"Aloha, Lady Blue" by Charley Memminger (Minotaur Books, $24.99)
I almost stopped reading Charley Memminger’s debut novel, "Aloha Lady Blue," on page 28. He was laying out the crime scene — a taro patch in one of the priciest real estate sections in Hawaii. Right. No one — even poi lovers — grows taro in posh urban neighborhoods. And that was not the extent of the author’s fantasy. There is a fatal incident in the taro pond. An 89-year-old Chinese businessman is found dead in 6 inches of murky water. The autopsy concludes drowning.
Did I really want to read a mystery with a comic-book plot? One set in the Aloha State where bad things aren’t supposed to happen? Could I trust this budding mystery writer to make the implausible plausible?
The former crime reporter’s award-winning "Honolulu Lite" humor column for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin was very funny stuff. So banking on getting enough laughs in his new book to overcome the taro-patch drowning, I turned the page and never looked back.
Stryker McBride, the narrator, is a thoroughly likable character who’s easy to trust. Think Jack Reacher in Lee Child’s best-selling series or Dave Robicheaux, the creation of master mystery writer James Lee Burke — smart, tough and lovable. Fearless hunks with beating hearts, all of them.
McBride, a former crime reporter, lives on a really big boat he purchased with a really big settlement that came his way after a shooting incident that left him a hero. He answers the call to investigate Wai Lo Fat’s taro-patch drowning at the urging of an old girlfriend. At the beginning he is far more interested in re-establishing a relationship with the woman than finding out how her grandfather died. But somehow you know he won’t rest until the matter is resolved.
His investigation wanders through the island landscape and culture, giving readers an intimate view of Oahu that reaches beyond Honolulu and Waikiki to the less-populated countryside. The commentary, which is certainly one of the high marks of the book, is true to contemporary island life; former and current Hawaii residents will nod their heads and smile.
The author overcomes a couple of rough patches with a compelling narrator, superb atmospheric prose and, yes, his well-honed humor.
I’m not sure why Memminger titled his book "Aloha, Lady Blue," and it doesn’t really matter. Stryker McBride has entered the literary crime scene with a bang that will leave readers wanting more.
Charley Memminger will appear at 1 p.m. today at the Authors Pavilion Makai at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival, with a book signing at 2 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble tent. Susan Dixon worked 20 years as a Hawaii freelance writer and editor.
