Author: Alexander Silvert | Paperback

CIVIL BEAT BOOK CLUB PICK • July 7, 2022 & July 27, 2022

There will be two book club events: A virtual Q&A with the author Alexander Silvert and D.C. Reporter Nick Grube and a separate in-person book club discussion hosted by Nick Grube at da Shop's warehouse in Kaimuki.

Register for July 7th virtual Q&A.

Register for July 27th in-person discussion.

The Inside Story of the Greatest Corruption Case in Hawai‘i History

When Honolulu police chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, Katherine, the city’s deputy prosecutor, reported their mailbox stolen to frame a family member, it was only the beginning of an elaborate conspiracy—and a corruption case that soon became the most notorious in Hawai‘i history. Riveting and meticulously told by the federal defender who learned the story from the inside, The Mailbox Conspiracy is a fascinating study in the corruption of power and the abuse of public office.

Named Federal Defender of the Year in 2000 by the National Association of Federal Defenders, Alexander Silvert wrote The Mailbox Conspiracy based on his personal involvement in the Louis and Katherine Kealoha case from 2013 to 2020.

“The Louis and Katherine Kealoha corruption saga is the most infamous in Island history, as Chief Kealoha and the Honolulu Police Department worked in concert to dupe the US Attorney’s office into prosecuting an innocent man. A scary, engrossing story. Alexander Silvert is as skilled an author as he is a lawyer.”

—Ben Cayetano, Governor of Hawai‘i, 1994–2002

“The Mailbox Conspiracy is a crisply narrated study in abuse of power at the highest levels of Hawai‘i law enforcement. Silvert doesn’t hold back in vividly describing this sordid conspiracy by corrupt and recalcitrant authority figures. His description of today’s police departments, prosecutor’s offices and courts, warts and all, is an easy-to-follow must-read for law students and those who love page-turning courtroom drama.”

—Doug Chin, Attorney General of Hawai‘i, 2015–2018

Civil Beat Book Club

Nānā i ke Kumu (Look to the Source), Vol. 3

Food and Power in Hawaiʻi: Visions of Food Democracy

The Value of Hawaiʻi 3: Hulihia, the Turning

Murder Casts a Shadow: A Hawaii Mystery

Murder Leaves Its Mark: A Hawai‘i Mystery

When You Trap a Tiger

The Mailbox Conspiracy