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Cult of Ku

The year is 1920, the setting is Waikiki/Honolulu. A young war hero, Grant Kingsley, returns from trench battle in eastern France, facing not only the death of his beautiful mother a few years before but also the likelihood he may be the son from an affair she had with a Native Hawaiian. This news could lead to his rejection by his prominent Caucasian family and disinheritance of its sugar plantation riches.

A series of brutal murders in what appears to be traditional human sacrifice style by followers of the War God Ku of pre-Christian times occur and each one heightens suspicion that Grant is the killer. Interwoven into the murder investigations are the consequences of years of importation of thousands of indentured servants from Asia and elsewhere by plantation owners seeking cheap labor, labor unrest, the racial bigotry of many descendants of the original missionary families who became rich on sugar, and the ominous expansion of the Japanese into the Pacific.

Grant and his newly found love, a part Chinese woman educated in archeology, fight for his innocence as they try to solve the mysterious murders one step ahead of Honolulu police who want to placate the power elite and arrest him. Several dramatic scenes involve ancient temple sites on Oahu, close brushes with death, car chases, and a detective inclined to let Grant try to prove his innocence.

Charlie Chan fans and those enjoying the new Hawaii-Five-O television series will enjoy the exotic tropical setting of this fast-paced murder mystery.