Bones of Hilo is a modern police procedural set in Hawaii by Eric Redman. Released 8th June 2021 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is a well written procedural with a stately moving plot, lots (and lots) of cultural and scenic background intertwined with an intricate murder and fraud on a large scale complete with subplots which reverberate back to the time of Hawaiian cultural independence.
There are a large number of characters, but the author does a skillful job of keeping them distinct from one another. The dialogue and characterization are much better than average and I enjoyed reading Detective Kawika's challenges both personal and professional. He's an intelligent and likable guy and importantly, a believable character who sometimes lets his actions get the best of his better nature, which gets him in trouble.
The denouement was satisfying and mostly believable. The language throughout is about average for a modern procedural (R-rated) and it includes some potentially triggering non-consensual sex and some light body horror with ritualistic overtones and a spot of mutilation at the very end of the book.
The author is a fine writer and writes deftly and intelligently. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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