Ghosts of Waikiki

2025 LEFTY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST DEBUT MYSTERY NOVEL!

In this atmospheric debut mystery, an out-of-work journalist and the homicide detective who broke her heart must cipher out a murder before the clock runs out, perfect for fans of Naomi Hirahara and Jane Pek.

After the newspaper she works for folds and the freelance assignments no longer pay the bills, Maya Wong reluctantly returns to her native Hawaiʻi to ghostwrite controversial land developer Parker Hamilton's biography. But when the Hamilton patriarch is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Maya is unwittingly drawn into the investigation.

Maya's family and friends aren't happy about her work for Hamilton. And now, with her ex, Detective Koa Yamada, on the case, she's forced to contend with the very person she was determined to avoid.

All too soon, Maya is dodging assailants and digging for clues while juggling girls' nights out with her old BFFs and weekly family dinners. Convinced the police are after the wrong man, Maya is determined to stop the killer before it's too late.

Exploring timely issues in Hawaiʻi, including locals getting priced out of paradise, Ghosts of Waikīkī is an engrossing mystery in the vein of The Verifiers.

Author: Jennifer K. Morita
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: 11/19/2024
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.60w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781639109395


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/01/2024 pg. 4
Publishers Weekly 09/02/2024
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2024
Shelf Awareness 11/28/2024

About the Author
Jennifer K. Morita is a former reporter for the Sacramento Bee and is a writer for University Communications at Sacramento State. Morita is a fourth-generation Asian American who lived in Hawaii as a child. She is an active member of Mystery Writers of America and the current president of her local chapter of Sisters in Crime. She was a finalist for the 2022 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award. Ghosts of Waikīkī is her first novel.