The Mamo Murders (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) [Paperback]

Juanita Sheridan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rue Morgue offers two vintage mysteries: The Mano Murders (1952), by Juanita Sheridan, with its exotic Hawaiian setting and the lighthearted Home Sweet Homicide (1944; a 1946 film with Randolph Scott), by Craig Rice, the subject of Jeffrey Marks's 2001 biography, Who Was That Lady?
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: Rue Morgue Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915230518
• ISBN-13: 978-0915230518
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,472,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Works on two different levels, February 13, 2012

By 

Jim Davis (St. Charles, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Mamo Murders (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) (Paperback)

Although nominally a mystery story this book works also as a historical period piece of sorts. The setting is post war, pre-statehood Hawaii. Sheridan lived in Hawaii for extended periods and obviously developed a deep seated affection for the islands and its inhabitants...at least its first inhabitants. Like her other works set in Hawaii the plot revolves completely around various aspects of native Hawaiian culture.

The mystery itself is quite competent but takes too long to get into high gear. In 150 odd pages the first 100 are largely expository. The last 50 bring everything to a satisfying conclusion at a rapid, can't put the book down, pace.

The detectives in this book are Hawaiian-born, but not native Hawaiian Janice Cameron and Chinese American Lily Wu. Wu is very much the brains of the outfit and it would be nice if this scene stealing character had received more page time than she actually gets. The book is told from reader surrogate Cameron's viewpoint but the character isn't quite up to carrying the book for the long stretches required.

Recommended, but I think the book's reputation mainly rests on its authentic Hawaiian setting and its then novel use of strong female (and in Wu's case Asian) leads than the brilliance of the plot.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hawaii Mystery, 1950s, October 23, 2011

By 

Ohioan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mamo Murders (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is the third of Juanita Sheridan's four mysteries featuring Hawaiian-born Janice Cameron and Lily Wu, young women in their twenties who became friends in the first novel, when Lily saved Janice's life. The first novel was set in New York City, the second in Oahu, and the third is set on a huge cattle ranch on Maui. Like the second novel, the third is centered on the conflict between the native-born Hawaiians (whose lands were expropriated and whose culture is being obliterated) and the haoles who have taken over the islands for profit.

In this story the recently married Leslie Farnham returns to Hawaii but is not met by her husband, Don Farnham. In fact, Don, owner of the huge Maui cattle ranch, is missing and presumed dead. More than presumed -- declared dead by his cousins, who have moved into Leslie's home, announcing that they have inherited the ranch and will sell it to developers, to be turned into a dude ranch (thus putting many Hawaiian cowboys out of work).

Enter Janice Cameron, who knew Don Farnham when she was a child. Enter also Lily Wu, who has connections to any and every person of Chinese origin on the Islands. The scenes between Lily and Hong, the Chinese cook, are wonderful windows into class differences as well as into how Chinese who speak different dialects might communicate when they don't understand one another.

In this third novel, Sheridan has improved as a mystery writer, using more scenes and more dialogue, hiding clues, springing the killer on the reader at the end. The one weakness of this book is the pacing. Everything that happens seems to happen at an even pace: there seem to be few highs or lows. In reality, there are both highs and lows, but the way Sheridan chooses to tell the story evens everything out.