I've been a fan of private eye fiction since the S S Van Dine days of my youth. Layer in a colorful pallete of John D. MacDonald, and a smattering of others over the decades. I don't read it much now but Tom Bradley, Jr's book twigged my interest with the distressed cover and way-back imagery.

I was not disappointed.

Noelani Lee and her cousin sparkle in this jewel-heist tale set among islands. The supporting cast of criminals kept the story moving as they made more blunders than the Keystone cops on their combined paths to recover their stolen jewels. The question that Mr. Bradley kept teasing me with wasn't "Who dunnit?" or even "Who has them now?"

It was "How is he going to resolve this?"

He did and it was glorious. I won't tell you how but I'll recommend you take a trip to the islands and find out for yourself. Just don't take a black backpack.

Highly recommended.