Guardians of the Drums (Paperback)

A priceless artifact. A stolen legacy. A detective who won’t let her island be erased.

Detective Leilani Kealoha knows Honolulu’s shadows better than anyone—its slick backstreets, its political undercurrents, and the sacred weight of history woven into every artifact. So when the Bishop Museum’s most revered treasure—an eighteenth-century feathered cloak linked to King Kamehameha—is stolen in a high-tech heist, Leilani dives into a case that’s more than theft. It’s cultural warfare.

The trail leads to a charismatic mainland billionaire and an elite auction circuit trafficking stolen heritage to offshore buyers. As Leilani unravels a web of cloned security badges, forensic anomalies, and whispered deals aboard luxury yachts, she uncovers a global network laundering the soul of a nation. With the wisdom of her halau elders and the grit of a seasoned cop, she races to recover the stolen cloak before it disappears into the black market forever.

Richly atmospheric and fiercely resonant, The Cloak Thief is a gripping police thriller that blends forensic intrigue with cultural reckoning. For fans of Michael Connelly, Attica Locke, and Tana French, this is a story that asks: Who owns history—and who will fight to protect it?