Customer Reviews

Murder on Molokai

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I read this book while vacationing on the island of O'ahu, and I simply could not put it down. This is one mystery that kept me turning pages until I was finished, and the character of "The Surfing Detective", Kai Cooke, is a great one. While making this character totally unique, Chip Hughes has taken some of the better attributes of some of our most beloved detectives and given them to Kai Cooke. If you can picture Magnum, P.I. with a touch of a Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, you would have Kai Cooke. I thoroughly urge you to give this author and this story an opportunity to impress you as I was impressed. You will finish the story with a 'Mahalo' to Chip for one fine story! I cannot wait until further volumes about the surfing detective become available.

Chip Hughes'novel is intelligently and sometimes beautifully written, and he's created a detective, Kai Cooke, that readers will want to read about again and again.

Cooke is adventurous but wise enough to know his limitations, sexy but down to earth. He's the "surfing detective" who can make jokes about Magnum and Hawaii Five O. The case Cooke is working on, solving the death of an environmental activist on the island of Molokia, keeps the reader guessing "who done it" without obscuring the chase unduly or suddenly including the one needed clue.

Hughes also has done the near impossible--presenting the Hawaiian islands clearly and vividly to those who haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting them while pleasing island residents with his deft handling of a wide range of locals and their vernacular. Cooke shifts expertly between "standard" English and local "pidgin" as needed as he interviews heiresses and doctors, mule ranglers and bartenders. The characters are well drawn and appealing, especially that mule rangler.

Hughes clearly likes his detective, and readers will as well (Let's hope Cooke's next adventure is in print soon!) And Hughes obviously also knows and appreciates the islands, including the "mango-tinted water" of Lanai, the aroma of the lei shop below his office, the sheer cliffs of Molokai, and the pounding surf breaks of Wakiki (yes, Cooke really does surf).

What could be better than an armchair tour of the islands and a handsome, tanned detective solving the latest case?! "Murder on Molokai" is a good read.

Kai, the surfing detective from Honolulu, takes on a mysterious murder on Molokai, the one-time leper island, brought him by a sophisticated and beautiful client. To solve it, author Chip Hughes takes us through the islands in an ever-intensifying series of events to an explosive (and satisfying) conclusion. There's a touch of Raymond Chandler in the book, but Hughes has created his own original, and captivating, hero and style. For a reader like me, shivering in the Chicago winter, it's a warm and exotic read. -- Walter Nugent, Chesterton, IN

Chip Hughes has written a murder mystery which truly captures the feel of the Hawaiian Islands. Despite the title, the action in this novel takes place on three different islands. As a life long resident of Hawaii, I can say with some authority that Mr. Hughes' descriptions of various island locations and his use of pidgin English is spot on. So much so that I found myself looking at the second floor windows above various lei stands on Maunakea Street imagining where the Surfing Detective might have his office. By the way, it's also an excellent murder mystery.

Unique location, plot and characters make this an exciting read! The pidgin dialect gives a rare touch of Hawaiian life. Chip Hughes is reminiscent of Tony Hillerman in his incorporation of mystery and culture. Hope this is only the first of a series of "Surfing Detective" novels.

Hawaii-Five-O meets Raymond Chandler. Except that Philip Marlowe surfs and speaks passable pidgin. In the first book of his Surfing Detective series, author-surfer Chip Hughes crafts a quick reading, entertaining story about Oahu detective Kai Cooke. An experienced surfer and detective, Cooke meets a beautiful Boston heiress (aren't they always hot and rich?) looking to uncover the truth about her eco-feminist sister's death (who is also hot.....and rich). Cooke digs into the case and begins to uncover a tangled web of corporate greed, corrupt public service officials, and dark island forces. Is this top notch literature? Nope, but that's quite fine with me. Hughes` book is fun to read and a great companion for you on a hot day sunning at Waikiki. If, like me, you enjoy pulpy detective books and the beach, then you'll enjoy Hughes` Surfing Detective series. I reviewed this book at the surf book review site The Waterman's Library (which links to Amazon), and purchased the book via Amazon.

I picked up this book from the local library in Kamuela on the Big Island of Hawaii. (Visitors can get a short-term library card for $10, which also allows use of an internet-connected computer.) This interesting story, involving development of pristine areas, politics, crime, island customs and speech, and a colorful and representative group of characters, was a great, relaxing read. Hughes is a talented writer, with a crisp style, well-developed characters, and plausible scenarios. First-time visitors to the islands will get a good introduction to Hawaiian Pidgen, as well as to island culture. Returning or departed visitors will get an extra dose of what makes these islands so fascinating and enticing.

Wow! Murder at Moloka'i is fantastic, man! Great stuff, brah! Once again, as in WIPEOUT!, the other Surfing Detective novel, a seeming accident, with no plausible suspects becomes a murder investigation with so many "people of interest" it's ridiculous. And after almost every character in the novel does a stint as Most Likely Suspect, we find out who it is, but that particular hardly even matters anymore.> > I'm telling you, this is pure pleasure, a blazing fast read, classic narrative construction, lots of fun to read dialog written in phonetic (and real authentic) island pidgin dialect, and a page-turner I didn't want to see end.>

In this debut novel we meet Honolulu detective Kai Cooke, who bills himself as the "surfing detective". Plenty of Hawaiian local flavor, as Kai investigates the suspicious death of an environmental activist (Sara Ridgely-Parkes)who dies when she falls off a mule while riding down the Kalaupapa Cliffs on Molokai. While the death of Ms. Ridgely-Parkes is initially assumed to be an accident, her sister suspects foul play and hires Kai to investigate her death.

I really enjoyed the characters and setting in this book, and the mystery was interesting as well. I can't wait to read more books featuring the Surfing Detective.

As a frequent traveler to Hawaii and a big mystery fan I like to combine the two and read books with Hawaiian settings. So often it quickly becomes clear that the author's use of a Hawaiian setting is a gimmick and/or based on travel brochure myth of what The Islands are like. Not so at all with Chip Hughes' books in the Surfing Detective series, Murder on Molokai and Wipeout. I was recently in Hawaii and was scanning bookshop for local authors and found the first two books in this series. Two days later after reading them both straight through, I was surprised and delighted to find both books rich in Hawaiian flavor and well written with interesting stories and characters. I highly recommend both books for fans of Hawaii, mystery detective PI fiction or just good books to read!