Robert McCaw. Fire and Vengeance. Oceanview, 2020.

We enjoyed the first Koa Kāne mystery we read. This one, actually the third in the series, is just as intense. And like the other, a story like this could only happen in the fiftieth state.

Very simply, the volcano overlooking the city of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, lets off some steam sometimes. It has not erupted since 1801, but it is still live. Suddenly, a volcano vent opens up right underneath an elementary school while school is in session. Fourteen students and a teacher are killed. Many more students are hospitalized.

The overheated school is badly damaged. Now, the Big Island of Hawaii is formed by five volcanoes, three of which are still active, so a volcanic vent should be obvious to anyone getting a building permit on the island.

Indeed, as crews tear apart the remains of the school, they discover a basement wall six feet thick and a steel fire door in its middle. It looks like whoever built the school knew about the vent. That is negligence, and it could be negligent homicide.

Enter Koa Kāne, chief detective of the Hawaii County police. He is told to investigate, but both the mayor and the governor want a quick resolution. This school tragedy becomes national news. In some ways it is like a school shooting, only more deliberate.

Meanwhile Koa’s younger brother Ikaika has been in prison in Arizona where the state of Hawaii has been sending some of its prisoners. That program is being phased out, and almost as soon as he gets back to a prison in Hawaii, Ikaika passes out. He is hospitalized, and the doctors make a discovery that may partly explain his criminal behavior.

No sooner does the investigation begin than one of the contractors who built the school and the architect who designed it are murdered. There appears to be a serious cover-up going on, but the mayor and governor are still looking for a quick resolution.

As the plot thickens, Koa discovers political corruption at some of the highest levels in the county and state and a connection to a bizarre murder in the 1970s that has never been solved. This is another plot-driven mystery that gets bigger and bigger. And to solve what prove to be multiple crimes requires a lot of ingenuity and plotting on the part of the Hawaii police. Yes, Fire and Vengeance is ingenious and igneous fun.

There is an interesting side note about the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Koa’s girlfriend is a park ranger there. While she does not figure as much in this story as she did in Off the Grid, we hear from her what the park is like now. It has been closed since 2018 thanks to the eruption of Kilauea, but the park service employees are working harder because of the challenges caused by the eruption.

While it is not on the same level, this reviewer gets it. This past week my school is closed like many in the country because of the Covid-19 scare. Teachers will still be going to school every day and will have to come up with ways of teaching online. It may be a break for the kids, but I am not sure that it will be much of a break for us teachers. It has already proven more time-consuming than normal school days.

There is one mystery connected with this novel, though, that is not solved to my satisfaction. The book tells us that author lived in Hawaii for twenty years but now lives in New York City. Why would anyone leave Hawaii for New York City?