Alone in his New York loft our hero, the private detective Kinky Friedman, reflects on friendship and why his friends are out of town. The phone rings. It's Kinky's old contact, Hoover, from Honolulu with the news that Village Irregular Mike McGovern has disappeared while in the process of researching and writing a cookbook, Eat, Drink and Be Kinky. He was last seen heading for the beach.On a private jet bound for Hawaii, Kinky begins his search for his missing friend. After a series of farcical wild goose chases that include identifying a faceless corpse and trying to ensnare hoax kidnappers, Kinky ends up visiting the local museum and in a room full of ancient relics stumbles upon a full-size, sculpted wooden head that is a dead ringer for McGovern . . .