The Lei Crime Series: Half Moon Girls (Kindle Worlds Novella)

Even paradise has a dark side...

When Detective Leilani Texeira begins investigating a murder on Kaua`i, she's struck by one thing: the victim looks like her. As Lei battles dark memories stirred up by the likeness, a friend calls, worried that her daughter didn't come home last night.
Lei soon discovers that the dead girl and the missing girl were friends and last seen together the previous day.

Can she conquer her demons and capture a killer in time to rescue the captive?


Q&A with the Author

How did you come to be interested in the Lei Crime Kindle World?

I’ve been a fan of Toby Neal’s work since Blood Orchids was first released. I felt an instant connection to Lei because she’s lived through so much and she’s still here, living with a purpose. The Kindle Worlds program is very exciting—the idea of writing in a world you love with characters created by another author... I couldn’t resist.

How does your story meet up with the Lei Crime Series?

My Lei Crime story, HALF MOON GIRLS is a police procedural that takes place on Kauai, somewhere in the timeline after TORCH GINGER. It follows Lei and Jenkins as they work a case involving a girl who washes up on the beach. While Lei and Jenkins are part of the series, I created several new characters: Lt. Tommy Daniels; Lei’s friend Bonnie Turner, and my favorite Dr. Polly Harris, the quirky Medical Examiner from Colorado who jumped at the chance to work on Kauai while the resident ME was away.

The Lei Crime Series is set in Hawaii, but your Kindle Worlds novella could be set anywhere. Where you set your story, and why?

I chose to set my story on Kauai as though it was a case that Lei and Jenkins would solve over the course of their careers there. I’ve always wanted to write a police procedural, and the opportunity to jump right in and build a murder case in the existing world seemed perfect. Besides, it’s a paradise, right? What better place to bring murder and mayhem so our favorite Kauai Detective can persevere and take down the bad guys?