, a young detective three months off the job. Still battling her own demons from an investigation that resulted in the death of her partner, Kalani is forced back into action, pulled into a life she isn’t certain she still wants to be a part of, a family friend that was once a military policeman and now a full-time surfer as her only support. Inch by inch they work their way through the investigation, navigating mounting crime scenes and intense bureaucratic pressures as the election looms ever closer, the killer growing more emboldened by the day… Side Commentary This story came about through a confluence of two distinct things. The first was last spring when, during the course of my day job, I was at the Hawaii State Capitol between legislative hearings, leaning on the rail in the open air rotunda of the building. At that point I remember looking down, seeing the mosaic in the middle of the floor, and thinking it would be quite a setting to kick off an investigation. The second was courtesy of my best friend, a medical student, who called me one day and said she had just learned a snippet of information that she was certain I could in some way incorporate into a storyline. For the purpose of not dropping any major plot spoilers here I will refrain from further explaining, but together they formed the backbone for what I hope is a pretty decent thriller… |
