MAHU VICE by Neil S. Plakcy

Kimo Kanapa'aka is back, and as usual, he's neck-deep in a mystery.

The last time we saw Kimo, during MAHU FIRE, he seemed to have found true love in fireman Mike. But at the beginning of MAHU VICE, they've broken up, and definitely not under the best of terms.

Mike is deeply closeted, and Kimo is not. His outing came during a murder investigation, and was very public, but now that he is out, he doesn't want to hide. This created some tension between them, but the final blow came when Kimo finds out he's gotten gonorrhea from Mike. He knows it has to be Mike, because he hasn't been with anyone else.

Mike had a one-night stand while at a conference for arson investigators in San Francisco.

Their break-up hasn't been good for either of them. Kimo has gone on a series of rough-sex one-night stands, and Mike has begun drinking heavily.

Neither knows this about the other until they find themselves forced to work together again. A fire in a shopping strip that was built by Kimo's father (though he no longer owns it), killed a young boy who was living in the back of a hair salon.

The fire started in an acupuncture business at one end of the strip. Mike is the arson investigator and Kimo and his partner are assigned the death.

Their investigation leads to a prostitution ring and several familiar characters from past books. It also leads back to a mysterious Mr. Hu who orchestrated a series rough sex nights for Kimo. Turns out that not only Kimo, but many other men were being recorded during these nights. The closeted men involved are being blackmailed.

There are also other fires, all of which were set as sites of the prostitution business might have come under some scrutiny. It's the preferred "clean-up" method for this group.

The mystery is tight and tense, and Kimo is constantly caught between protecting the innocent and trying to get the guilty without exposing them. He also has to find a way to work with Mike.

This is probably the best yet of the Mahu series, and a welcome addition to the story of Kimo.

WP