Aloha mai kākou! My name is Makalani Pahukula, born and raised on Kaua‘i, on my way home on a short vacation from my work as an Oregon law enforcement ranger. My grandmother is turning eighty-five, and we’re celebrating her birthday with a huge lū‘au celebration at her homestead in Anahola, where I grew up.
I worked through Christmas, so I haven’t been home in over a year. My ‘ohana thinks I’m a workaholic, but they thought this even when I was young. I’ve always had too much energy for the island way of life. That said, I miss the peace of paddling out to sea, fishing with Pāpā, and helping out on the farm. Mostly I miss standing thigh-high in our muddy river-side kalo field with Tūtū while we talk story and pull plants my aunties will steam and my parents will pound into poi.
The flight attendant smiles as she comes up the aisle. “Happy to be going home?”
She’s local for sure and probably picked the giant red hibiscus she has pinned in her swept up black hair. Since I’ve lived and worked on the mainland for a decade, her assumption warms my heart.
“How can you tell Hawai‘i is my home?”
She cocks her head as if the answer is too obvious to say. After all, I’m nearly six feet tall with wild Hawaiian hair that has already begun doubling in expectation of the islands’ humid, salty air. And although my features are mixed with Chinese and Irish genes, the Hawaiian is most predominant, even though I’ve lost my rich island tan.
“Even if my eyes were closed,” she says, “I can hear it in your voice. Only a kanaka maoli says Hawai‘i like that.”
Kanaka maoli means Native Hawaiian. My heart soars again.
She leaves me an extra macadamia nut cookie. “Welina mai i ka home.” Welcome home.
“Kiss da ‘āina when you arrive.”
“Mahalo, auntie, I will.”
In all my years as a national park ranger and as a child and teenager growing up on Tūtū’s homestead, I have always lived as I was taught, to love and care for the land. And as the eldest of the eldest of my grandmother’s children, I have also felt responsible to look out for my ‘ohana no matter how long I’ve been gone.
If I had known the state of my poor family, I would have asked for three cookies to give me the strength.
Kaua’i Storm – A Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: May 2025
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link
Returning to Kaua‘i, park ranger Makalani finds her family divided and their way of life at risk in this rich and emotional adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series.
After ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula is back on Kaua‘i for her grandmother’s birthday. Having been gone for so long, Makalani finds the disconnect with her people and her struggles have never been more profound. Neither has her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. When she reaches the homestead, she finds a bickering family and the disconcerting news that her cousins—a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl—have gone missing.
Makalani hopes they just ran off, too careless to realize the worry they’ve caused. But when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, Makalani fears something ominous is at play, and the search for her cousins grows more desperate. Although her help may not be welcomed by family and locals, Makalani is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater risk than anyone imagines.
The investigation will open her heart, reawaken her love for the land she calls home, and strengthen her bond with her family. Because no matter how long she’s been away, for Makalani, Hawai‘i is in her blood.
About the author
Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of the newly re-released Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, The Ninja Betrayed, and The Ninja’s Oath—as well as a two-time Anthony Award nominee, Lefty and Macavity Awards finalist, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year. Born and raised in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—she now lives in Portland, Oregon, as the happy tūtū for her own grandchildren. Kaua‘i Storm is the first of her new Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries, including the audiobook narrated by her!