Pago Pago Tango

First in a Samoan-set series featuring police officer Apelu Soifua: “Enright’s portrait of cultural collision is the heart of this engaging series debut.” —Booklist
 
The city of Tafuna may be located on a tropical paradise, but it’s no stranger to crime. Just like anywhere else in the world, it has its fair share of murder, drugs, and robbery. Which makes Apelu Soifua the perfect man for his job. He’s a cop of two worlds: San Francisco, where he started his career, and now his native Samoa. 
 
Following up on a routine burglary call, Apelu heads to a palangi, or Caucasian, neighborhood. The victim, a VP at SeaKing Tuna—the largest employer on the island—reports only a few items missing. But a fatal shooting at a nightclub a few days later points Apelu to the executive’s hard-partying daughter. With some help from local reporter Lupe, Apelu chases a wave of violence that stems from the burglary—and seeks out what really went missing. The investigation puts Apelu in over his head and is about to be dragged under . . . 
 
“Perfect for any armchair traveling mystery lover. Enright’s descriptions of the Samoan landscape—where the frigate birds are as much a part of the sky as the clouds—are vivid and poetic.” —Kittling: Books
 
“Enright meticulously interweaves the experience and landscapes of Samoa’s mountains, rain forests and jungles that he knows so well.” —Providence Journal
 
“The island setting is a terrific backdrop for the story, one that has Soifua bridging the cultural chasm between the local population and the American community.” —Mysterious Reviews
 

John Enright was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1945. He earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York while working full-time at Fortune, Time, and Newsweek magazines. He later received a master’s degree in folklore at UC Berkeley, before starting a career in publishing. In 1981, Enright left the United States to teach at the American Samoa Community College. He spent the next twenty-six years working for environmental, cultural, and historical resource preservation on the islands in the South Pacific. Over the past five decades, his essays, articles, short stories, and poems have appeared in more than ninety books, anthologies, journals, periodicals, and online magazines. His collection of poems 14 Degrees South won the University of the South Pacific Press’s inaugural International Literature Competition. Enright currently lives in Owensboro, Kentucky, with his wife Connie Payne.