Kona Winds

KONA WINDS, the début novel by Japanese-American author Scott Kikkawa, is a hard-boiled noir murder mystery set in Honolulu in 1953, when Hawaiʻi was evolving from a racially stratified, near-feudal plantation colony to the multi-ethnic 50th State.

Honolulu Police Department Detective Sergeant Frankie “The Sheik” Yoshikawa, a Nisei veteran of World War II, is assigned the case of a young local Japanese woman whose body is found in Honolulu Harbor under a pier. His investigation uncovers dark motives tied to a recent dock and sugar strike and a forbidden relationship between the scion of a prominent kamaʻaina haole family and a young woman from a growing immigrant community.

Hindered by the limitations of race and class and haunted by the specter of his combat experiences in Europe and his resulting dependence on alcohol, Yoshikawa nonetheless resolves to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

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Hawaiʻi has been the setting for countless mysteries but most have been cozy crime stories or books that have featured Caucasian protagonists as outsiders in an exotic setting. KONA WINDS was written with the firm belief that Hawaiʻi is more than just a pretty tropical backdrop for the mischief of tourists: it can be, and was, a terrifying, sometimes sodden place whose social realities were ugly not so long ago and continue in some respects to go unresolved. In addition, the novel provides a well-researched glimpse into the police work of post-war Honolulu, which has rarely been written about in this way before.

Author	Scott Kikkawa
ISBN	1943756023
ISBN-13	978-1943756025
Year Published	2019
Number of Pages	288
Weight	13.8 oz
Dimensions	9.2 × 6.2 × 0.8 in

A moody and violent meditation on corruption and class warfare, KONA WINDS is more than real-life law enforcement officer Scott Kikkawa’s noir novel of 1953 Honolulu. Yes, it has a lovely woman’s body found floating in the harbor, a diamond bracelet, lowlifes and union toughs, a couple of decadent descendants of a wealthy white plantation family, and a plot that ties old and new political establishments together. But what drives the story and its tarnished knight, detective Francis “Sheik” Yoshikawa, is the private inferno of his trauma fighting in Italy in World War II—and the outrage at a society that has put his and other men’s sacrifices aside in pursuit of money, sex, and power. There’s nothing like it in local literature—thanks are due publisher Bamboo Ridge Press—and it raises the hope that Kikkawa’s unflinching vision opens the door to more stories willing to go down the mean streets of our Island history.

—Don Wallace, senior editor, HONOLULU Magazine

To have Honolulu’s only Japanese American homicide detective, the fictional Francis “Sheik” Yoshikawa, follow the winding, sometimes corrupt paths of postwar Hawaiʻi before its statehood is pure genius. Haunted by his military service in Europe, Yoshikawa wrestles with his personal demons and evolving political and ethnic dynamics of his hometown. Step aside Raymond Chandler; Scott Kikkawa has arrived to put a new, fresh, and more delicious spin on the noir genre. This mystery may be best enjoyed with a slice of coconut cake. All I know for sure is that I want more.

—Naomi Hirahara, author of the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series

KONA WINDS is a gripping detective novel set in in postwar Honolulu and Scott Kikkawa is a master of the genre, doing what Walter Mosley did with his black detective “Easy” Rawlins. There’s so little representation of Asian Americans in our culture that to see Kikkawa inhabiting this genre so part of the American imagination through a Nisei gave me such a kick. His Detective Francis Yoshikawa is an original—handsome, street smart, literate, a veteran of the famed 442nd, and immersed in the multiracial mélange of the Islands. Ultimately, Kikkawa’s novel provides a penetrating vision into the complex layers of Hawaiʻi society, combining heart with the hard-boiled and infusing empathy and depth with the pleasures of a great read.

—David Mura, author of TURNING JAPANESE: MEMOIRS OF A SANSEI

In the great tradition of hard-boiled detective fiction, Scott Kikkawa has written a noir tale that casts shadows on a sunny place. KONA WINDS is a moody, thrilling novel about scandal and corruption in 1950s Hawaiʻi, where war veteran and homicide detective Francis Yoshikawa takes us through a Hawaiian version of Dante’s Inferno. It’s a rare, fascinating look at the underbelly of Oʻahu.

—Steph Cha, FOLLOW HER HOME, BEWARE BEWARE, and DEAD SOON ENOUGH

Homicide detective Francis “Sheik” Yoshikawa imbibes bourbon every chance he gets, but it’s Scott Kikkawa’s readers who will be intoxicated by the intricate plot and the whirlwind ride. This noir thriller is notable for its remarkable verisimilitude, its sumptuous reconjuring of Honolulu in the early 1950s.

—Rodney Morales, author of the novels FOR A SONG and WHEN THE SHARK BITES

Evocative and riveting, KONA WINDS grabs the reader from the first page and does not let go until the end. Even then, prepare to be haunted by author Scott Kikkawa’s scarred characters, gritty 1950s Honolulu, and layered tale in this elegant noir. I loved it!

—Pamela Rotner Sakamoto, author of MIDNIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

Scott Kikkawa’s KONA WINDS is a blast of fresh air that lets Hawaiʻi’s people—both good and bad—speak for themselves in a crime narrative. Homicide detective Frankie Yoshikawa is a revelation. Only he can lead the reader through a harrowing world that is at turns tougher and more multihued than expired SPAM. Kona Winds blows past Hawaii 5-O. It goes all the way to 11!

—Ed Lin, author of the Robert Chow mystery series and the Taipei Night Market Mystery series