Melelani's Mana, by Lono Waiwai'ole

Melelani's Mana, by Lono Waiwai'ole, in Honolulu Noir, edited by Chris McKinney, Akashic Press, 2024.

The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

I paid this story a high compliment: as soon as I finished it I put the author's debut novel on my TBR list, because I wanted to know more about the characters. It's clear that he has written about them before and they are interesting folks.

But since I am not fully informed, forgive me if I make false assumptions.  Melelani appears to be Native Hawaiian.  Her lover Wiley is also, but grew up on the mainland.  Now he's a gambler, preparing for a big poker night, with a ten grand buy-in.  Mele wants to come to the game but she seems less interested in poker than the security issues.

And there are big issues because one of the players plans to rob the game.  Things turn very nasty. 

The story is well-written and I loved the characters. That the casual supernatural is a turn-off for me but your mileage may vary.