Campus

Our guest of honor may have been “The Most Hated Man in Hawaii,” but the College of Commerce was in no position to be picky. Not after the latest round of budget cuts.

After a brutal year on the academic job market, Professor Molly Barda has finally landed a job at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow"). All she wants to do is keep her head down and stay out of trouble until she gets tenure. But then the wealthy and widely-hated Jimmy Tanaka, founder of Merrie Musubis lunch shop, pledges a huge donation to Molly's college and promptly disappears. Molly's venal dean, knowing Molly is in no position to refuse, orders her to track down the missing mogul. As Molly uncovers Mahina's ancient feuds and fresh scandals, she starts to fall for Tanaka's competitor...who might have few secrets of his own.

Meetings can be murder. Literally.

It looks like it's going to be just another boring faculty retreat at Mahina State University, "Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow."

But then the Trust Fall exercise goes horribly wrong...

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Professor Molly is thrilled to accompany Donnie to Mahina State's exclusive donor dinner. She doesn't expect to have to share a table with the insufferable Stephen Park and his tactless new girlfriend.

Turns out it's one thing to invite your toxic ex-boyfriend to drop dead...it's quite another when he takes you up on it.

Professor Molly feels more relief than grief when Mahina State’s one-man hostile work environment keels over at a faculty retreat.  She has no desire to get involved with the case, so it's an unpleasant surprise to find she already is involved. Now Professor Molly has to fight to keep the wrong person out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

If you like Dorothy Parker, Sarah Caudwell, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy this tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics in the middle of the Pacific.

Seven on the crew. Six seats in the canoe. Everyone wants to paddle in the big Labor Day race. What could go wrong? 

Professor Molly investigates a mysterious paddling accident, and realizes it isn’t just business majors who cheat to get what they want. Whether it’s moving up in the college rankings, getting a seat in the Labor Day canoe race, or just looking out for themselves, some people will do whatever it takes to sink the competition.

When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness–the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just…academic.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

On the way to interviewing a local farmer, Professor Molly stumbles onto a gruesome discovery in a field of genetically modified papayas. Molly is sure the murder has nothing to do with her new research project...until a second death rocks Mahina's tight farming community, and Molly's administration drops her research like a hot potato. If Molly can't root out the bad apples, not only will her tenure case go pear-shaped...she might end up pushing up daisies.

"You may wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, he was now my stepson."
Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawaii working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband's relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she's married into--and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.

Professor Emma Nakamura doesn't believe in ghosts.  She's sure there's a logical explanation for the disappearing items and the strange sounds in the night at her remote upcountry research station. Fortunately (?), Emma's best friend Molly has news shocking enough to take Emma's mind off the hauntings. Now Emma and Molly have to rely on their strong reasoning skills and a weak internet connection to figure out how a body ended up in Molly's backyard.
The Nakamura Letters is an island-style take on the Golden Age mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart and Agatha Christie.

"What's Celia complaining about this time? Did I wash my car on a Tuesday? Wear off-white before Labor Day?"
Sheriff Lee fidgeted and cleared his throat.
"Celia Arceneaux is dead, Fortune."

CIA operative Fortune Redding signs up for night classes, hoping to ease the boredom of her undercover assignment and update her computer skills. But an unfortunately-timed murder on the campus of Mudbug Technical College sends shock waves through the town of Sinful. And Fortune's life is turned upside down when she discovers who the prime suspect is. Now Fortune has to choose between lying low to avoid the ruthless arms dealer who's put a price on her head, and doing everything in her power to save someone she can't bear to lose.

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

~Oscar Wilde

Through no fault of her own, Professor Molly just got promoted to department chair at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow") in Mahina, Hawai`i. The Student Retention Office has her buried in paperwork. The college has just relocated to a former asylum, which is undergoing noisy renovations. Molly's dean has directed her to mentor the department's new star, the prickly Fiona Spencer, and to do whatever it takes to keep Fiona happy. At least nothing else can go wrong. And then Fiona finds a body in her office.