Francis Hideyuki Yoshikawa, a Nisei veteran and homicide detective with the Honolulu Police Department, tries to keep the war behind him and a glass of whiskey in front of him. It's the summer of 1953, and a young Japanese woman is found dead in Honolulu Harbor—the kind of case that could kill Frank's career, with pressure from the top to leave it alone and let the investigation sink.

A twisted trail of clues takes him through old money, political secrets, and the fallout from a bitter dock and sugar strike. From smoky bars to mansion-lined hills, and from union halls to club halls, Frank uncovers a forbidden romance, an influential kamaʻāina haole family desperate to protect its name and legacy, and the hidden levers of privilege that hold the class divide in place.

In a city where the struggle between labor and power threatens to pull everything under, Frank finds himself weighted by a past he can't wash down. The deeper he dives into the case, the darker it gets—and somebody's hoping he won't resurface.

If you like moody, character-driven noir with a historical lens, Kona Winds delivers a layered mystery shaped by race, class, and silence in postwar Hawai'i.

A product of Hawai'i Kai in East Honolulu, Scott Kikkawa writes noir detective stories set in postwar Hawai'i, featuring 442nd veteran Nisei Detective Sergeant Francis "Sheik" Yoshikawa. His critically acclaimed debut murder mystery, Kona Winds (Bamboo Ridge Press), was released at the end of 2019 and spent six months on the Small Press Distribution Fiction Bestsellers List. Red Dirt, his second full-length novel, was published two years later. Both were featured in HONOLULU Magazine's list of "Essential Hawai'i Books You Should Read." His third novel Char Siu came out in 2023.

Winner of an Elliot Cades Award for Literature and honored with a selection for one of the "Other Distinguished Stories of 2021" in the 2022 Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology, the New York University alumnus is currently a federal law enforcement officer and lives with his family in Honolulu. He serves as a columnist and an Associate Editor for The Hawai'i Review of Books.

"To have Honolulu's only Japanese American homicide detective, the fictional Francis 'Sheik' Yoshikawa, follow the winding, sometimes corrupt paths of postwar Hawai'i before its statehood is pure genius. Haunted by his military service in Europe, Yoshikawa wrestles with his personal demons and evolving political and ethnic dynamics of his hometown. Step aside Raymond Chandler; Scott Kikkawa has arrived to put a new, fresh, and more delicious spin on the noir genre. This mystery may be best enjoyed with a slice of coconut cake. All I know for sure is that I want more." — Naomi Hirahara, author of the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series

"Scott Kikkawa's Kona Winds is a blast of fresh air that lets Hawai'i's people—both good and bad—speak for themselves in a crime narrative. Homicide detective Frankie Yoshikawa is a revelation. Only he can lead the reader through a harrowing world that is at turns tougher and more multihued than expired SPAM. Kona Winds blows past Hawaii 5-O—it goes all the way to 11!" — Ed Lin, author of the Robert Chow mystery series

"Kona Winds is a gripping detective novel set in in postwar Oahu, and Scott Kikkawa is a master of the genre. His Detective Francis Yoshikawa is an American original-handsome, literate, a veteran of the famed 442nd, and immersed in the multiracial mélange of the island. Ultimately, Kikkawa's novel provides a penetrating vision into the complex layers of Hawaiian society, combining heart with the hard-boiled, empathy and depth with the pleasures of a great read." — David Muro, author of Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei

"Homicide detective Francis 'Sheik' Yoshikawa imbibes bourbon every chance he gets, but it's Scott Kikkawa's readers who will be intoxicated by the intricate plot and the whirlwind ride. This noir thriller is notable for its remarkable verisimilitude, its sumptuous reconjuring of Honolulu in the early 1950s." — Rodney Morales, author of the novels For A Song and When the Shark Bites

"Evocative and riveting, Kona Winds grabs the reader from the first page and does not let go until the end. Even then, prepare to be haunted by author Scott Kikkawa's scarred characters, gritty 1950s Honolulu, and layered tale in this elegant noir." — Pamela Rotner Sakamoto, author of Midnight In Broad Daylight