Coming in 2027: 

Place of Refuge 
 

Shaunalei Griffin was a world-renowned expert on Polynesian cultures whose family, friends, colleagues, and boyfriend adored her. So, who slashed her throat and dumped her body in—of all places—the passenger seat of Hawaiian PI Noelani Lee’s beloved ’97 Nissan Sentra?

 

Shaking off the shock of her gruesome discovery, Noelani does her level best to stay on the cops’ good side and avoid becoming ensnared in their high-profile investigation. But those plans collapse when the victim’s grieving sister hires her to take on the same case the police have assigned to a new detective, one who doesn’t even try to hide her skepticism and borderline disdain for Noelani.

 

Both at odds with the police even as she’s (unofficially) helping them, Noelani soon discovers there was much more to Shaunalei than meets the eye. Determined nonetheless to catch the killer, she comes to realize the same people who professed their love for Shaunalei—and others who didn’t, including a mega-wealthy tech oligarch and his monotone wife—may in fact have had ample reason to kill her.

 

With help from her cousin and fueled by a newfound connection to her cultural roots, Noelani peels away the blurred layers of a dead woman’s reputation as she tries to bring a killer to justice.