Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
With nothing to do and no one to bother, ne'er-do-well private dick and man-about-town Kinky Friedman ponders life and discusses world affairs with his equally bored cat. His reverie is short-lived, however, when he gets the news that stalwart Village Irregular Mike McGovern has disappeared while visiting Hawaii. Knowing McGovern's penchant for inebriated side trips, Kinky isn't too concerned - until a few days turn into several weeks.

Worried about their pal, Kinky and his motley crew of comrades head to Hawaii to look into McGovern's disappearance - and find themselves caught in a big kahuna of a mystery chock-full of ancient myths, sacrificial cults, totems, taboos, native drinking practicesSand, if they're lucky, the occasional lei.

Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0671047442 (September, 2002), 224 p., $6.99.

Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow (UK 2001)

From the Publisher:
Alone in his New York loft, the private detective Kinky Friedman, reflects on friendship and why all his friends are out of town. The phone rings. It's Kinky's old contact Hoover from Honolulu with the news that Village Irregular Mike McGovern has disappeared while in the process of researching and writing a cookbook Eat, Drink and Be Kinky (now also available from Faber and Faber). He was last seen heading for the beach.

On a private plane bound for Hawaii, Kinky begins his search for his missing friend. After a series of farcial wild goose chases that include identifying a faceless corpse and trying to ensnare hoax kidnappers, Kinky ends up visiting the local museum, and in a room full of ancient relics stumbles upon a full-size, sculpted wooden head that is a dead ringer for McGovern...

Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow. Faber & Faber, ISBN: 0571209564 (September, 2001), 208 p., £5.99.

Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
Sly, devious, inventive, and more than a little irritating, the Bard of Vandam Street returns in Steppin' on a Rainbow, a new adventure full of sound, fury, and a hula girl or two.

Alone in the world -- meaning: anyone who will speak to him is out of town -- Kinky Friedman ponders the imponderables of life (and discusses the state ofthe world wit his cat. The cat, of course, says nothing. Kinky's reverie (ond constant state of morbid selfabsorption) is interrupted by a call from an old friend in Hawaii, Will Hoover, a journalist on a Honolulu newspaper. Hoover has called with a problem: Mike McGovern, one of Kinky's sidekicks and a stalwart Village Irregular, visiting Hawaii to work on a book, has disappeared while strolling 'on the beach. Knowing McGovern's penchant for taking the occasional side trip, Kinky is not overly concerned.

As the days turn into yet more days, however, consternation grows to the point where Stephanie Dupont (called home from a Caribbean lull to bury her sixteen-year-old pesky Maltese dog) urges Kinky to fly to Hawaii to look into McGovern's disappearance and even offers to join him in the search. Additional support comes from P. I. Steve Rambam, who wings in from Israel to join in the hunt, as well as Kinky's pal John McCall, the Shampoo King from Dripping Springs. Texas, that is.

Once in Hawaii, Kinky, Stephanie, Rambam, Hoover, and McCall set off on a perilous adventure involving ancient myths, sacrificial cults, totems, taboos, and the occasional lei.

Steppin' on a Rainbow is Kinky Friedman doing what only Kinky Friedman can do -- and, as always, it's outrageous, unsettling, and very, very moving, all at once.

Kinky Friedman: Steppin' on a Rainbow. Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0684864878 (September, 2001), 208 p., $23.00.