Finished: 'Five Decembers' by James Kestrel

 This novel was 2022 Edgar Award winner, which is the highest award for mysteries, and deservedly so. It was awesome.

It's considered a historical noir murder mystery, but it doesn't get bogged down in boring history. It's set just before, during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. That just serves as the backdrop. It doesn't delve into military or political stuff. It's just there and offers some explanation for various things that take place in the long-running murder investigation. There's romance, suspense, twists, the whole shebang.

December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. Because the trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn't know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor. 

This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story—it's a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, FIVE DECEMBERS is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.

I gave it an 9 on the 10-point Haugenometer. Amazonians were even higher on it with a 4.6 of 5; Goodreaders a 4.5.

It's just a brilliant, engaging novel. Highly recommend it.