Murder on Mokulua Drive
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Niçoise: In the style of Nice, France. [French] Dressed with vinaigrette, this salad includes mixed lettuce, tomatoes and green beans, and is topped with anchovies and sometimes tuna.
Nu`uanu: Cool heights. [Hawaiian] Valley, stream, and neighborhood north of downtown Honolulu.
O
O`ahu: The Gathering place. [Hawaiian] The third largest Hawaiian island; location of Honolulu.
`Ohana: Family, relative, kinship group, clan, extended family. [Hawaiian]
`Ōhi`a: Two varieties of trees, including evergreen myrtle that produces the lehua flower [Hawaiian] [Metrosideros polymorpha] The red `ōhi`a is the official flower of the island of Hawai`i.
`Okika: Orchid. [Hawaiian]
`Okina: Glottal stop. [Hawaiian] Diacritical mark [`] indicating a break in consonantal sounds, like that separating an interjection’s syllables like “oh-oh.”
Olomana: Forked hill. [Hawaiian] A stream, peak, and ridge in windward O`ahu. The ridge is comprised of Mount Olomana and two smaller peaks, Pāku’i [swift runner] and Ahiki [named for an area overseer].
`Ono: Delicious. [Hawaiian]
O’opu: General name for several species of marine and fresh water fishes [including Eleotridae, Gobidae, and Bennidae]. [Hawaiian] The term is most often used to identify five species of freshwater fish native to the Hawaiian archipelago, four of which are found nowhere else in the world.
`Opihi: Limpets of the gastropod family. Measuring one to two inches in diameter, they resemble a classic Chinese field-hand’s straw hat and are found only on the volcanic shores of the Hawaiian Islands, Popular item on lū`au menus. [Hawaiian]
`Ōpū: Stomach, belly. [Hawaiian]
P
Pā`ina: Ancient word for Hawaiian feast. Now, a meal or dinner party. [Hawaiian]
Pāku’i: See Olomana. [Hawaiian]
Pali: Cliff or craggy hill. [Hawaiian]
Pālolo: Valley, stream. [Hawaiian] An avenue and neighborhood northeast of downtown Honolulu.
Pane: Answer, reply, response; to answer or speak. [Hawaiian]
Peignoir: Gown worn while combing hair. [French] Woman’s long negligee or dressing gown often made of chiffon or other translucent fabric.
Petits Four Glacé: Small oven. [French] Bite-sized tea cake covered with icing or fondant glaze.
Pīkake: Peacock. [Hawaiian] An Asian jasmine shrub or vine in the evergreen olive family that produces fragrant white flowers. [Jasminum sambac]
Plate Lunch: Island meal with Asian style protein often served on a bed of shredded cabbage. Accompanied by two scoops of white steamed rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and sometimes pickled vegetables.
Plumeria: Flowering and fragrant tropical tree including the frangipani, a genus of flowering tree in the dogbane family. [Plumeria]
Poi: Thinned paste of pounded kalo root [taro] that is the staple food of the traditional Hawaiian diet. [Hawaiian] [Colocasia esculental]
Poloka: Frog or toad. [Hawaiian] Wrinkled frog [Glandirana rugosa].
Pōpolo: Flowering nightshade. [Hawaiian] A flowering herb used in native Hawaiian rituals. [Solanum nigrum]
Porte cochère: Door for Coaches. [French] A roofed driveway at a building’s entrance, intended to shield vehicular passengers from the weather.
Punalu`u: Coral that is dived for. [Hawaiian] A rural community and beach park on the northeast shore of O`ahu in the Ko`olauloa District.
Pūne`e: Sofa, couch, pew. [Hawaiian]
Pūpū: Marine and land shell; circular motif; appetizer. [Hawaiian]
Purim: Lots. [Hebrew] Originally, plural of ancient Persian pur. Reference to the lottery used by Persian Prime Minister Haman in the fifth century B.C.E. to select a date to massacre Jews within the Empire. The holiday of Purim is a joyous celebration of the delivery of the Jews from annihilation. It centers on reading the Megillat Esther [the Scroll of Esther]. Rowdy remarks from audience members punctuate mention of Haman in relaying Queen Esther’s ploys that saved the Jewish people. With children often dressed in colorful costumes, Purim is mistaken sometimes as a Jewish “Halloween.”
R
Ramsar Convention: Named for the Iranian city of Ramsar, this 1971 global environmental treaty provides a framework for international cooperation for conserving and wisely using wetlands and their resources.
Rassenhygiene: Racial hygiene. [German] A concept utilized by the Nazis to justify their attempts to attain and maintain a “pure” Aryan race.
Rassenschande: Racial defilement. [German] Crime delineated by the Nazis for a German citizen who marries or has sexual relations with a person of “impure” racial background.
S
Sans: Without. [Middle English and French]
Sashimi: Pierced body. [Japanese] Thinly sliced raw saltwater fish, served with varied garnishes and sauces.
Shànghăi: City at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the center of the coast of the People’s Republic of China [PRC]. With the largest population of any city in China, or the world, it is classified as a province.
Staccato: Disjointed, clipped [from the Italian staccare, to detach]. Words or music presented in short, sharp bursts.
Sushi: Sour tasting. [Japanese] Cylindrical dish of hand-rolled sheets of nori [edible seaweed] or thin omellete, soy paper, cucumber, or perilla leaves, layered with rice cooked with vinegar and a filling. Kappa maki sushi is named for a cucumber-eating monster.
T
Tableau: Living picture. [French, short for tableau vivant] Artistic grouping or scene with silent and immobile figures.
Tahara: Ritual washing of a corpse. [Hebrew] The simple and dignified ritual of purification includes cleansing, washing, and dressing of the deceased’s body. The act is performed by volunteer members of a chevra kadisha [burial society], with women attending to deceased women, and men to men. Prayers are offered to raise the soul into eternal rest in the Heavens.
Teriyaki: “Teri,” glaze plus “yaki” to broil. [Japanese] Cooking process that usually features meat marinated in a soy-base prior to broiling.
Tête-à-tête: Head to head. [French] Private conversation, often of two people.
Tūtū: Grandmother or grandfather. [Hawaiian] Title of respect often for an older unrelated person.
U
Ulupō: Night Inspiration. [Hawaiian] Ancient heiau near Kailua on O`ahu. Building of the large open platform is attributed to the menehune.
Una: Tortoise shell. [Hawaiian]
Unione Corse: Founded in the 1920s, the secret society and criminal organization operates in Marseille, France and Corsica. Members sometimes - wear a pendant or watch fob with the symbol of a Maure (Moor’s Head), consisting of a black human head with a rag tied around its forehead on a white field.
W
Wahine: Girl, woman, lady. [Hawaiian] Something reflecting femininity.
Wai`alae: Rippling water. [Hawaiian] Avenue, beach, neighborhood in southeast O`ahu. Wai`alae Iki A ridge above Wai`alae; a neighborhood of exclusive homes.
Waikīkī: Spouting water. [Hawaiian] A Hawaiian chiefess; famous O`ahu beach
Wauke: Paper mulberry tree. [Hawaiian] [Broussonetia papyrifera]
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER
22
EPILOGUE
NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE
GLOSSARY OF NON-ENGLISH &SPECIALIZED VOCABULARY