Death of a Messenger

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Robert McCaw

‍On Hawaiʻi Island, an anonymous 911 caller reports a body at Pōhakuloa, the Army’s live-fire training area. Hilo Chief Detective Koa Kāne, a cop with his own secret criminal past, finds a mutilated corpse—bearing all the hallmarks of ancient ritual sacrifice.

Koa encounters a host of obstacles as he pursues the murderer—an incompetent local medical examiner, hostility from both haoles (Westerners) and sovereignty advocates, and a myriad of lies. Nothing is what is seems, and Koa must rely on instinct and guile to zero in on the truth.From untouched royal burial vaults to the world’s largest astronomical telescopes high atop the Mauna Kea volcano, the bizarre case draws Koa deep into his own Hawaiian roots. As Koa probes the victim’s past, he confronts a rich roster of suspects—grave robbers, native activists, thieves, and stargazers.

Koa races to discover whether the victim stumbled upon a gang of high-tech archaeological thieves, or learned a secret so shocking it cost him his life and put others in mortal danger. Will Hilo’s most respected detective stop this sadistic fiend—or will the Pōhakuloa killer strike again—with even deadlier consequences?

Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke

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