Shadows of Kalalau

November 1, 2021
A high school graduate's impetuous beach vacation takes a turn toward homicide in Walsh's novel. Ever since Malia Naeole's mother died about a year ago, the teen's father has been overprotective. He demands she go to a local Honolulu college instead of her desired Berkeley. "The mainland's not safe," he warns her. So Malia, planning an escape of sorts, heads to Kalalau Beach, the same place where her mother conceived her. She really wants to be away for only a couple of weeks, but she's quickly befriended by a group of campers staying under "sun-bleached tarps" and in aged tents on the sandy shore. As her summer vacay extends, two men continually fascinate Malia: New Zealander Tiki, who seemingly rejects her romantic advances, and Jordan Higgins, a Seattle video game designer on Kalalau for research. The campers consider themselves ohana, or family, but that doesn't prevent animosity from sparking fights--or even murder. When someone dies, cops round up the campers, convinced that Malia in particular knows more than she's saying. Malia may have to prove her innocence and come to terms with the possibility that she'd gotten close to a killer. Walsh builds an engrossing mystery. Malia controls much of the narrative, which she relays to Detective Park. Details, from characters' backstories to the murder itself, gradually come to light for both the detective and readers. Nevertheless, it's the teenager's storyline that gives the novel its focus. There's minimal suspense; characters aren't in peril very often, but the plot accelerates leading up to the homicide. Walsh's depiction of the Hawaiian locale--"As they chatted, the sun dropped into the ocean....The clouds that shone moments earlier in sunset hues turned ashen"--augments this absorbing tale. An engaging coming-of-age tale fused with a murder mystery.

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