Pono folded his thick arms and opened his mouth to defend his cousin some more, but Lei held up a hand. “Guys. Let’s agree at this point that this shipwreck seems like a crime scene and move forward without further assumptions. So, Aina. Did you notify the police on Lana`i yet?”
“I did. Sergeant Gary Miller was on duty and said he’d be going down to the beach to meet us.”
“I’ll get ahold of him.” Lei took out her phone and routed her call to the on-island officer through Captain Omura. Maui County consisted of five islands of varying sizes: Maui, Kahoolawe and Molokini atolls, Molokai, and Lana`i. The two atolls were uninhabited, and officers rotated out to Lana`i for shifts, while larger Molokai had its own force.
Lei knew Miller from other cases, and it would be good to have backup from on-island with the energetic young black man, though the Lana`i police station was tiny with little investigation resource equipment. They’d have to process all evidence on the main island of Maui.
Once Lei had established contact with Miller, who’d be picked up on the beach, she put away her phone.
The Guardsman driving the Defender turned his head. “Ship ahoy. We’re here.”
Lei’s pulse picked up with the familiar hit of adrenaline that made being a cop so addictive.
Click here to find out more about Razor Rocks, Paradise Crime Mysteries #13, with Lei!
Acknowledgments
Dear Readers!
Mahalo for joining me on Sophie’s latest adventure!
I confess, these characters continue to surprise and challenge me. I really, truly thought we were done with Jake! I had a whole other plan, and I said goodbye to him in the last book and put the period on it when he returned Ginger at the beginning of this one.
But as the book went on, though I love Raveaux (and I hope you do too, and he’s going to be around complicating things) and though I love Connor (and I hope you do too, and he also has a major role in coming events). Sophie just wasn’t going along with my new plan for her romantic life. She pined, and rebelled, and truth to tell (since this book is all about truth) I missed Jake on the page. His fiery passion, his bigger than life boldness, his impulsivity and courage, his black and white thinking . . . he brought energy and random twists to the story. He brought a SPARK, that zing, even if I didn’t always like who he was—and in the end, sensible Felicia dumped his ass, as she should have.
He is just in love with Sophie, and she with him, come what may for both of them—and who am I to fight the kind of chemistry they have?
The truth is, I don’t always like these characters. What they do. Who they are. Pim Wat, for instance. I love to hate her as much as you do, and the fact that the Master has had some grand scheme for her and is executing it? Well, my plan was to leave her in Guantánamo to rot, but he had other plans, and talk about a twisted and intense love . . . that’s what Pim Wat and the Master got goin’ on, and I guess we’re in for some more adventures with them down the road.
Here’s the thing: when you’re a writer, you think, “this is the one tiny bit of the universe I can control. I can play God here: kill people, make them fall in love, orchestrate seasons and wars and time . . .” but that’s not actually true, if you want to have any fun at all with this mysterious calling. Stephen King says that stories pre-exist, and we writers just uncover them “like fossils.” Psychologist Carl Jung agrees. In his explanation of the mind, he posits that we collectively create “leitmotifs” which are heroic stories of the human experience that transcend cultures and are universal.
Sometimes, when I’m writing, I completely believe that.
Other times, I’m sure I know what’s best for my characters and story.
But the truth is, I’m happiest when I trust the people on the page, let them reveal what they’ve come to show us, and get out of the way.
I hope you’ll join me again for Wired Ghost, Paradise Crime Thriller #11, as Sophie’s story continues! But before that happens… I’m working on a new Lei book, Razor Rocks!
Yeah, I know, the Paradise Crime Mystery series had a perfect ending with Bitter Feast, book 12, and I was done with them, yada yada.
But didn’t I just get done telling you some stories are bigger than our plans, and some characters have a life and mind of their own? Lei, Stevens, Pono and their family wanted back into the world, so I’m hard at work on Razor Rocks, Paradise Crime Mysteries #13. You can read a sneak peek of the new book, a killer mystery involving PIRATES!
If you’re not familiar with the Paradise Crime Mysteries, you’re in for a treat! Get started with #1, Blood Orchids, and discover Lei Texeira and her dog Keiki, the amazing pair that brought Sophie to life in book 4 of their series. Happy reading!
And if you enjoyed Wired Truth, please leave a review. They mean more than you will ever know, and are the best gift a writer can receive.
Free Books
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Toby’s Bookshelf
PARADISE CRIME SERIES
Paradise Crime Mysteries
Blood Orchids
Torch Ginger
Black Jasmine
Broken Ferns
Twisted Vine
Shattered Palms
Dark Lava
Fire Beach
Rip Tides
Bone Hook
Red Rain
Bitter Feast
Razor Rocks
(Coming summer 2019)
Paradise Crime Mystery
Special Agent Marcella Scott
Stolen in Paradise
Unsound
Paradise Crime Thrillers
Wired In
Wired Rogue
Wired Hard
Wired Dark
Wired Dawn
Wired Justice
Wired Secret
Wired Fear
Wired Courage
Wired Truth
ROMANCES
The Somewhere Series
Somewhere on St. Thomas
Somewhere in the City
Somewhere in California
Standalone
Somewhere on Maui
Co-Authored Romance Thrillers
The Scorch Series
Scorch Road
Cinder Road
Burnt Road
Flame Road
Smolder Road
YOUNG ADULT
Standalone
Island Fire
NONFICTION
Memoir
Freckled
About the Author
Kirkus Reviews calls Neal's writing, "persistently riveting. Masterly."
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Award-winning, USA Today bestselling social worker turned author Toby Neal grew up on the island of Kaua`i in Hawaii. Neal is a mental health therapist, a career that has informed the depth and complexity of the characters in her stories. Neal's mysteries and thrillers explore the crimes and issues of Hawaii from the bottom of the ocean to the top of volcanoes. Fans call her stories, "Immersive, addicting, and the next best thing to being there."
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Neal also pens romance, romantic thrillers, and writes memoir/nonfiction under TW Neal.
Visit tobyneal.net for more ways to stay in touch!
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