Tori Eldridge, author of Hawai’i Rage, will appear at The Poisoned Pen on Friday, May 15 at 7 PM. You can order a signed copy through the Webstore, https://tinyurl.com/2h8wzrmn. While you’re waiting, Eldridge sent a blog post to introduce us to her new Korean detective character in her Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery. Thank you, Tori!
Ranger Makalani Pahukula Gets a New Detective Pal
by Tori Eldridge
(with excerpts from Hawai‘i Rage)
For the first time in seven published novels, I’ve brought a detective into the mix. I hadn’t originally planned it this way, but as I was writing Hawai‘i Rage—a thrilling mystery set on a Hawaiian cowboy ranch—Detective Rona Kim appeared. She’s a petite and spunky Korean counterpart to my capable six-foot Native Hawaiian protagonist, Makalani Pahukula, who has left her law enforcement ranger position in Oregon for a seasonal position at Pu‘ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.
Makalani and Rona are both new to Hawai‘i Island; and both have something to prove.
My secondary and tertiary characters are often my favorite personalities to write. It goes back to my career as an actress. As the theater saying goes, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” So I make sure each of my supporting characters has their own background and quirks that would make them interesting for an actor to play.
Detective Rona Kim was especially fun to narrate because she felt so real. Since my Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries are written in several 3rd-person POVs, I narrated Rona’s chapters in her own voice. Her snarky personality was amusing to play. Incidentally, being hired to narrate my own audiobooks was one of the highlights of both my acting and writing careers.
Read on to meet Rona in her first POV paragraphs below.
Detective Rona Kim had zero knowledge about ranching and Waimea life. She had wanted a break from Honolulu, and Hawai‘i County’s West Criminal Investigations Section was the first opening that appeared. With no idea what to expect, she moved out of the Nu‘uanu house she had shared with her ex, stored most of her belongings in Honolulu, and rented a studio apartment in Kailua-Kona, close enough to the CIS offices to walk. A week later, they transferred her to the Waimea substation, an hour away.
After a month on the job and a fortune in gas, her captain and the other three detectives—all locally born—still treated her like an outsider and stuck her with the junk cases no one wanted to touch. The Big Island Boys had all grown up on ranches, so why not pair one of them with Detective Daniel “Call me Dan” Lau?
Sniggering bastards.
What the hell was Rona supposed know about bulls? When she stepped in shit—as she inevitably would—the BIBs would never let her forget.
Both Makalani and Rona also have nagging suspicions about a rancher’s shocking death.
Makalani’s suspicions begin shortly after her cousin’s wife, Rosie, asks her to help out on her family’s multigenerational Hiapo’s Ranch. Since Makalani is bored out of her mind with the six weeks of cultural immersion (academic study) she’s required to do at the Pu‘ukohol? Heiau National Historic Site, she jumps at the volunteer opportunity for meaningful hard work.
But Rosie also fears her father’s gruesome death by a bull (!) may not be the accident everyone assumes. The longer Makalani spends with the Hiapo family cowboys and cowgirls, the more convinced she becomes that Rosie may be right.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Makalani, Rona is doggedly pursuing the case her detective partner—a Big Island local with cattle ranching roots of his own—has forced her to close. He treats Rona like a city girl who doesn’t belong.
As Rona leafed through the paperwork she was supposed to file that afternoon, things didn’t quite add up.
Why was Larry Hiapo in a pit with a bull? And if the animal had actually killed the rancher, why would it be released? Although Animal Control had cleared the bull of any diseases or abnormally aggressive behavior, Rona didn’t understand why the family would want it back.
“Shouldn’t it be destroyed, or at least sold and slaughtered for beef?” she had asked her partner.
“He, not it.” Dan had stuck his thumbs inside his belt, drawing attention to a rodeo buckle. “And to answer your question, breeding bulls are valuable, Rona. Everyone knows that.” Meaning, everyone except for her.
“Okay. Then why not sell him to another rancher?”
“They wouldn’t get a good price.”
“Because the bull is a killer. Exactly my point!”
He had shaken his head as if she would never understand, which, in all honesty, she probably would not.
What Detective Rona Kim’s partner doesn’t yet know, and what Ranger Makalani Pahukula will eventually learn, is that the city girl from Honolulu is a pitbull who never lets go.
Join us Friday, May 15, 7pm (in-store or virtual) as Patrick King interviews Tori Eldridge about HAWAI‘I RAGE in a Live Event!
A suspicious death on a Kohala Mountain ranch draws ranger Makalani Pahukula into a tangled family tree in an emotional and suspenseful adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series and KAUA‘I STORM.
When Native Hawaiian ranger Makalani Pahukula is bored at her new position on the Big Island at Pu‘u Kohol? National Historic Site, she agrees to help out on her cousin’s multigenerational cattle ranch. But as the tempers run hot between the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) in the Hiapo family, Makalani suspects the father’s gruesome ranching accident may be an ingenious murder to control the land.
The closer she becomes to the Hiapo family and the traditional paniolo way of life, the harder it is to believe the worst of those she has come to respect. But at the same time, Detective Rona Kim is also closing in on the truth.
Meanwhile, Makalani’s own family back on Kaua‘i worries about her safety and tries to protect and bolster her with their love. But when dangerous accidents happen to others, including herself, Makalani has no choice but to follow the clues and stop the culprit or culprits from murdering again.
Tori Eldridge is the author of Kaua‘i Storm, and the acclaimed Lily Wong ninja thriller series. Born in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—Tori graduated from Punahou School with classmate Barack Obama before performing as an actress, singer, and dancer on Broadway, television, and film, and earning a fifth-degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninja martial arts. Her literary works have garnered Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Award nominations and the 2021 Crimson Scribe for Best Book of the Year. Tori lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, where she helps care for her precious mo‘opuna (grandchildren), and where she narrated both of her Ranger Makalani Pahukula books! Learn more about Tori and her books at https://ToriEldridge.com.