Lily Wu

With World War II only barely in the rear view mirror, New York apartments are scarcer than hen's teeth. Janice Cameron has moved to the City to be a writer, trading Honolulu's sun and flowers for Manhattan in the grip of icy winter. She's imagined her own cunning little flat, a little table by the window, a little lace cloth...fat chance! Her own flat is completely out of the question, and in fact she's going to have to share a boarding-house bedroom with a perfect stranger. At least the stranger is perfect: Lily Wu is beautiful, exquisitely dressed, and swathed in mystery. But Janice hasn't even unpacked before a rather less exquisite mystery intrudes. True, the handyman wasn't brilliant at maintaining the boiler, but murder seems a rather extreme response. In the best Golden Age tradition, the rooming house is crammed with intriguing suspects, from the tortured musician to the French emigree to the actress with a face for radio. Lily and Janice would much prefer to leave, but they've nowhere to go. Solving the murder seems the best possible option, especially since if someone were arrested and taken away...well, that would free up a room, now wouldn't it?

Hawaii just after the war is an unspoiled paradise. Any mystery fan can tell you that won't last. Aloha! It's 1950, and the SS Lurline is steaming into Honolulu harbor. On board are Janice Cameron, coming to celebrate the novel she's written about Hawaii; a boatload of tourists eager to get their leis on; and a few people who are not what they seem. Watching them all-and missing nothing-is the beautiful and enigmatic Lily Wu. Like Janice, she's coming home: While they may have met in New York, they're both Hawaii girls of long standing. But while Janice may be surprised by the changes that the tourists (and their money) have brought to her beloved islands, very little surprises Lily. Which is lucky for Janice, as those surprises get ugly very fast.