Let’s talk about Angela Beyers
Rick Ludwig’s Maui Mysteries Series.
eBook and paperback versions of Soul of a Sleuth
About the pictures:
Top picture: eBook and paperback versions of Soul of a Sleuth.
Bottom Picture:Rick Ludwig’s Maui Mystery Series
You can pre-order the Soul of the Sleuth eBook from Amazon today! Click here!
You can order the earlier books in the series from Amazon today! Click here!
But remember, the paperback of Soul of a Sleuth will be available from all of the major online sites on August 13—Just two days away!!
From Featured Supporting Player to Co-Star
In a previous blog I gave you an in-depth look at my protagonist, Det. Sgt. Keone Boyd. This time I want to focus on Sergeant Angela Anelahokulani Beyers, MPD, who enters the Maui Mysteries trilogy as a featured supporting player in the first book, Eyes of the Beholder. Her name means Angel Star of Heaven. By the second book she is carrying out her own investigation on Maui, while Keone Boyd is off on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean. By the end of the trilogy, Angela and Keone are equal partners in complex investigations that threaten their island home.
Angela’s story before the trilogy: Angela was born in the hospital in Wailuku, Maui in 1985, and lived with her Filipino/Hawaiian family on Maui until she moved to Irvine, California in 2003 to study criminology in the in the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine. She graduated in 2007 and attended the Maui Police Academy, becoming an officer in 2008 and a sergeant in 2011. After her initial rotations, she was stationed in Lahaina. During this period she became friends with her neighbor at Ka’anapali Plantation, Nancy Lister and her family. Angela first met Keone Boyd when she was at Irvine and he was a detective with LAPD. They worked together often when she was in Lahaina and he became a mentor and friend. Since she transferred to the Hana station, they’ve stayed in touch from a distance. Her best friend and roommate is Linda Carroll, with whom she bought a home in 2009 in Lahaina. Angela has been commuting to and from the Hana station since 2010.
Eyes of the Beholder : We find out in this book that Angela has secretly wanted to be a detective for years. She and Linda surprise Keone while he is eating lunch at Lahaina Coolers. Linda tells Keone that Angela has passed the detective exam, and Keone buys them lunch to celebrate. Later: Angela stops by to see Keone at his station to warn him about rumors circulating regarding him and a key witness in one of his investigations. Near the end of this story, Angela receives a call from Keone, who is on the road to Hana chasing a kidnapper and his victim. She discovers the location of the two and arranges a helicopter to bring him to the site. Angela reaches the cabin first and waits for Keone. She watches the victim run from cabin and the kidnapper catch her and pin her to the ground. Angela lines up a shot at the kidnapper’s head, but the victim gives him a knee to groin just as Angela fires. Angela and Keone make the arrest, and she drives the victim to the Hana station.
Voice of the Victim: Angela is a co-protagonist in this book. Before leaving on his honeymoon, Keone recommends Angela to his boss, Lt. Alcala. When Tony discovers that Angela used to be neighbors with a man who has been injured in the ‘Iao Valley during a shooting, he asks her to pick up the injured man’s wife and take her to the hospital. At the hospital, Angela gets another call from Alcala and must rush to the crime scene. where Alcala quizzes her about the victim’s family, updates her on the details of the shooting, and assigns her the case. Angela works on the case from Keone’s desk becomes friends with Det. Lindsay Kalani, and develops three possible scenarios about the crime. Back at the scene of the crime, she finds critical evidence everyone else has missed. and shares this with CSI Ed Jenkins. With Alcala’s approval, Angela interviews her friends, the wife and daughter of the shooting victim, searches their home, and takes items to the station. When Angela leaves, she has the wife look at a file that she’s found on the husband’s computer. Angela receives a call from the wife confirming the file has clues. Angela reads a little of the file and is overwhelmed but feels a need to check out the details. She also asks Linda to read the entire MS and point her to any parts relevant to her investigation. Her detective work leads her to the shooter, who she captures. She prevents Tony Alcala from being kiilled, is wounded in the process, and proves her worth as a detective.
Soul of a Sleuth: Now partnered with Keone, Angela investigates a murder, deals with acceptance by her family of a life partner, addresses the impact of her previous case, and helps Keone deal with his own demons. One investigation leads to another, uncovering connections with older cases and a new criminal conspiracy involving drug dealers and developers in the islands. Through it all Angela demonstrates her bravery, her friendship, and her ability to take and give advice. In the end, she’s as instrumental in solving each mystery as she is in helping Keone determine his core beliefs.