It's December 1997, and reluctant war hero, Inspector "Kaj" Kajiwara, is asked to solve the murder of Hawaii State University Professor Harrison Whitworth, Hawaii's first Nobel Prize winner, shot through the heart by an arrow on his Manoa driveway. The case is complicated for Kaj because he suffers from undiagnosed, recurring PTSD and remembers how poorly he was treated on campus as a returning Vietnam vet. But campus life is also complicated. Funding streams are drying up and the State wants the campus to contribute more to economic development. Kaj and his team soon face an assortment of investors, faculty, administrators, and political leaders, all determined to reshape the university for their own purposes, and all with possible motive for harming Whitworth. Then, as if that were not enough, Kaj is thrust into international intrigue when a member from the Consulate of Kuthan is detained at the crime scene. The Kuthani belief in tranquility and soul connection demands that Kaj find a way to bridge communication between East and West. Solving the crime means that Kaj must delve deeply not only into his own past but also into the history of the complicated, brilliant victim.