Glen Grant (1947–2003)

"McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries" has been compiled by Glen Grant based on the stories of Arthur McDougal. The book details a set of cases that McDougal, a real life "pulp" detective, had in Hawaii in the 1920s and '30s. If even a quarter of the stories are true, this guy could be the basis for every pulp tale ever written. It's full of strange murders, dangerous dames, dirty cops, car chases, Nazis, Japs, opium dens, criminal masterminds, and a huge amount of the supernatural -- ghosts, show more shamans, were-sharks, Pele, and curses. Oh and McDougal found out what really happened to Amelia Earhart. (Hint: it's not pleasant.)

Looks like it's available from plenty of online sellers cheap, though not from Amazon, oddly enough, and I've never seen it available in bookstores here on the mainland, though it's readily available in Hawaiian bookstores, tourist traps, etc. (I kept seeing this one everywhere I went in Hawaii a few years ago, including on my cruise ship and had to pick it up.)

Fun, fun stuff. Highly recommended.

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers show less