Unflinching reminder of terrible crime

By Wanda Adams
Advertiser Books Editor

MURDER IN PARADISE: A Christmas in Hawaii Turns to Tragedy by Chris Loos and Rick Castberg; Avon, paperback, $7.50

What impresses the reader most profoundly is how many people were aware, as the months went by without an arrest, of who might have been involved and what might have happened — or who at least had pieces of the story. But the remote Puna District neighborhoods where the key characters lived appear to have operated under a code of silence as troublesome for law enforcement as the Mafia's "omerta." Or, in some cases, police were so ill-equipped and understaffed for such a case that it took a long time to follow up on what turned out to be meaningful information.

"It can't happen here," the book's back cover says, the sentiment that rippled through the Islands as the Ireland story spooled out. But the book makes it clear exactly why it could have happened here and why it happened the way it did. So many factors contributed: racial issues, drug and alcohol abuse, the remoteness of the murder locale, the lack of resources for fire, rescue and police agencies, the cultural cross-currents that affected everything from the original crime to the way it was prosecuted.

One thing must be said: Even for Islanders who are normally interested in true-crime books, this one is a difficult read. It's too close too home. We feel squeamish about deriving enjoyment, or passing our time delving into the pain and anger of a family that endured one outrage after another. Can there be any reason other than crass curiosity to spend time with a book like this?

For Islanders, especially, I think yes. It goes back to those cultural cross-currents. Without doing so overtly, the book raises troubling questions. Would Dana Ireland have been singled out as the victim of this crime had she not been a newcomer or a Caucasian? What role did poverty, racial stereotyping, lack of education, drugs and alcohol, unemployment and other social ills play in creating an atmosphere where such a crime could take place? Will more violence result as rural areas of the Islands increasingly become a mix of newcomers (and often affluent ones) and kama'aina who may feel squeezed out and alienated? How can we finance needed services for places so sparsely populated — ought there, for example, to be a 5-0-style extraordinary-crime investigation unit that could be called in by any law enforcement agency in the state?

The book is clearly written, follows the usual true-crime conventions with regard to sketching in background and dramatic scene-setting and is based on extensive interviews with most of the affected parties, including the Ireland family. Many questions remain; the reader wishes, as often happens, for a feature-film-type denouement, in which it becomes clear exactly why those responsible did what they did.

While it hardly seems the kind of book appropriate for a holiday gift, it is one that provokes thought, and draws the mind to those who are remembering Dana Ireland at this time of year.