Kimo Kanapa'aka's world turns upside down in Mahu. At 32, the hero of Māhū has reached the pinnacle of his profession, detective on the Honolulu Police Department's homicide squad, based at the Waikīkī station. But a difficult murder case, as well as turmoil in his personal life, is about to threaten everything he has worked for. A life-threatening drug bust in chapter 1 makes Kimo realize that it's time to stop lying to himself. He's drawn to the Rod and Reel Club, a gay bar in Waikīkī, where he has a couple of beers and begins the long process of accepting his attraction to other men. Leaving the club, though, he stumbles onto two men dropping a dead body in an alley, and he launches himself into a nightmare where his private life becomes public news. Kimo's pursuit of this case takes him from the seamy underside of Chinatown to the elegance of million-dollar homes in Maunalani Heights, from gay bars where young men stride naked down runways to bloody crime scenes.

"An eminently likeable hero—the kind of man’s man you just want to hug." —Daniel M. Jaffe, author of The Limits of Pleasure Mahu is a generally negative Hawaiian term for homosexual, and for police detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, being gay doesn’t make for an easy life. Especially when you’re publicly outed. Now, semi-retired, Kimo must go undercover and stop a brutal killer. Already three surfers have been shot dead, and Kimo must infiltrate the close-knit surfing community, knowing his only way back to active duty is to catch a killer he may know all too well. Neil S. Plakcy is the author of Mahu and co-edited Paws & Reflect: Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs. He lives in Florida.

Evil moves to paradise, as openly gay police detective Kimo Kanapa’aka battles an extreme religious group that opposes the idea of same-sex marriage. It begins with a simple shooting, but the danger intensifi es as Kimo strives to unmask a killer. Neil S. Plakcy is the author of Mahu Surfer.

Months have passed since Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka walked away from the blaze at Wa’ahila State Park—and from his partner Mike. Now, Kimo and Mike must work together to solve an arson-homicide while attempting to mend their relationship. Neil S. Plakcy is the author of the Mahu series.

Two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist Neil Plakcy returns to the Hawaiian Islands with a new mystery about blood ties in a state torn by ethnic tension. Openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka must investigate a series of murders that threaten his own family as well as the citizens he struggles to protect. Billions of dollars are at stake in a fight over who the land of the Aloha State really belongs to. Is it the United States—or the indigenous people of the islands, many of whom feel their sovereign kingdom was overthrown by American businessmen? At the same time, Kimo and his fire investigator partner, Mike Riccardi, deal with the stress of moving in together to create their own ohana —- a Hawaiian term which means family, as well as community.

Openly gay Honolulu homicide detective and surfer Kimo Kanapa'aka investigates the murder of a young lesbian mother at the same time he and his partner consider having children themselves. Zero break refers to the deep-water location where waves first begin, often far offshore. For Honolulu homicide detective and surfer Kimo Kanapa'aka, it means his most dangerous case yet. A young mother is murdered in what appears to be a home invasion robbery, leaving behind a complex skein of family and business relationships, and Kimo and his detective partner Ray Donne must navigate deadly waters to uncover the true motive behind her death and bring her killer to justice. Kimo is also in trouble at home, as he and fire investigator Mike Riccardi consider fathering children themselves

The death of an island patrician in a warehouse fire puts openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, his partner and their foster son in danger. The beautiful tropical island of O'ahu is filled with predators, from high-flying owls to bottom-dwelling criminals. When the body of an island patrician is found in a warehouse fire, tracking his killers will bring openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka into contact with many of those predators, natural and otherwise. Kimo and his detective partner Ray Donne dig deep into the history of Hawai'i as the islands were teetering on the brink of statehood in order to understand the victim, his killer, and their motives. Kimo and his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, decide to become foster parents for a homeless teen who witnessed the crime, while preparing to become dads themselves.

From murderers to missing babies to a shaggy dog with an unusual appetite, Kimo has his hands full in this selection of thirteen short investigations in the Aloha State. Sun-drenched streets hide bodies in their shadows and clues lurk in the most unusual places, from a hearse to flowering hedge to a psychic who provides Kimo with an unexpected revelation. These sexy, smart and satisfying stories will please new readers and fans of the Mahu series as well. What the critics have said about the Mahu Investigations: “Plakcy keeps the waves of suspense crashing!” In LA Magazine “Hits all the right notes as a mystery.” Mystery Book News “Kimo brings needed diversity to the genre, and the author handles the island setting well.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin “Spotless pace, intriguing plots twists, and an earnest depiction of challenges faced by people transitioning out of the closet.” Honolulu Advertiser “Recommended to a wide audience.” Reviewing the Evidence

A few months after the birth of his twins, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka begins a temporary assignment to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Kimo and his HPD partner Ray Donne are quickly thrown into an investigation into threatening letters sent to a U.S. Senator. Are these screeds about racial purity related to an escalating series of attacks against mixed-race couples and families on Oahu? When arson at a day care center on the Windward Coast brings Kimo's partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, into the case, Kimo worries about the future of his and Mike's newborn twins on an island falling prey to hate and a cult leader bent on death and destruction.

Former competitive surfer and Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka is in his element in his home state of Hawaii. But a ski trip with his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, knocks him off balance. As a bitter storm rages outside the condo where they're staying, one of Mike's college buddies is feuding with his wife and the other is making sexy overtures to Kimo. Will these tensions ruin the vacation and perhaps even drive a wedge between Kimo and Mike?

New fathers investigate the death of a young family. When a sailboat carrying four bodies washes up on the Leeward Coast of O'ahu, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, on loan to the FBI, must discover what sent this young family and their deadly cargo on a dangerous trans-Pacific voyage. Leaving behind his partner and their infant twins, Kimo must work with his police cohort Ray Donne to unravel the forces that led this family to their deaths. From Hawaii's sunny beaches to a chillly island in Japan to the Pacific Northwest, Kimo and Ray step far out of their comfort zones to confront an evil much greater than any they've investigated before.

Can Hawaiian native Ikaika Kahale turn his life around after studying the hula in a cultural program at San Quentin and then returning to the Aloha State? Or is the new murder he’s accused of proof that an orchid can’t change its colors? While Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is on a temporary departmental leave, his mother asks him to investigate the case of her friend’s son Ikaika, who Kimo went to Hawaiian school with as a child. Working undercover, Kimo traces the roots of what seems like an unfortunate death in a fight at the bar where Ikaika worked as a bouncer. What was HPD officer Brian Yang doing at the Surf City Crazy Bar? Who was the mysterious man he brawled with before Ikaika intervened and delivered a deadly punch? Kimo’s investigation takes him into the hills of the Windward Coast of O’ahu, where the gorgeous blossoms of a nursery may be hiding a deadly secret. Along the way, he’ll require the assistance of his partner, his friends and his loved ones in a demonstration of what the word ohana, Hawaiian for family, really means. What the critics have said about the Mahu Investigations: “Plakcy keeps the waves of suspense crashing!” —In LA Magazine “Hits all the right notes as a mystery.” —Mystery Book News “Kimo brings needed diversity to the genre, and the author handles the island setting well.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin “Spotless pace, intriguing plots twists, and an earnest depiction of challenges faced by people transitioning out of the closet.” —Honolulu Advertiser “Recommended to a wide audience.” —Reviewing the Evidence

Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka can’t say no when the chair of the House Defense Appropriations Committee asks him to investigate her father’s death. The case may be as cold as the top of Mauna Kea—over fifty years old—but Representative Stacey O’Brien controls the purse strings for the eleven military bases in Hawai’i. And she’s a mentor to Kimo’s baby mama, Sandra Guarino, who’s in her first time in the House in DC. The eleventh full novel in the series, Soldier Down requires Kimo to use everything he knows, as well as his family connections, to disturb a series of crimes the military has tried to cover up. At the same time, he and his partner Mike Riccardi are dealing with the perils of fatherhood as their eight-year-old twins start to question their family situation. Would they really be better off moving between a pair of mom-dad couples? Because that’s not something the adults can manage. Soldier Down explores the ongoing nature of parent-child relationships while Kimo tracks a killer through the lush paradise of the Aloha State.

A case that challenges Kimo's feelings about family, or ohana A mother and her neurodiverse teen-aged son are missing in one of the parks surrounding Honolulu, and homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka must use his knowledge of the landscape, and of human nature, to tackle this case, with more twists and turns than a mountain trail. Pressure mounts from civic and tourism leaders, as well as the news media. Kimo must confront old adversaries as he negotiates tricky questions. What does it mean to be a parent? How can you protect your children while at same time preparing them to be free someday? The heart and warmth of Kimo’s ohana will provide the answers in this thrilling new mystery from an award-winning author.