Police Chief Detective Koa Kāne is led by a scrap of cloth to the gruesome remains of someone left to be destroyed by a lava flow, but this dark crime is not his first dead body of the day. On Hawaiʻi’s Big Island these crimes could change everything and even cost Kāne his career. Off the Grid is the second book in the Koa Kāne Hawaiian Mystery series from Robert McCaw and drops readers into the darker side of paradise.

While investigating any murder can be difficult, the two homicides that Detective Kāne is trying to solve are further plagued by outside forces that are trying to keep things hidden. The CIA, the Chinese Government, and the Defense Intelligence Agency are all trying to keep the identities of the dead a secret, but as pressure rises Kāne is forced to contend with this complex web of international intrigue. At both murder scenes everything seems to go strangely. At the vehicular homicide a hose comes loose and people insist they hear a woman scream before the car blows up and when the detective goes to his second scene the body is strangely emaciated and also seemingly covered in burns that weren’t caused by the lava. An eyewitness insists that the woman who died in the car was named Gwendolyn Campbell and during their investigation, Kāne realizes that this woman and her husband, Arthur, are the two bodies that have been found. As secrets begin to be revealed it seems as though the initial ideas that the investigators had of the Campbells is exceptionally wrong. As Kāne delves deeper into the truth classified information comes to light and this case becomes more and more dangerous.

Off the Grid is a mystery that keeps you guessing not only about who might have committed these murders, but about the victims themselves. As Kāne investigates nothing ever seems to entirely be true and with each step closer to a solution it seems as though even more blocks appear from a variety of different sources. I honestly couldn’t guess any elements of this plot, which is always a perk for me in a mystery novel. I also enjoyed the change of scenery. I personally have a tendency to read mysteries set in grim and foggy locations, but the bright and beautiful Hawaii scenery seems at such a contrast from how dark the crimes are that it is just jarring. Kāne is a dedicated seeker of justice and no matter what happens in the case, he is not going to stop until he knows what happened and who killed the two victims. This is the perfect summer read for murder mystery lovers and is bound to keep you captivated until the very end. You can preorder your copy of Off the Grid today.

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