Zip Ono, Buddhist Detective

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about a ‘Buddhist detective’—sounded like a gimmick. But *Zip Ono* won me over by making its protagonist’s spirituality *matter*. Zip isn’t just a PI who meditates; his practice shapes how he investigates, from parsing lies with a monk’s patience to treating suspects with a compassion that unnerves them. The case itself is a slow-burn puzzle: media mogul Big Bill Argosy’s death is the catalyst, but the real intrigue lies in the power struggles of his empire, where every ally has a knife behind their back. Plummer’s writing excels in two areas: razor-sharp dialogue (the banter between Zip and his hacker ally, Kono, is gold) and a sense of place so vivid you’ll swear you smell plumeria on the trade winds. Allison Hiroto’s performance is *almost* flawless. Her pacing is masterful—she lets the silence hang after a revelation, and her Zip is a perfect blend of weary and wry. My only critique? Her voice for Laila Argosy, the widow, occasionally slips into a breathiness that feels more ‘femme fatale’ than ‘grieving power player.’ It’s a minor quibble in an otherwise stellar narration. The audio production is clean, though I’d have loved a touch more atmospheric soundscaping during the climactic confrontation (a storm scene begs for thunder). Still, this is a mystery that lingers—not just for its twists, but for its quiet insistence that justice and karma aren’t always the same thing. If you’re tired of PIs with whiskey problems, give Zip’s green tea habit a try.