The word Hawaii conjures up visions of idyllic beaches, surfers in search of the perfect wave, garlands of flowers and traditional dancing, but also of major tourist resorts, golf courses and even, at times, the legendary figure of Captain James Cook.

All of which make an appearance in Màrius Serra’s splendid new novel, as does a terrorist attack with four casualties that brings a major official event staged on Kealakekua beach to a brutal end.

Tom Rodely is a shy yet attractive reporter who lives in a caravan filled with books on Captain Cook in the garden of Chez Lima, the Bed & Breakfast run by his widowed mother. Tom will set out to investigate the event in the company of hot-shot reporter Jane Auden and a Catalan tourist who turns out to be the daughter of a decidedly shady character, Mr. Puig. It’s not long before the unsolved mysteries posed by the terrorist attack begin to merge with other enigmas and, above all, with Tom’s family history.

«A crime that had always struck him as familiar, perhaps because it took place on the day his father vanished without a trace, his mother shut herself off like an oyster and he began to pine for both of them.»