Book description
An exciting new voice richly and suspensefully evokes modern and
ancient Hawaii... When Storm Kayama walks into her lucrative Honolulu
law firm one morning, she's shocked--and grieved--to find her adopted
uncle at his desk, stiff and cold. Years before, Miles Hamasaki had
fulfilled a promise to Storm's father and brought her to be raised with
his own family. But, as questions surround Miles' death and her adopted
family begins to close ranks, Storm suspects that he has been murdered.
Heading to the Big Island for a weekend escape from escalating
pressures, she narrowly escapes a terrible accident. Storm takes refuge
in the home of her Aunt Maile, a traditional Hawaiian healer, and Uncle
Keone, a paniolo on the huge Parker Ranch. There she encounters a legend
from her youth and a family totem, or 'aumakua, which Aunt Maile
promises will protect her. As Storm struggles to heal her own childhood
wounds and bring justice to Hamasaki's killer, she also comes to grip
with the rifts in her own life and culture. From the winding cane roads
of Hamakua to the seedy side of Honolulu's Chinatown, with a deft
juxtaposition of a bustling Honolulu against the island's legends and
wild beauty, Atkinson reveals a Hawaii that few visitors ever see.
Inspired by Tony Hillerman's work, Deborah Atkinson weaves the legends
of Hawaii into fast-paced, high-tension suspense novels. Pleasing the
Dead is the fourth in the series, which includes Primitive Secrets
(2002), The Green Room, (Book Sense pick for October, 2005), Fire Prayer
(2007, winner of a New Covey Cover Award).
