Michael A. Herr
Mr. Herr was born in Evanston, Illinois in December, 1942, and moved to California in 1946.
He received a Bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College, a Master’s degree from California State University, Hayward, and several teaching and administrative credentials.
Mr. Herr spent 34 years in education first as a teacher and an administrator.
He and his wife, Barbara, moved to Rossmoor, in Walnut Creek, California, in May 1998. Two years later, in January 2000, Mr. Herr retired. He and his wife have a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren who reside in Santa Cruz.
Mr. Herr gave up writing when he began teaching and did not begin writing again until after his retirement. He published his first book, The Kaua’i Obake Bar, in March, 2005. He published his second book, Is ‘Chicken Skin’ a Local Delicacy?, in November, 2005. Mr. Herr published his first mystery/thriller, The Bones of the Kuhina Nui, in April, 2006. He published, The Old Queen’s Murder, the sequel to Bones, in April, 2007. The third book in what was now a series, The Old Queen’s Treasure, was published in March, 2008. The fourth book, The Old Queen’s Guardians, was published in November, 2009. The fifth book in the series, The Old Queen and the Maui Maiden, was published in 2011. The Kohala Coast Mystery series is set primarily on the Big Island of Hawaii, though much of the action in the latest book takes place on Maui. His latest book, The Old Queen and The King, takes place mostly on the island of Kauai and deals with the fate of a young woman fathered by Elvis but unknown to him.
All of Mr. Herr’s work is noted for its references to Hawaiian culture and cultural practices.
The Old Queen and the Maui Maiden (Mystery/Thriller)
The Old Queen and the Maui Maiden is the 5th book in the Kohala Coast series. The unearthing on Maui of a mummified body from over 100 years ago brings Teri Pono greater danger than she has ever faced before. Teri must fulfill a command from a long-dead Queen while dealing with her mother’s growing dementia, and her confusion over a growing relationship with her new boyfriend, Koakane.
The Old Queen’s Treasure (Mystery/Thriller)
The Old Queen’s Treasure is the 3rd book in the Kohala Coast series. A burial cave is exposed containing the sacred bones, ka iwi, of ancient Hawaiian royalty along with the bones of a Chinese treasure ship captain. The subsequent race to gain possession of those bones brings some members of the Pono family face to face with fiery death! FINALIST IN THE ERIC HOFER BOOK AWARDS FOR 2011.
The Old Queen and The King (Mystery/Thriller)
The Old Queen and The King is the 6th book in the Kohala Coast series. The daughter of a woman on Kauai is murdered while the most precious souvenir that the woman possessed is stolen. She sets off for the Big Island, where her search for both the killer and her precious souvenir soon involves the women of the Pono family. Meanwhile, Haunani, the matriarch of the Pono family, slips deeper and deeper into the black pool of dementia as her daughters try to bring her back from that terrible disease, Alzheimers.