Blood Orchids

I just finished Blood Orchids by Toby Neal. It is the first book in the Lei Crime series.  While it turned out to be a bit more police procedural than suspense, it still had a strong suspense element in the form of a stalker. Lei is our protagonist. She is a native of Hawaii but has spent much of her life on the mainland due to some very traumatic childhood issues.

The book is set in Hawaii and is full of vivid descriptions of the islands. Many of the characters lapse into pidgin ( a native dialect) at times including Lei. I really liked reading the interesting phrasing. Since the author grew up in Hawaii, she really gives the story an authentic feel.

The plot of the story revolves around Lei's quest to solve the rape and murder of two young girls. In the meantime, she is also dealing with a stalker who may or may not be connected, psychological issues from her past, and the romantic interest of 3 different men...one of whom may be her stalker. The story keeps our heroine busy and avoids lag time or useless details. Lei is a really interesting character. On the outside, she is tough and more than confident in her ability to do her job as a policewoman well. The inside, however, is a completely different story. She doubts herself and her value as a person and as a friend or relationship partner. She uses many coping mechanisms, some healthy, some not, in order to deal with these fears and insecurities but still manages to struggle at times.

Overall, the story contains a lot of procedural information regarding the police activity, some graphic descriptions of rape and murder, creepy introspection by the killer, and the beginnings of what seems to be Lei's first love interest. I really enjoyed the book ( especially Lei's mandatory counseling sessions) Since I grabbed the first three books in this series when they were kindle freebies, I'm excited to already have the next book available to start today.