Naomi Hirahara (Clark and Division) returns to the island of Kaua'i in An Eternal Lei, her second Leilani Santiago mystery, which brims with family secrets and delicious Hawaiian food. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Leilani and her sisters find a strange woman unconscious on the beach, wearing an unusual lei that clearly came from the shop of some family friends. Leilani (whom readers met in Iced in Paradise), curious about the stranger's identity, digs into the woman's life and uncovers a few startling connections to their island community. Meanwhile, her sisters struggle with online school and Leilani tries to find purpose and connection in the stressful and strangely empty days of the pandemic.
Hirahara has created a sharp, sympathetic narrator in Leilani, whose fierce love for her multigenerational family mingles with irritation at being cooped up together. The Lee family, owners of the flower and lei shop, as well as other local characters, are engaging and colorfully drawn, and the references to Hawaiian food will have readers Googling--and then craving--local treats such as musubi and malasada. Hirahara sprinkles her dialogue with Japanese and Hawaiian pidgin words, which is occasionally distracting but helps set the scene for readers. The mystery plot, while interesting, serves primarily as a chance for Leilani (and Hirahara) to dig deeper into the characters' lives and the complex multiracial history of the Hawaiian Islands.
Wryly humorous, well-plotted and timely without being depressing, An Eternal Lei will inspire daydreams of (post-pandemic) travel to Hawaii. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams