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Hawaii, post-WWII, murder, Lily Wu, Chinese American detective, pagan beliefs vs. "modern" religion, melodrama THE KAHUNA KILLER is the second book of the Lily Wu series. Originally published in 1951, Rue Morgue has recently reissued this book, as well as several other books in the series. Janice Cameron and Lily Wu travel to Hawaii for very different reasons. Janice grew up on Oahu and hopes to see old friends, as well as film the movie version of her book in a local village. Lily comes primarily to accompany Janice, but she also visits family that live on nearby islands. Unfortunately, Janice quickly learns that her idyllic paradise has disappeared. There are rumors that the native religion has overthrown Christianity and blood sacrifices are now occurring in local villages. The atmosphere at the Avery's (her hosts and long time friends) is oppressive and threatening. Janice's bags are searched and several small accidents befall her early in her stay. In addition, a man she met on the boat ride over appears to be following her and knows more about her than he should. When a hula dancer is found murdered, Janice realizes that she might be next. Hoping to protecting her life, she calls in her friend Lily Wu. Lily Wu is the detective of the series but she is not a main character. She does not have a voice and her character is described through allusions within Janice's speech. Janice stumbles around attempting to discover the murderer, while Lily has already solved the crime. This practice is reminiscent of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes where their main characters are not always in the forefront of the mystery. The way this mystery is resolved is also similar to the classic mystery writers. Sheridan also presents an interesting view of the debate between Native beliefs and that of "modern" beliefs. Her presentation of this debate is not the typical argument. Sheridan does not attempt to validate native religions, while she does work to validate their culture and history. In THE KAHUNA KILLER, the native peoples are frightened by the traditional religion. It is the reverse of the typical dichotomy where native peoples use their traditions to threaten the white population. Here the white culture uses Native religions to control the native populations. THE KAHUNA KILLER is progressive for its time. The detective is both a woman and Chinese American. In addition, both Lily and Janice are not portrayed as repressed spinsters but instead they are independent, mostly logical women. This said, the book is still dated simply because imperialism and other oppressive practices have ended. If you enjoy Agatha Christie or other classic writers, you should enjoy THE KAHUNA KILLER.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, September 2002
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