cover image Menehunes Missing

Menehunes Missing

Cheryl Lynn Martin. Comfort, $10.99 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-938388-24-8

Martin offers a likeable yet uneven tale of three Hawaiian friends who solve mysteries. Leilani and her pals Sam and Maile become involved in a fundraising treasure hunt for statues of menehunes—leprechaun-like Hawaiian spirits. The treasure hunt gets complicated quickly when the hidden statues begin disappearing, and the place where the first statue is stashed is struck by fire. Leilani and her almost-eighth-grade chums make a list of suspects and begin investigating. Leilani’s younger brother, Kimo, and a 16-year-old whom she’s crushing on add texture and humor to the story. The Hawaiian setting is fresh and appealing, and Leilani’s family, headed by a single mother, is engaging. Martin, writing the second volume in the Hawaiian Island Detective Club series, also has a good ear for dialogue. Pacing is a serious weakness, however; the friends spend too much time eating ice cream and laughing uproariously about things that are stated outright to be funny. The book feels padded after a zesty start; it will appeal more to younger middle-grade readers. Ages 8–12. Agent: Terry Burns, Hartline Literary. (Feb.) ■