3.75 stars rounded up

There is a four-years jump between this latest book of Mahu series and the previously released one, Children of Noah. So Kimo and Mike's twins are now four years old (though mostly live with their mothers, so they are not on page a lot), and their twenty-year-old foster son Dakota a sophomore at the University of Hawai’i.

The book itself focuses more on Kimo and his partner of nine years (work partner, not life partner) Ray, to investigate who is responsible of sending hazardous material via ship that killed a family of four. This investigation takes Kimo and Ray across cities and continents, from Hawai'i to Japan to Seattle to Idaho.

I liked that it focused on the investigation. I thought Kimo and Mike's relationship had been going on for a decade and was solid enough, that I didn't need a lot of romantic moments between them. ALTHOUGH, it was clear that Mike wasn't too happy with Kimo's work as an FBI, because he could stay quite a long time from home to catch the bad guys. I could understand that -- and heck, Ray's wife, Julie also felt the same. I thought it felt quite down to earth; I am sure that being FBI's spouses are not an easy feat.

I'm quite interested in where Placky will take this series, actually, if he decides to continue. Kimo and Ray seem to think about doing other jobs now, one that make them closer to their family. Mike also seems to think about doing something else. These guys are in their 40's now, with kids on their tails, so probably they will end up getting a job that doesn't feel too dangerous? I don't know, I'm very curious about their future decision. Although I do hope that Ray doesn't follow Julie and his plan to leave Hawai'i. I am going to miss him, he's been Kimo's work partner since book #4!

I deducted the rating a bit because there was a moment where I was a bit annoyed with Kimo's way of thinking about how to deal with terrorists. Not going to discuss it much but I thought it felt arrogant ...

The mystery was good though it made me feel uneasy since it was related to religious (albeit very distorted) belief about racial purity. Never been a fan of crime stories based on someone's faith. But as far as Kimo and Ray's first assignment with the FBI's FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, I thought they went with a bang. I enjoyed their investigation and research process. I liked that Kimo was able to put himself in the 'new' shoes of being FBI Agent and that he stuck to rules without antagonizing HPD detectives who work on the same case. Oh, and I also liked reading an update about their foster son, Dakota, and the fact that he seemed to have found a nice boy as well.

Having said that, there was a HUGE continuity problem that somehow influenced my reading enjoyment. It was related to Kimo's children status. In the beginning, Kimo and Mike were said to already become fathers to baby twins, Addie and Owen (previously known as Alpha and Omega), as a result of them being donors for their lesbian friends couple, Cathy and Sandra (with Sandra as the one carrying the baby). Heck, Kimo and Mike even babysat the twins!

But then as the story progresses, I felt like watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons because somehow, Sandra was back to her pregnant status, the babies were back inside her womb, Kimo was said to be "soon-to-be-father", and he was wishing for his own father to be able to see and teach the unborn twins as he did with Kimo's nephews and nieces...



Uhm, what?! We already met the babies!!

I am not a reader who is very fussy about details -- that is why I can't be a good proofreader -- but this one was GLARING at me, I couldn't help being very annoyed by it. While it didn't directly related to the case but still it was sloppy editing error. An editor should've caught that before this was being released.

Reducing my rating stars because of it.

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Individual Ratings:

Accidental Contact: 3 stars
Kelly Green: 3 stars
Refuge: 2.5 stars
A Shaggy Dog Story: 3.25 stars
Macadamia Nuts to You: 4 stars
Body Removal: 4 stars
The Burning Woman: 3.5 stars
Other People's Children: 4 stars
Alpha and Omega: 4 stars
Transmission: 4.25 stars

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"Accidental Contact and Other Mahu Investigations" is a short stories collection in the world of Mahu -- a contemporary mystery series featuring openly gay homicide Detective Kimo Kanapa'aka of Honolulu, Hawai'i. As in case with short stories collection (of ANY series), some are good and some are just so-so (due to limitation of murder mystery in short-story length).

For me, those that I enjoyed most were the ones that set after Kimo being partnered up with Ray Donne -- they had comfortable rhythm as partners. And in personal life, those were also set after Kimo being in stable and loving relationship with his fire investigator lover, Mike Riccardi.

My favorite of this collection would be the last story, "Transmission", that dealt with death of a young female teenager. It dabbled with issues of sexually active teens and touched the fact of bullying on Internet (in form of the name callings on social media like Facebook). I always find that a sad fact of how the world is but I wish that it will get improved. Also, there was one moment here where Kimo had a nice Uncle-Nephew conversation about safe sex with his nephew, Alec.

Other favorites would be "Alpha and Omega" (included in the previous novel, Natural Predators) -- which gave update about Kimo and Mike's journey to have children with their lesbian friends, Cathy and Sandra; "Other People's Children" -- a case about mutilation of a big woman who turned out to be pregnant; "Body Removal" -- a case with a stolen hearse (with dead body in it!); and "Macadamia Nuts to you" -- where Kimo partnered up with Russell Quant (from Anthony Bidulka's detective series).

If you're a fan of Kimo and the whole Mahu books, I think this will be a good one to add to your collection. Just until Neil Plakcy releases the next book -- whenever that is.

In the Introduction, Neil Plakcy wrote that "Macadamia Nuts to You" was one of his favorites to write. Well, so far, it is my favorite of this collection too. It's fun reading Kimo and Russell Quant together.

 

Which reminds me, I have only read book #1 of "Russell Quant" series by Anthony Bidulka. Probably need to continue with the rest of the books...

Three and a half stars – but we’ll round up to four. This is the story of Toby and Evan. While there is no mystery, there is a bad guy of sorts. Mostly though, this is a romance. How Toby and Evan come together. I really enjoyed reading this one. I did feel like I was there with the guys listening to them talk and bicker and get romantic, but it wasn’t a book I felt I couldn’t put down.

The basic plot is original, or at least I haven’t read a story quite like it. I like all the secondary characters, although mixing up the twin thing was expected. That’s a little bit over played. The ending was a bit predictable, but still well written. If you want an easy read with good solid characters, this book is for you.