Kula: The Famous Surfing Dog

Surfing Detective Mystery Series, Book 3

By: Chip Hughes

Narrated by: Scott Ellis

Summoned to the Honolulu hilltop mansion of radio pitchman Barry Buckingham, presumably to trace his missing wife, the Surfing Detective is in for the letdown of his career. Kai Cook is hired to track another lost family member. A dog.

Despite his qualms, Kai would seem a natural for the case, since the golden retriever named Kula is a famous surfing dog. Yet the PI knows nothing about finding missing pets. But he does know where to find help - Maile Barnes, an ex-K9 cop and kindred spirit with the keys to unlock the dark underworld of animal theft in the islands.

Then, a questionable tip takes Kai to a late-night rendezvous, his tipster winds up dead, and the detective himself becomes a suspect. Can he clear his name and find the murderer before he strikes again? The PI tracks the illusive retriever from Oahu to the Big Island to Maui, but the killer is one step ahead - other players linked to the dog’s disappearance keep turning up dead.

Is a ghost from Barry Buckingham's past behind the murders? Or is Kai's client just a misunderstood man with a lost pet? To solve this third case in the Surfing Detective series, Kai Cooke must do what he never does - take on a partner. Teaming up with the headstrong K9 cop is his only shot to liberate the famous surfing dog, who is somehow always at the center of this mystery.

©2014 Robert S. Hughes, Jr. (P)2020 Robert S. Hughes, Jr.

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! After listening to this story,. I totally enjoyed reading this book. It’s well written and the characters were uniquely fantastic. I would suggest this book to my friends that like this sort of genera. this was a good book. The narration was great.

Pet Detective?

In the third installment of 'The Surfing Detective Mystery' series, Kai, who has fallen on financial hard times, takes on a missing dog investigation. He's reluctant to take the case, but recent corporate investigation companies to Hawaii have undercut his market. The pedigreed dog, Kula, the famous surfing dog, leads Kai into the sinister underbelly of pet theft and then to murder.

I'm enjoying this series of stories. I like Chip Hughes' inclusion of surfer culture with the mystery. In fact, it is because Kai is a surfer, and uses his session time to mull over his cases, that he gets to the bottom of them. I like how Hughes blends the philosophy of surfing, the mystique of Hawaii and Kai's easy-going personality with the criminal element that exists on the islands.

Kai isn't without his flaws, however. He's been shown in this series to be quite the womanizer. I hope that new character, Meili, an ex-canine police officer, will tame him. She seems to be what Kai needs in order to settle down with one woman. I hope it sticks.

Scott Ellis has done a great narration job once again. I like the tone he gives to Hughes' words. I really like how he interprets the native pidgin in the book.

I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and am now posting a voluntary opinion.

Recommended.

My 4th in series

Chip Hughes intended to write 6 in his series of mysteries solved by a well-developed protagonist, Kai the Surfer PI. Each novel is carefully crafted with realistic details of local lore and storylines based on actual cases. I’m hoping this skilled storyteller will decide to expand the series.