Mahu Investigations

Before he was a detective, Kimo Kanapaʻaka was chasing waves. On Oahu’s North Shore, twenty-three-year-old Kimo lives for surf—early mornings, big swells, and the freedom of the ocean. When a mainland rookie named Jesse Dugan asks for guidance, Kimo reluctantly takes him under his wing, recognizing something familiar in the kid’s hunger to belong. But when Jesse wipes out at Waimea and doesn’t come back up, the tragedy is written off as a rookie mistake. Kimo isn’t so sure. The leash Jesse trusted doesn’t look broken. It looks cut.

Mahu Surfer, the second book in my Mahu Investigations mystery series, sends gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka back to his surfing past. His new boss asks the former competitive surfer to go undercover on Oahu’s North Shore to find the killer of three surfers. The catch: He can't tell any of his family or friends that he has returned to the force, causing him to lie, when he has just come out of the closet and begun to tell the truth about his life. In his return to the North Shore, Kimo discovers trouble in paradise.

Mahu Fire begins as openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka attends a local charity event in support of gay marriage. When a bomb disrupts the gala, Kimo, his family, and friends are thrust into a deadly contest between good and evil. A wave of religious fundamentalism sweeps through O’ahu, at the same time as violence against gay and lesbian-owned businesses is on the rise. Coincidence? Kimo doesn’t think so. Working with hunky fire inspector Mike Riccardi, Kimo digs through the ashes to discover a motive for the attacks, as well as who is behind them.

Openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is faced with a new murder that comes dangerously close to his personal life. About a year and a half has passed since the flames engulfed Waahila Ridge State Park at the end of Mahu Fire. During that time, Kimo and fire investigator Mike Riccardi dated for about six months, but with Kimo so visible and Mike in the closet, the pressures on them increased to the point where their relationship ended. When a fire breaks out at a shopping center Kimo's father used to own and a young boy is killed, they are forced to work together.

Out past the reef, where the waves first begin, there’s no room for mistakes. They call it the zero break—the deep-water point where a swell starts building long before it crashes to shore. For Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, it’s about to become all too real. When a young mother is found murdered in what looks like a home invasion, the case seems straightforward—until Kimo and his partner Ray Donne begin pulling at the threads. Beneath the surface lies a tangled web of family loyalties, business dealings, and secrets someone is willing to kill to protect.

A different side of Kimo Kanapa’aka—raw, intimate, and unapologetically erotic. In Mahu Men, Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka steps out of the crime scene and into a series of charged, deeply personal encounters that explore desire, identity, and connection. Fresh off coming out, Kimo is navigating a new world—one filled with possibility, temptation, and the thrill of discovery. From chance meetings to intense attractions, each story captures a moment of heat, vulnerability, and self-revelation as Kimo explores what he truly wants.

On O’ahu, predators don’t always hunt in the wild. When the body of a powerful island figure is discovered in the aftermath of a warehouse fire, Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka and his partner Ray Donne are called in to investigate. At first, the case points in too many directions—old money, buried secrets, and grudges that reach back decades. Then they find the witness, a homeless teen who saw what happened. And now someone wants him silenced.

This time, the target isn’t just strangers. It’s families like Kimo’s. Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is seconded to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, stepping into a world of high-risk investigations and unfamiliar rules. The case starts with threats: letters sent to a U.S. senator and his family. But it doesn’t stop there. As Kimo and his partner Ray Donne dig deeper, they uncover a pattern—harassment and violence aimed at mixed-race couples and their children. Then a day care center is set on fire. This isn’t random. It’s a campaign. And it’s escalating.

A drifting sailboat. Four bodies. And a cargo that should never have reached Hawaii. When a ghost ship washes up on the Leeward Coast of O‘ahu, Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka —on assignment with the FBI —finds himself at the center of a case unlike anything he’s faced before. The victims are a family. The cargo is far more dangerous. What begins as a baffling tragedy quickly escalates into a high-stakes investigation with international implications.

A favor for his mother could cost Kimo everything. Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka is on departmental leave when his mother asks him to do the one thing he shouldn't: Investigate a murder.

A cold case. A powerful request. And secrets someone buried for a reason. Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is asked to investigate a decades-old death—one the military long ago closed and forgot. He should say no. But the request comes from a congresswoman with serious influence over Hawai‘i’s military operations—and deep ties to Kimo’s own extended family. So he takes the case. What begins as a fifty-year-old mystery quickly turns into something far more dangerous. As Kimo digs into the past, he uncovers signs of a cover-up—one that powerful people may still be protecting.

A mother and her son vanish into the wilderness. Time is running out. When a woman and her neurodiverse teenage son go missing in the rugged parklands outside Honolulu, homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is called in to lead the search. Every hour matters. The terrain is unforgiving. The trail is unclear. And the longer they’re missing, the slimmer the chances of finding them alive. As Kimo and his team push deeper into the mountains, the case grows more complicated. Conflicting accounts, hidden tensions, and unexpected connections suggest this is more than a simple disappearance.

When two seemingly unrelated women—a college student and a corporate executive—are found murdered in Honolulu, homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is faced with a baffling case. No clear motive. No obvious connection. No single explanation. But there is a pattern. As Kimo and his partner Ray Donne dig deeper, they uncover links hidden beneath the surface—connections that run through the lives of young people navigating a world of social media, status, and dangerous expectations. Then the case turns personal, because the pattern points somewhere Kimo never expected. Toward his own family.

A cutting-edge startup. A dead founder. And secrets that shouldn’t have been coded. When tech entrepreneur Noah Kim is found murdered outside his Honolulu office, homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka and his partner Ray Donne are called in to investigate. Kim’s company, Kahola.ai, promised to transform medical care for Pacific Islanders —blending artificial intelligence with traditional knowledge. Now someone wants that work buried. As Kimo digs into the world of startups, research labs, and competing interests, he uncovers a network of ambition, secrecy, and ethical lines pushed too far.

Twenty-one cases. One unforgettable detective. In Accidental Contact, Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka tackles twenty-one short investigations that span the world of the Mahu series—filling in the moments between the novels with quick, compelling mysteries. From murders to missing children, from unexpected clues to dangers hiding in plain sight, each story delivers a sharp burst of suspense set against the vivid backdrop of Hawai‘i.