Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2005
P.I. ensures drama is realistic
| • | Lanikai author releases first book about hanai P.I. |
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
When author Chip Hughes needed a real-life private investigator to review his manuscript for "Murder on Moloka'i," he took it to the Hilt.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Working out of an office on College Walk in downtown Honolulu, Hilt handles all manner of investigations, from insurance fraud to murder. The only cases he doesn't take are domestic problems and surveillance.
The job rarely is as dramatic as thousands of detective novels might have people believe.
"P.I. work has been so thoroughly fictionalized that people think we do all these things that we really don't," Hilt said. "Reading some of these things, you'd think we all drive 80 miles an hour down the road in a Ferrari. "The reality is I drive 36 in a 35 (mph zone) and I get a ticket. Joe Reader gets a skewed idea."
Still, Hilt said he enjoyed "Murder on Moloka'i," as well as the yet unpublished sequels "Wipeout!" and "Kula." "(The Surfing Detective) is not a bad idea," he said. "Hawai'i is on a lot of people's minds these days, so this could sell well on the Mainland."
Hilt and Hughes were introduced by a mutual friend, musician Les Peetz.
"(Hughes) gave me the manuscript to see if it sounded credible to a P.I.," Hilt said. "My job was basically to pick the fly specks out of the pepper."
In fact, Hughes may want to consider using Hilt as a consultant for more than just the P.I. stuff. An accomplished musician, Hilt was a fixture in the Waikiki jazz scene for years. He's also a former motorcycle racer, custom-car builder and magazine contributor, and speaks very passable Cantonese.
But has Hilt ever had one of those classic ladies with the husky voice show up at his door asking for help?
"Usually these are the nutty people who don't have any money and you can't help them," Hilt said. "They don't show up with the size-60 boobs and mini skirt."
Stuart Hilt has 47 years of investigative experience in Hawai'i — the first 12 as an insurance adjuster, the rest as a private investigator.
Investigator Stuart Hilt works out of his Chinatown Honolulu office. He helped review author Chip Hughes' manuscript for "Murder on Moloka'i."
