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This page lists crime novels and short story collections set wholly or partly in Florida.

The Dead Don't Care

Jonathan Latimer

1938

A Bill Crane novel.

"Private detective William Crane and his constant (drinking) companion Doc Williams travel to Florida to protect millionaire Penn Essex and his sister Camelia from harm. They have been receiving threatening notes, and Camelia is eventually kidnapped and held to ransom. Piecing clues together with the skill of two veteran jigsaw-puzzle aficionados, our heroes follow a trail of blackmail and debt through a sun-soaked landscape to a surprising conclusion."

The Brass Cupcake

John D. MacDonald

1950

"Ex-cop Cliff Bartells might be the last honest man in Florence City, Florida. After quitting the force over a crisis of conscience, he takes a job at an insurance company buying back stolen jewelry. Cliff is focused on keeping the bottom line down and staying out of the spotlight. But when an affluent tourist from Boston is murdered over a hefty collection of jewelry, Cliff finds himself wrapped up in a case that's making national headlines. With the victim's beautiful niece, Melody Chance, determined to help retrieve the goods, suddenly Cliff has the partner he never knew he wanted. Now all they need is a suspect: someone capable of cold-blooded murder in the name of profit. And that could mean anyone in this crooked town."

Area of Suspicion

John D. MacDonald

1954

"Four years ago Gevan Dean found his fiancée Niki Webb in his brother Ken's arms and fled his hometown for a peaceful life in the Florida sun. But now Ken is dead - murdered by a thief, the police say - and Gevan is desperately needed to keep their company, Dean Products, from falling apart. Everywhere Dean turns he finds only questions and confusion. But he doesn't suspect the truth behind Ken's murder or the real goings-on at Dean Products until the stakes get too high to ignore - and the truth explodes violently in his face."

Murder in the Wind

John D. MacDonald

1956

Subsequently published as Hurricane.

"A hurricane of terrifying intensity is looming over Florida. Along a state highway, a handful of foolhardy souls trying to outrun the storm are forced to seek shelter in an abandoned house. Thrown together by nothing more than chance, this disparate bunch of misfits includes an undercover agent seeking revenge for a personal tragedy, a burgeoning criminal in over his head, a beautiful young widow trying to start over, and a businessman whose life's work is crumbling before his eyes. Their refuge from the awesome power of nature becomes a sort of grand and grisly hotel - especially once the invisible hand of flying death descends."

Deadly Welcome

John D. MacDonald

1959

"Alex Doyle is a tough man on a tough assignment in Ramona Beach, Florida - the kind of place that doesn't trust strangers and is policed by a sheriff who echoes the locals' sentiments with a billy club. But Alex isn't an outsider, exactly. He grew up in Ramona Beach - until they railroaded him out of town. 'Can't trust trash,' they said. Alex has never been back, until his employer sends him home to locate a government scientist and get him out alive. Unfortunately for Alex, Ramona Beach has a long memory. Unfortunately for Ramona Beach, so does Alex."

The Beach Girls

John D. MacDonald

1959

"Leo Rice seems like a nice enough guy, but why does he have to choose their beach? He could head ten miles up the Florida strip and everyone could just live happily ever after - no questions asked. But Leo Rice does ask questions ... and suddenly Stebbins' Marina, an oasis of easy living, hard drinking and free love for its residents, is in jeopardy. And in less than a month, their paradise will be interrupted by twisted emotions, buried hatred - and brutal murder."

Mike Shayne Selects Ten Cases of Murder in Miami

Selected by: Mike Shayne

Dell

1959

"An original anthology of short stories by seven acknowledged masters of mystery fiction."

• Death Goes To The Post (Brett Halliday)
• The Body In The Pool (Rufus King)
• Barracuda (Talmage Powell)
• The Good Picker (Coretta Slavska)
• The Wind Blows Death (Bruno Fischer)
• Maimi Mystery Puzzle (Robert P. Mills)
• Welcome Home (Robert Arthur)
• The Hint (Joan Vatsek)
• One On The House (Donald Barr Chidsey)
• Murder At Galleon Key (Philip Wylie)

Slam the Big Door

John D. MacDonald

1960

"When Mike Rodenska, a former journalist still grieving the loss of his wife, pays his old war buddy Troy Jamison a long overdue visit in Florida, he’s shocked at what he finds. Behind the indulgent exterior of Troy’s lush beach life—the parties, the year-round suntans, the shapely women, the infectious devil-may-care attitude of Troy and his friends—Mike senses inevitable disaster. Troy surrendered his life to drink once before. But now his second marriage is failing, his career is in shambles, his stepdaughter is making passes at him, and he seems to be losing his mind. The only question is: Why? His old friend’s downfall is one story that Mike feels compelled to investigate—for Troy’s sake, and for his own."

Where is Janice Gantry?

John D. MacDonald

1961

"Sam Brice, the perfect rugged hero, is involved with a young widow named Janice Gantry. But when she vanishes, Janice leaves behind a trail of blackmail, murder and a man at war with his own sense of duty. Sam is too curious to steer clear of the mystifying disappearances off the Florida Keys, too stubborn to avoid making enemies with a cunning criminal and killer, and perhaps too enraged to do what he knows he must to save the one woman who matters: become as cold, impersonal, and deadly as an assassin."

A Flash of Green

John D. MacDonald

1962

"The opportunists have taken over Palm City. Silent and deadly, like the snakes that infest the nearby swamps, they lay hidden from view, waiting for the right moment to strike. Political subterfuge has already eased the residents toward selling out. All that's left now is to silence a few stubborn holdouts. James Wing is only trying to help a friend's widow. At least that's what he tells himself after warning Kat Hubble that the beautiful bay she and her neighbors have struggled to save is going to be sold to developers. He knows that he shouldn't have told her anything. He's a reporter, trained to reveal nothing. But he's falling in love with her. Now cutthroats have set their sights on Kat - and they'll do anything, use anyone, to stop her from interfering in their plans."

The Deep Blue Good-By

John D. MacDonald

1964

A Travis McGee novel. The title spelling is amended in some later editions to The Deep Blue Goodbye.

"Travis McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. As Travis hunts for the ruthless man who steals women’s sensibilities and livelihoods, he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse."

Bright Orange for the Shroud

John D. MacDonald

1965

A Travis McGee novel.

"Trouble has a way of finding Travis McGee, no matter where he hides. When an old friend, conned out of his life savings by his ex-wife, unexpectedly turns up at his door, he finds himself pursuing a violently twisted hustler to get it back. What starts out as a simple job soon turns into a dangerous mission when he comes face-to-face with a quick-thinking and quicker-fisted enemy. To beat him, Travis is going to have to play him at his own game."

Darker than Amber

John D. MacDonald

1966

A Travis McGee novel.

"Travis McGee and his friend are on a fishing trip when they witness a woman being tossed from a bridge into the open sea. Travis rescues her, but Evangeline is clearly no ordinary victim. Behind her darker-than-amber eyes is a seductive woman with her own agenda. Now that he’s saved her, Travis wants to help Evangeline make a new life. But to do so he must confront a gang of murderers so terrifying they make his blood run cold."

One Fearful Yellow Eye

John D. MacDonald

1966

A Travis McGee novel.

"An ex-girlfriend of Travis McGee’s is convinced she’s being watched. Her late husband, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, converted his considerable estate into cash before he died. The trouble is nobody can find it, including her. But there are those who don’t believe her and will stop at nothing to prove it. As Travis McGee tries to untangle the mess and protect his terrified ex-lover, he discovers that the doctor’s enemies are far more determined than even he could have imagined."

The Last One Left

John D. MacDonald

1966

"When a yacht explodes in the Bahamas, apparently killing six people, Sam Boyleston, an attorney from Texas and the brother of one of the victims, is compelled to investigate the circumstances, as does Raoul Kelly, a newspaper reporter. After the disaster the yacht's burned captain was temporarily marooned on a small island, and soon it becomes apparent that one person is ruthlessly manipulating events. But for Boyleston and Kelly proving guilt appears impossible."

The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper

John D. MacDonald

1968

A Travis McGee novel.

"When Travis McGee enters the prosperous town of Fort Courtney he quickly realises that something’s not quite right. Here to rescue the suicidal daughter of a deceased friend, Travis is shocked by the string of murders and suicides that is taking over the town. Then, just when it seems that things can’t get any stranger, Travis becomes the lead suspect in the murder of a local nurse. To save the young woman, he’s going to have to save himself first."

The Long Lavender Look

John D. MacDonald

1970

A Travis McGee novel.

"A lovely young thing, wearing little more than a determined look, streaks out of the darkness and into Travis McGee’s headlights. McGee misses her, but lands upside down in ten feet of water – and right into the heart of a violent mystery. It turns out a local thug has just been killed, and Travis and his friend Meyer are suddenly promoted to lead suspects. To clear their names, they must gather their resources to fight against a deeply corrupt system that would rather see them dead than innocent."

A Tan and Sandy Silence

John D. MacDonald

1971

A Travis McGee novel.

"Travis McGee receives an unexpected guest, Harry Broll, who is convinced that he’s hiding his missing wife. The desperate man gets off a shot before Travis can wrestle his gun away. Worried that he’s losing his touch, Travis decides to get Harry off his case and prove he’s still in top form in one fell swoop. Travis’s search for the missing woman takes him to Grenada, where he’s soon tangling with con artists and killers. No longer wallowing in self-pity, Travis has more pressing concerns – like saving his own skin."

The Scarlet Ruse

John D. MacDonald

1973

A Travis McGee novel.

"An expert stamp collector is left frantic when he misplaces the extremely valuable collection of an important and shady client. Hirsh doesn’t know how he’s going to get it back. But fortunately for him, he’s got a friend in Travis McGee. It’s not long till Travis is hot on the trail of the missing collection. But Travis is going to have to play this game carefully – Hirsh’s client is liable to break some fingers if he doesn’t get what he’s owed."

The Dreadful Lemon Sky

John D. MacDonald

1975

A Travis McGee novel.

"Around four in the morning, Travis McGee is jarred awake by a ghost from his past: an old flame who needs a place to stash a package full of cash. He agrees to help. Two weeks later she’s dead. Left with a hundred grand and a nagging conscience, Travis goes to a seedy little town to look into Carrie’s previous life. But what Travis finds only pushes him further into the corrupt world she was trying to escape."

Buyer Beware

John Lutz

1976

An Alo Nudger novel.

"Private investigator Alo Nudger didn't have to think twice about accepting the $2,500 fee from Gordon Clark, whose seven-year-old daughter had been "kidnapped" by his ex-wife, Joan. After all, the pay was good, and the job seemed simple enough: bring young Melissa back from Florida to her frantic father. Nudger arrives at his destination to find only an empty house but soon locates Melissa in the safekeeping of a neighbor and reckons his job is done... or is it? For now Joan is missing, and the man she and Melissa had been living with is murdered. Nudger's new proposition from an equally distraught parent—Joan's father—is not so readily appealing as before. Fifty thousand dollars to locate a missing person is a tempting sum, indeed—assuming Alo Nudger can stay alive long enough to enjoy it."

Condominium

John D. MacDonald

1977

"Welcome to Florida's Golden Sands, the dream condominium complex built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets. The real estate was a steal - literally. The maintenance charges run high as the locals are run out. It's the home of shortcuts, crackdowns, breakups, oversights, and payoffs. Add it all up, and the new coastline community doesn't stand a chance against the ever-present specter of disaster: the dreaded hurricane. The big one is coming. Golden Sands is right in its path. And only a few brave souls have the power to stop this towering eyesore from going underwater for good."

The Empty Copper Sea

John D. MacDonald

1978

A Travis McGee novel.

"As a boat captain, Van Harder’s reputation is his most valuable possession. But his wealthy employer has gone missing, presumed dead, and people are pointing the finger. They say he was drunk at the helm when his employer went overboard. But Harder insists he doesn’t drink . . . at least, not any more. And he wants his reputation back. But who would believe him? To help him, Travis McGee must do the impossible: prove that a dead man is actually alive."

You Bet Your Life

Stuart M. Kaminsky

1978

A Toby Peters novel.

"There's nothing funny about the package that comes for Chico Marx. It's a severed ear, a simple message from a Chicago bookie who wants $120,000 from the world-renown Marx brother. The strange thing is that, though Chico likes to gamble, he hasn't been making bets in Chicago. Terrified, he goes to the studio for help. Louis B. Mayer, king of Hollywood, places a call to Toby Peters. Peters's first lead is promising. Traveling on the studio's dime, he makes his way to Florida where he gets an interview with Al Capone, deposed lord of the Chicago underworld. The retired bootlegger's mind has gone soft, and he doesn't know anything about Chico's bookie, but he suggests Peters speak to his brother. With Scarface's good word as an introduction, Peters goes to Chicago, where it will take more than a good sense of humor to keep the Marxes from getting axed."

The Green Ripper

John D. MacDonald

1979

A Travis McGee novel.

"Travis McGee has known his share of beautiful girls, but true love always passed him by – until Gretel. But suddenly, the woman who stole his heart dies of an unidentified illness. Convinced that she has been murdered, McGee finds himself pursuing a less-than-noble cause: revenge. Obsessed with his crusade, he becomes more and more unhinged. He has spent his life saving other people, but now he’ll need to find the strength to save himself - before he loses his mind."

Gold Coast

Elmore Leonard

1980

"Gorgeous widow Karen DiCilia just found out what it really means to be married to the mob. Her Mafia husband Frank left her millions and a Florida Gold Coast mansion. He also left orders that she'd lose everything the day she slept with another man. With his boys as enforcers, Karen was soon a lonely lady. Then she met Detroit's Cal Maguire, a sexy, street-smart ex-con with a scam to get Karen her money and her freedom - or get them both killed."

Powder Burn

William D. Montalbano and Carl Hiaasen

1981

The writers are listed on later editions as Carl Hiassen and Bill Montalbano.

"Chris Meadows’s charmed life as an up-and-coming architect in Coconut Grove has kept him far removed from Miami’s bloody drug trade. But his comfortable existence comes crashing down around him when Chris witnesses the hit-and-run death of an ex-girlfriend by a car full of drug smuggling gangsters. Now caught up in southern Florida’s brutal underground cocaine war, Meadows is in a fight for his life—to evade not only the hit men seeking to silence him, but also the crooked Miami cops who would rather exploit than protect him."

Split Images

Elmore Leonard

1981

"Robbie Daniels is a Palm Beach playboy. He's the kind of guy who gets away with everything - even murder - until a vacationing Motown cop, Bryan Hurd, starts asking questions. When this millionaire reptile reveals the psychopath beneath his slippery skin, Hurd finds out this is one helluva way for an out-of-town lawman to spend his vacation."

Cinnamon Skin

John D. MacDonald

1982

A Travis McGee novel.

"In the Florida Keys, a houseboat explodes in a giant white flash, instantly killing those on board. The boat belonged to Travis McGee’s friend Meyer. But it’s not Meyer who’s dead – he’d lent it to his just-married niece, Norma, and her husband, hoping to give them the perfect honeymoon. When a group of Colombian terrorists take responsibility for the brutal act, Meyer and McGee travel to Mexico to seek justice. And Meyer, normally content in McGee’s shadow, is determined to avenge the one family member he had left . . . or die trying."

Cat Chaser

Elmore Leonard

1982

"The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost - and finding one he'd be better off without. Mary de Boya may be beautiful, but she's also the wife of a former death squad general in exile with mob connections. So much for the trip down memory lane - now Moran finds himself in a cat's cradle of drug deals, swindles, vengeance and murder."

Trap Line

William D. Montalbano and Carl Hiaasen

1982

The writers are listed on later editions as Carl Hiassen and Bill Montalbano.

"Though he is one of Key West’s most skilled fishing captains, Breeze Albury barely ekes out a living on the meager earnings of his trade. Meanwhile, Cuban and Colombian drug smugglers thrive all around—and they have their sights set on Albury and his fishing boat. After the smugglers cut his three hundred trap lines and crush his livelihood, Albury is forced to run drugs to survive. But when he gets busted by the crooked chief of police and becomes a target of the drug machine’s brutal hit men, Albury becomes a vigilante on the seas of Florida, unleashing a fiery and relentless vengeance on the most dangerous criminals south of Miami."

The Sunset Law

John Buxton Hilton

1982

A Superintendent Simon Kenworthy novel.

"Chief Superintendent Kenworthy, now retired, is visiting his married daughter in Florida. The visit is not wholly successful, for to the unsettlement of retirement was added the disorientation of the American scene, anxiety lest his daughter's marriage to a State policeman was in low water, and concern that there might be truth in the allegations of corruption made against his son-in-law. The scene changes with the murder of the two prostitutes who had preferred the charges. When his son-in-law disappears, Kenworthy moves into action, contacting the Luther Boones I, II and III, a family who had policed a remote stretch of the Everglades for three generations."

Stick

Elmore Leonard

1983

"After serving time for armed robbery, Ernest 'Stick' Stickley is back on the outside and trying to stay legit. But it's tough staying straight in a crooked town - and Miami is a pirate's paradise, where investment fat cats and lowlife drug dealers hold hands and dance. And when a crazed player chooses Stick at random to die for another man's sins, the struggling ex-con is left with no choice but to dive right back into the game. Besides, Stick knows a good thing when he sees it - and a golden opportunity to run a very profitable sweet-revenge scam seems much too tasty to pass up."

LaBrava

Elmore Leonard

1983

"Photographer Joe LaBrava specialises in capturing the soul of Miami's street life - and since he used to do dirty jobs for the Government, he understands his subject very well. So when his friend Maury enlists his help to sort out a problem with an ex-film star Joe fell for when he was twelve, the low-grade hustlers behind a ransom scam would need to be a lot smarter than they seem to pull it off. But there's a surprise in the bag for Joe - some people really are smarter than they seem."

The Lonely Silver Rain

John D. MacDonald

1985

A Travis McGee novel.

"McGee knows the dangerous link between Florida boatjackings and the drug trade, and he’s vowed never to swim with the sharks. But when Billy Ingraham, a self-made tycoon, bets that McGee can locate his $700,000 custom cruiser, he decides to jump straight in. After a friend leads him to the stolen vessel, McGee immediately regrets not going with his gut. The yacht is no longer an ordinary boat. It’s a slaughterhouse. Shortly followed by the return of a ghost from his past, Travis realises that this case may be his last."

Barrier Island

John D. MacDonald

1986

"Tucker Loomis is a hard and dangerous man with a ruthlessness all West Bay fears and respects, and an improbable amount of money. Wade Rowley is a common man who aspires to honour but gets caught up in the footwork of a skilled swindler. In a pitiless game, with a few harsh rules and just one way of keeping score, the wrong man will die. And another will get away with more than murder."

Tourist Season

Carl Hiaasen

1986

"The first sign of trouble is a Shriner's fez washed up on a Miami beach. The next is a suitcase containing the almost-legless body of the local chamber of commerce president found floating in a canal... The locals are desperate to keep the murders under wraps and the tourist money flowing. But it will take a reporter-turned-private eye to make sense of a caper that mixes football players, politicians, and one very hungry crocodile in this classic mystery that GQ called 'one of the top ten destination reads of all time'."

Double Whammy

Carl Hiaasen

1987

"R.J. Decker, star tenant of the local trailer park and neophyte private eye is fishing for a killer. Thanks to a sportsman's scam that's anything but sportsmanlike, there's a body floating in Coon Bog, Florida -- and a lot that's rotten in the murky waters of big-stakes, large-mouth bass tournaments. Here Decker will team up with a half-blind, half-mad hermit with an appetite for road kill; dare to kiss his ex-wife while she's in bed with her new husband; and face deadly TV evangelists, dangerously seductive women, and a pistol-toting redneck with a pit bull on his arm. And here his own life becomes part of the stakes. For while the 'double whammy' is the lure, first prize is for the most ingenious murder."

Scorcher

John Lutz

1987

A Fred Carver novel.

"A year ago, Fred Carver was nothing but a disabled ex-cop whose career, marriage, and family were all little more than fading memories. But then, while working as a private detective, he met Edwina Talbot, and ten months of life together has made him happier than he has been in years. But fate does not let men like Fred Carver stay happy for long. On the eve of a visit from his ex-wife and their two children, tragedy upends his new life. As if Florida in July weren’t hot enough, a madman is on a killing spree with a homemade flamethrower. After Fred’s eight-year-old son becomes the third victim, a man who has spent his life trying to catch murderers now has some killing to do of his own."

The Demolishers

Donald Hamilton

1987

A Matt Helm novel.

"Matt Helm was aware of Bultman – a legendary assassin, the leader of a group of fanatical revolutionaries, an ambitious criminal – but he had no business with taking him down. Until now. Bultman blew up a restaurant on the Florida coast full of innocent people, including Helm's son. Now, it's very personal."

Kiss

John Lutz

1988

A Fred Carver novel.

"Retirement is a word that has always frightened Fred Carver. One of Orlando’s finest, he retired early—when a criminal’s bullet shattered his kneecap and made him unfit for beat work. Since then he hasn’t been able to relax, and fills his days and nights investigating cases the local police aren’t willing to touch. Now one of those cops has come to him with a problem that only a private detective can solve. It takes Fred into the heart of Florida’s retirement community: a spacious estate called Sunhaven where the elderly can finish their lives in luxury. But it seems that some of them are dying before their time. When the residents speak of murder, are they telling the truth, or are they simply confused? Unraveling the mystery will take Fred Carver into a place where death is seldom the result of natural causes."

Skin Tight

Carl Hiaasen

1989

" After dispatching a pistol-packing intruder from his home with the help of a stuffed Marlin head, Mick Stranahan can't deny that someone is out to get him. His now-deceased intruder carries no I.D., and as a former Florida state investigator, Stranahan knows there are plenty of potential culprits. His long list of enemies includes an off point hit man, a personal injury lawyer of billboard fame, a notoriously irritating TV journalist, and a fumbling plastic surgeon. Now, if he wants to keep fishing into his golden years, Stranahan has no choice but to come out of retirement to close this one last case."

Flame

John Lutz

1990

A Fred Carver novel.

"For Bert Renway, it starts out as a simple proposition: a fat bundle of money to spend a few weeks impersonating Frank Wesley, a local tycoon. But after a while Bert grows suspicious of the easy money, and seeks help in the shape of Fred Carver, an ex–Orlando policeman turned private investigator. Like Bert, Carver smells trouble, and agrees to help him find out who his employers are and why they want him to play Wesley. Neither of them is suspicious enough. A few minutes after Bert leaves, an explosion sounds in the parking lot—the new client’s car gone up in a burst of flame. When they pull his body from the wreckage, dental records identify him not as Bert Renway, but as Frank Wesley. Carver doesn’t care. He’s on the case no matter who the man was."

Get Shorty

Elmore Leonard

1990

"Miami loan shark Chili Palmer is ice-cool, whether he's retrieving stolen property or collecting money for the mob. Chasing a bad debt leads him to the bright lights of Hollywood - and to a true story that would make a great movie. Soon he's pitching to Harry Zimm, a B-grade horror flick producer trying to make a comeback. As the lure of Tinseltown's dream-makers and gorgeous wannabe starlets becomes increasingly hard to resist, Chili gets caught up in murder,revenge and romance. Will his killer movie ever get made, or will it just get him killed?"

Maximum Bob

Elmore Leonard

1991

"When someone delivers an alligator to Judge Bob Gibbs' porch, there's no shortage of suspects - hard-sentencing, womanising redneck 'Maximum Bob' is pretty much the most unpopular man in Florida. Throw into the mix the Crowe clan - about as primitive and aggressive as any alligator - a doped-up doctor on early release with a tag, quick-witted probation officer Kathy Baker, a mermaid and a long-dead slave girl called Wanda, and things get a tad complicated. And inevitably, they don't work out the way you might expect."

Native Tongue

Carl Hiaasen

1991

"Welcome to the Eager Beaver ... not just a topless fun palace in the heart of southern Florida's deadliest human swamp, but the mega-sleazy backdrop to the juiciest scandal in Miami's entirely colourful history. It's enough to say it begins with the sex-addled political fixer 'Moldy Moldowski', Erin the beautiful stripper and a champagne bottle ... and ends in a riotous cocktail of blackmail, comedy and cover-ups starring grotesques great and small. Enough to say it could only be Carl Hiaasen. And he's simply the best there is."

Bloodfire

John Lutz

1991

A Fred Carver novel.

"When he meets Bob Ghostly, it’s hardly the first time that Fred Carver has been asked to find a missing spouse. But Ghostly’s tale about a beautiful woman who fled for no apparent reason doesn’t quite convince Carver, who presses for more detail. Finally Ghostly admits it. His wife was beautiful, intelligent, and kind, but she was also a heroin addict. She fled their Florida home with half their savings—nearly $10,000—and he’s afraid she’s going to put it straight into her veins. Carver goes looking for the troubled young bride, but when she shows up on her own—terrified and looking for protection—a routine case becomes one that could prove lethal for the well-meaning PI."

Backhand

Liza Cody

1991

An Anna Lee novel.

"Anna Lee zips from London to the Florida Keys in search of some missing designer clothing and teams up with a handsome American at an exclusive tennis club to solve her sixth murder mystery."

Hot

John Lutz

1992

A Fred Carver novel.

"When Henry Tiller barges into Fred Carver’s office, the old man seems crazy. He tells a paranoid story about one of his neighbors on the sunny Florida Key where he makes his home—a wealthy man whom he suspects of using his yacht to run drugs. A young boy recently washed up on the beach, Tiller says, and he’s certain it was murder. Carver is uninterested until he learns that the old man’s grandson died a few years earlier: another casualty of cocaine addiction. It’s only been three years since Carver’s own son was murdered, and he’s too sentimental to turn down the case. When Tiller turns up dead himself, a victim of a suspicious hit-and-run, a little smuggled cocaine becomes the least of Carver’s troubles."

Rum Punch

Elmore Leonard

1992

"Ordell Robbie makes a fine living selling illegal high-powered weaponry to the wrong people. Jackie Burke couriers Ordell's profits from Freeport to Miami. But the feds are on to Jackie - and now the aging, but still hot, flight attendant will have to do prison time or play ball, which makes her a prime 'loose end' that Ordell needs to tie up...permanently. Jackie, however, has other plans. And with the help of Max Cherry - an honest but disgruntled bail bondsman looking to get out - she could even end up with a serious nest egg in the process."

Pronto

Elmore Leonard

1993

"Harry Arno runs a South Miami Beach gambling operation. To protect his position, he was forced to cut a deal with the local muscle, Jimmy Capotorto (Jumbo Jimmy Cap), an even fifty-fifty split. For years Harry had been padding his own stake by skimming off the top. Now a couple of local detectives - wise to sticky fingers - try to bag Jimmy by putting the squeeze on Harry. U.S. Marshalls deliver Harry to court to testify at Jimmy's trial. Even though he's a step slower than he used to be, Harry's no fool - he slips out of the country pronto. With Jimmy Cap's men following and the Feds close behind, the three sides end up in Italy, watching their own backs while keeping abreast of Harry's. But it's not until the chase leads back to Miami that the real winners and losers are revealed."

Strip Tease

Carl Hiaasen

1993

"Congressman David Dilbeck has a bad problem. 'I should never be around naked women.' But he just can't stay away. And late one night, at a gaudy Fort Lauderdale strip joint, Dilbeck loses control. He leaps onto the stage with the performers and proceeds to demonstrate his affections in a most unconventional way. The congressman barely escapes the scene, but not before being recognized by an odd little customer known as Mr. Peepers - an unlikely blackmailer, but (it turns out) a cunning one. To save himself from an election-year sex scandal, David Dilbeck desperately turns to Malcolm "Moldy" Moldowsky, a devious and cold-blooded political fixer. It is Moldy's mission to protect the congressman's reputation, shaky as it might be, and soon the stakes are murderously high. Meanwhile, the lust-struck Dilbeck secretly pursues the current woman of his dreams, a formidable nude dancer named Erin Grant. She has her own special plans for the wayward politician. The chase leads from the staid corridors of Congress to the sweltering cane fields of Lake Okeechobee, from a topless wrestling pit to a sunken Guatemalan banana boat."

Spark

John Lutz

1993

A Fred Carver novel.

"Hattie Evans, a retired schoolteacher, isn’t one to fuss. When her husband drops dead of a heart attack, she does her best to move on without too many tears. After all, Jerome was seventy years old. But an anonymous note, asserting that her husband was murdered, shakes her resolve, and she seeks out help. The police are useless, save that they send her to Fred Carver - a former Orlando cop who turned PI when a bullet shattered his left knee. Her case takes Carver into the depths of Solartown: an old-age mecca where seventy is the new forty, golf carts are the only way to get around, and death from natural causes is nowhere to be found."

Torch

John Lutz

1994

A Fred Carver novel.

"Donna Winship is an ordinary woman with a typical problem. No longer in love with her husband, she has taken to spending evenings and long afternoons with a new man. Fearful that her husband will learn the truth and be overwhelmed with jealousy, she contacts Fred Carver, an ex-cop turned PI, and asks him to tail her. Minutes after he agrees, Donna drives her car into a speeding tractor trailer. Dead on impact. The local police are happy to call it a suicide, but Carver is determined to serve his client, even in death. More bloodshed follows, as Donna’s husband kills himself and her lover disappears without a trace. No love triangle is simple, but this one could cost Fred Carver his life."

Riding the Rap

Elmore Leonard

1995

"Palm Beach playboy Chip Ganz needs money - fast. He has spiralling debts, and his mother's gravy-train has just derailed. So he has a plan: he's going to find somebody rich, and take them hostage. With the help of an ex-con, a psycho gardener and the beautiful psychic Reverend Dawn, he chooses bookmaker Harry Arno as the lucky victim. The trouble is, Harry can scam with the best of them. And that's not the only problem. US Marshal Raylan Givens is sleeping with Harry's ex girlfriend, Joyce, and she wants Harry found."

Burn

John Lutz

1995

A Fred Carver novel.

"Joel Brandt swears he’s never met the woman before. His wife dead six months before, the small-time businessman is perplexed when Del Moray police inform him that a local woman, Marla Cloy, has accused him of harassing her. According to her, Joel has been lurking outside of her house, following her car, even assaulting her at the grocery store. Brandt says it’s all a lie, but the police don’t believe him. He goes to Fred Carver, an ex-cop turned PI, for help clearing his name. The harder Carver looks, the less he understands. There is no apparent connection between the two people, and yet one of them is trying to destroy the other’s life. When this game turns deadly, who will be the first to go?"

Lightning

John Lutz

1996

A Fred Carver novel.

"Fred Carver’s lover, Beth, is not a woman who wants to be tied down. When she learns that she is pregnant with the detective’s child, she resists his attempts to marry her and initially wants to have an abortion. Finally, love wins out, and they decide to raise the child together. Stopping by the abortion clinic to cancel her appointment, Beth is caught in an explosion that spares her life but takes her unborn child. The police are content to lock up a local anti-abortion fanatic whose house is full of explosives, but Fred Carver isn’t convinced. When he and Beth start receiving death threats, he takes the matter into his own hands—seeking revenge against the man who took his child and nearly murdered the woman he loves."

Out of Sight

Elmore Leonard

1996

"Jack Foley was busting out of Florida's Glades Prison when he ran head-on into Karen Sisco with a shotgun. Suddenly the world-class gentleman felon was sharing a cramped car trunk with a disarmed federal marshal - whose Chanel suit cost more than the take from Foley's last bank job - and the chemistry was working overtime. Here's a lady Jack could fall for in a big way, if she weren't a dedicated representative of the law that he breaks for a living. And as soon as she escapes, he's already missing her. But there are some seriously bad men and a major score waiting for Jack in Motown. And there's a good chance that when his path crosses Karen's again, she's going to be there for business, not pleasure."

Stormy Weather

Carl Hiaasen

1995

"Two honeymooners wake up early, make love twice, and brace themselves for a spectacle they won't be watching from the sidelines. A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery. A shotgun-toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster. A law school dropout will be chasing one Gaboon viper, a troop of storm-shocked monkeys, and a newfound love life, while tourists by the thousands bail from the Florida Keys. We're now entering the hurricane zone, where hell and hilarity rule. And in the hands of the masterful, merciless Carl Hiaasen, we're going to have some weather."

Naked Came the Manatee

Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Dave Barry, James W. Hall, Edna Buchanan, Les Standiford, Paul Levine, Brian Antoni, Tananarive Due, John Dufresne, Vicki Hendricks, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson

1996

A serial collaboration with each author writing a chapter.

"In South Florida, everyone wants to get a head. But not just any head. A very famous human head--severed and snugged away in a cryonic container. A head that could spark a revolution and change the course of history. Everybody wants a piece of the noggin: rotund gangster Big Joey G., a 102-year-old environmentalist, hard-boiled Miami reporter Britt Montero, lawyer Jake Lassiter, and a would-be dictator in exile - with ex-president Jimmy Carter and a lovable manatee named Booger thrown in for good measure. With bodies piling up it's anybody's guess what will happen from one chapter to the next, as an all-star line-up of Florida's finest writers take turns at taking this outrageously original novel to the limit."

Lucky You

Carl Hiaasen

1997

"JoLayne Lucks lives in a town infamous for its suspicious miracles, but she's still elated when her lottery numbers finally pay off big-$28 million, to be exact. And she has great plans for her fortune: to save a rare piece of Florida paradise from the bulldozers. Only one problem: There's another winning Lotto ticket, and the people who've got it just never learned how to share. When the two militia wannabes swipe JoLayne's ticket, she enlists an off-the-rails newspaperman to help her track down the trigger-happy creeps and their bewildered hostage, a Hooters waitress. Getting rich quick is never easy."

In the Rogue Blood

James Carlos Blake

1997

"A savage, uncompromising and unforgettable vision of the old American West that explodes the idealized myths fostered by a hundred years of pulp fiction. In 1845 two brothers, Edward and John Little, are forced to abandon their home in the Florida swamplands after being goaded by a treacherous parent into committing a horrific, shameful act that will haunt their dreams for the rest of their days. So begins the Littles' strange odyssey across an almost surreal bloodland; twin journeys marked by death and degradation that will ultimately lead them both to a violently disputed Texas and place them on opposing sides in a fierce territorial struggle between Mexico and the United States. Here a family bond tempered in hot blood will be tested in the all-consuming fires of war and conscience."

Red Grass River

James Carlos Blake

1998

"A powerful and rousing historical saga of family loyalties, blood feuds, and betrayed friendships; of bank robberies and bootlegging; and of a passionate love as wild at heart as the Everglades. It is the story of sworn enemies: John Ashley, a criminal and folk hero, the brightest star in a family destined to become the most notorious in south Florida; and Bobby Baker, a lawman born of lawmen, a violent, hard-hearted man driven by the searing memory of past affronts and the enduring hatreds the engendered. Ashley and Maker will clash many times over many decades. And as the twentieth century encroaches on their world--and the wildlands give grudging way to the rising boomtown of Miami--a feral, sensual mating will place one man in gravest peril...while his adversary contrives a dark, personal vengeance that could leave countless lives--his own included--in ruin."

Borderlands: Short Fictions

James Carlos Blake

1999

"The scrublands of South Texas, the warm coastland of the Gulf of Mexico, a cinderblock flophouse near the produce fields of South Florida: all are borderlands of mixed blood and spilled blood, of generations forged in fight, failure, and hope. In this extraordinary collection of short works, the masterful James Carlos Blake, author of In the Rogue Blood and the Wolfe family series of border noirs, journeys from the nineteenth-century Mexican frontier to the borderlands of today. Borderlands begins with an introductory piece of memoir, called "The Outsiders," about Blake's own straddling of worlds and identities. …. Bold, honest, and humane, these pieces represent some of the best writing from one of the most original and authentic voices in contemporary fiction."

Vengeance

Stuart M. Kaminsky

1999

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"Three years ago Lew Fonseca quit his job as a process server with the State Attourney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, and drove his rattling Toyota south to escape the memories of his beloved late wife. Headed for Key West, the Toyota broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot in Sarasota, Florida. Buoyed by the friendship of a few trustworthy souls, Lew settled there, making ends meet by doing some investigative work for local attourneys. Now, Lew is hired by Carl Sebastian, one of Lew's lawyer's clients, to find his missing wife. Following up on a few leads, Lew finds himself being trailed by a mysterious burly man, and saddled with another missing person case -- this time a runaway teen. With the help of some friends, Lew seems to be getting closer and closer to Melanie -- but will he find her before the unthinkable happens?"

Mystery in the Sunshine State: Florida Short Stories By Florida's Mystery Writers

Editor: Stuart M. Kaminsky

1999

"Drawing on the talents of many of Florida's notable writers, Stuart Kaminsky offers an enticing selection of Florida mystery fare. Follow professional investigators and amateur sleuths alike as they steadfastly and patiently uncover one clue at a time to finally reveal the identity of a killer or the answer to a riddle."

• The Blue Highway (David Ash)
• The Handyman (E.C. Ayres)
• Good Night, Mrs. Chisholm (Wayne Barcomb)
• Sierra Reveals All (Nancy Bartholomew)
• Ghosts (David Beaty)
• The English Tourist)
• Edna Buchanan)
• The Great Persuader (Stanley Ellin)
• Flora Africana (Deloris Stanton Forbes)
• Death By Pliers (Carolina Garcia-Aguilera)
• The Full Marty: A John Francis Cuddy Story (Jeremiah Healy)
• Reliable Witness (Stuart Kaminsky)
• The Case Of Johnny Walker Black (David A. Kaufelt)
• Docment Of The Keys (Peter King)
• Machete (John Lutz)
• The Works (T.J. Macgregor)
• Framed For Murder (Harold Q. Masur)
• Instant Replay (Stuart McIver)
• Heartbreak Avenue (Billie Sue Mosiman)
• Midnight Pass: A House-Sitting Detective Story (Robert J. Randisi)
• Tahiti Junk Shop (Les Standiford)
• Heart Throb (Robert W. Walker)
• Hole In The Boat (Eric Wiklund)

Sick Puppy

Carl Hiaasen

2000

"An eco-terrorist with a trust fund, Twilly Spree is tailing a litterbug in a purple Range Rover with plates that read COJONES. Before he knows it, Spree is up to his cojones in corrupt Florida politicos and some very sick puppies, including a Toyota salesman turned governor, a Republicans-only hooker, and a millionaire developer with a fetish for Barbies. But when Spree learns that the fate of an unspoiled island is at stake, he's determined not to be outdone. While defending the toads of Toad Island-not to mention one cheerfully oblivious Labrador-he'll steal a man's wife, gouge out the eyes of big game trophies, and even risk his life two or three times."

Orange Pulp: Stories of Mayhem, Murder and Mystery

Editor: Maurice J. O'Sullivan and Steve Glassman

2000

"This is an anthology of crime, celebrating the murder mystery. The contributors, including John D. MacDonald and Charles Willeford, helped Florida become a serious contender for the title of crime fiction capital of America."

• Introduction: From The City Of Angels To The Magic Kingdom
• Excerpt From The Hidden Hand (Carroll John Daly)
• A Trip To Czardis (Edwin Granberry)
• Excerpt From The Dead Don't Care (Jonathan Latimer)
• Excerpt From Dividend On Death (Brett Halliday)
• Murder And The South Wind (Mary Roberts Rinehart)
• Excerpt From A Flash Of Green (John D. MacDonald)
• Excerpt From The Night, The Woman (Stephen Ransome)
• The First Five In Line (Charles Willeford)
• The Hated One (Don Tracy)

Ring of Truth

Nancy Pickard

2001

A Marie Lightfoot novel.

"Sex, violence, evil, and betrayal -- the shocking murder case splashed across the Florida headlines has all the right elements for true-crime writer Marie Lightfoot's next bestseller. But there are disturbing twists, which leave Marie sensing in her gut that something does not jibe. Twist number one: the accused is a man of the cloth, who has allegedly killed his wife in collusion with his lover. Twist number two: a pair of young girls find the body in an abandoned mansion, adding the death of innocence to the magnitude of the crime. Twist number three: a shattering conviction turns the case on its ear. And the ultimate blow: for the first time in her career, Marie fails to win the the killer's confidence during a jailhouse interview. Suddenly, she knows with certainty there is more to the story than even she realized - and her conscience won't let her rest."

Retribution

Stuart M. Kaminsky

2001

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"Lew Fonesca now makes his way amid bail jumpers and lost wives, people who want to be found and those who will do anything to stay under their rock. He spends his days solving cases both big and small and trying to get by, while attempting to figure out how to make the rest of his life make sense ..... he saved a young runaway who has had a childhood nobody should ever have, and she finally seems to be turning her life around. But when she becomes involved with a reclusive best selling author and several valuable manuscripts disappear, Lew knows that young Melanie is in way over her head. And if he doesn't act fast, not only could a few reputations get tarnished - the bodies might start piling up."

Basket Case

Carl Hiaasen

2002

"Jack Tagger is a frustrated journalist. His outspoken views have relegated him to the obituary page, with his byline never again to disgrace the front page. But Jack has stumbled across a whale of a story that might just resurrect his career . . . James Stomarti, infamous frontman of rock band Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, has died in a diving accident and Jack harbours suspicions that the glamorous pop starlet widow may have had a vested interest in her husband's untimely death. It all smells a little too fishy. Aided and abetted by his rather sexy (if unnervingly ambitious) young editor, Emma, Jack sets out to in pursuit of the truth - and a nice juicy story. But of course nothing is ever straightforward and with murderous goons on his tail, brutal internal politics at the paper and a paranoia about death, Jack is struggling to keep his head above water. Was Jimmy Stomarti murdered? Is someone trying to kill off the Slut Puppies one by one? And what significance can a dead lizard named Colonel Tom possibly have?"

Hoot

Carl Hiaasen

2002

A children's novel.

"Roy Eberhardt is recently arrived in Florida. ‘Disney World is an armpit compared to Montana’, he announces. Roy’s family moves a lot so he’s used to the new-kid drill – and to bullies like Dana Matherson. And anyway, it’s because of Dana that Roy gets to see the mysterious running boy – who runs away from the school bus and who has no books, no backpack and, most oddly, no shoes. Sensing a mystery Roy starts to trail the mystery runner – a chase that will introduce him to many weird Floridian creatures: potty-trained alligators, some cute burrowing owls, a fake-fart champion, a sinister pancake PR man and some snakes with sparkly tails…Suddenly life in Florida is looking up!"

Lucky Dip And Other Stories

Liza Cody

2003

"Liza Cody's short stories emphasize women who are ensnared in situations not of their own making, but who (usually) survive and (sometimes) prosper. The tales run from 2 lighthearted stories set in Florida, 'Where's Stacey' and 'A Card or a Kitten' to the dark 'Woke Up One Morning,' written especially for this volume and which we (the publishers) think will be recognized as one of the finest crime and mystery stories of this decade."

Midnight Pass

Stuart M. Kaminsky

2003

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"But for a man who just wants to ease through life without any complications, Lew has a pretty full plate. The shrink that Lew's been seeing for more than a year wants him to finally dump all the grief that he's carrying around so he can have more than a half-life. And Sally, the pretty single mom and social worker who has helped Lew in the past, wants to deepen their friendship. On top of that, a local minister asks him to find a town council member who has gone missing just before a crucial vote that could ruin a struggling community, and a distraught father comes to Lew to track down his wife and two kids, whom Lew suspects ran off with the man's best friend. When people start showing up dead, Lew knows he's in way over his head - and this time he may not be able make it all come out okay."

Skinny Dip

Carl Hiaasen

2004

"Joey Perrone is a woman with a mission. She's just been pushed overboard from a cruise liner by Chaz, her scumbag husband, and survived to tell the tale. But rather than reporting him to the police, she decides to stay dead and - with a little help from her friends and a few of Chaz's enemies - instead of getting mad, she's going to get even. Filled with a host of endearingly offbeat characters, and a narrative that is hilarious, romantic and thought-provoking by turns, Skinny Dip takes us on a journey through the warped politics of Southern Florida and through the madness created by the human heart."

Flush

Carl Hiaasen

2005

A children's novel.

"Noah's dad, Paine, is a kind but slightly irresponsible fisherman who is passionate about saving the local Florida aquatic life. When Paine discovers that a local businessman is running a scam from his casino boat, he takes the law into his own hands, sinks the boat and ends up in jail. This scam involves releasing the effluent from the boat's toilets directly into the water, to avoid the cost of disposing of it safely. Noah and his sister Abbey, take up the fight for justice on their Dad's behalf and enlist the help of Shelly, who knows that her former boyfriend is up to no good and comes up with a plan to prove it. She gets a job as a barmaid back on the casino boat and plans to sneak a huge load of coloured dye into the toilets."

Denial

Stuart M. Kaminsky

2005

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"Lew Fonesca is a man who does things for people. He makes small problems go away and tries to keep the larger ones from landing his clients in jail. He finds deadbeats, errant spouses, and generally keeps the populace of Sarasota on the up and up. Now Lew is faced with one case that will try his patience...and another that may break his heart. The first involves an elderly woman who swears she's witnessed a murder in her old age home despite the fact that everyone she tells her story to tell her that it just couldn't have happened. The other has Lew trying to find out the identity of a hit and run driver who killed a 14 year old boy. As Lew begins to dig deeper into both cases he finds that they are tied together in ways he can't hope to untangle. And when someone tries to run him down, Lew knows that he's getting close to some nasty home truths and he is going to have get the answers if he is to survive."

Always Say Goodbye

Stuart M. Kaminsky

2006

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"Lew Fonesca’s wife Catherine was struck and killed in a hit-and-run. Grief-stricken, he fled Chicago and wound up in Sarasota, Florida where he’s made a living as a process server. Four years on, he's still savoring his depression like fine wine, and his therapist - and sparring partner - has had enough. It's time, she tells Lew, to get on with his life. Time to go back to Chicago and find out what really happened to his wife. Lew hates to admit it, but Ann Horowitz might be right. Even if it kills him, he has to know the truth about his wife's death. So he returns to his home, his family, his friends - and a mystery. He's resolved to dig until he finds out who killed his wife. In doing so, he'll uncover both sweet and painful memories of his past. He'll also confront a murderer who'll not hesitate to kill again to make sure hidden secrets stay buried."

Nature Girl

Carl Hiaasen

2006

"Honey Santana - self-proclaimed queen of lost causes - has a Plan. She's working on a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference and dinner-time telemarketers. She's also taking part-time telephonist Boyd Shreve and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress to Dismal Key - one of the Everglades' Ten ThousandIslands - for a gentle lesson in civility. What Honey doesn't know is that lurking in the island's undergrowth is Sammy Tigertail, half-blood Seminole Indian and wholly failed alligator wrestler, with death on his mind; and Honey's deranged co-worker, Louis Piejack, now with most of his fingers surgically mis-attached to the wrong knuckles, and intent on revenge."

Miami Noir

Editor: Les Standiford

2006

The contents are:

• Ride Along (James W. Hall)
• Dead Storage (Christine Kling)
• Silence of the Stone Age (George Tucker)
• Sawyers (Kevin Allen)
• Blown Away (Anthony Dale Gagliano)
• One Man’s Ceiling (Tom Corcoran)
• Solomon & Lord Drop Anchor (Paul Levine)
• The Last of Lord Jitters (David Beaty)
• The Timing of Unfelt Smiles (John Dufresne)
• Boozanne, Lemme Be (Vicki Hendricks)
• The Recipe (Carolina Garcia-Aguilera)
• T-bird (John Bond)
• Swap Out (Preston Allen)
• The Noir Boudoir (Lynne Barrett)
• Machete (Barbara Parker)
• The Swimmers (Jeffrey Wehr)

Scat

Carl Hiaasen

2009

A young adult novel.

"When Mrs Starch, the most feared biology teacher in Florida, goes missing during a school trip to the Black Vine Swamp, her class is secretly relieved. The school principal tries to cover it up as a 'family emergency', but Nick and Marta just aren't convinced. They think it's much more likely to have something to do with Smoke, the local troublemaker - whose run-ins with Mrs Starch are infamous - and decide to do some investigating of their own. But there's more going on in Black Vine Swamp than either one of them could guess. And Nick and Marta must see off an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a crooked oil prospector, a singing substitute teacher, and an angry Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture."

Bright Futures

Stuart M. Kaminsky

2009

A Lew Fonesca novel.

"A local curmudgeon who has been campaigning to end state-sponsored school funding is brutally killed. The accused, a recent graduate of a public high school for the gifted, turns to Lew for help. A semiretired and much beloved performer of children's songs is being anonymously threatened with exposure as a sexual predator. He turns to Lew to find out who is behind this false accusation. As Lew works on these baffling cases, he slowly comes to realize that somewhere along the way he has managed to pick up what looks like the beginning of a new life: people who care about him, people whom, he grudgingly admits, he is beginning to care about. But the good life that Lew so richly deserves might disappear when he's forced to come to a hard choice - do the right thing and see his happiness evaporate, or betray a trust and be happy."

Chomp

Carl Hiaasen

2012

A young adult novel.

"Wahoo Cray has grown up with a zoo in his backyard - alligators, snakes, rats, monkeys and parrots ... but it's his dad who's the real unpredictable critter. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called EXPEDITION SURVIVAL, Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his dad from killing the show's inept star Derek Badger, who insists on using real wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna, a girl who's hiding from her own dad. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun... It's anyone's guess who will survive."

Bad Monkey

Carl Hiaasen

2013

"When a severed arm is discovered by a couple on honeymoon in the Florida Keys, former police detective - now reluctant restaurant inspector - Andrew Yancy senses that something doesn't add up. Determined to get his badge back, he undertakes an unofficial investigation of his own. Andrew's search for the truth takes him to the Bahamas, where a local man, with the help of a very bad monkey (who allegedly worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) is doing everything in his power to prevent a developer from building a new tourist resort on the island, with deadly consequences."

The Edible Exile

Carl Hiaasen

2013

A short novella written but not published in the 1980's. Published electronically.

"Cuervo is a pampered Nicaraguan moneyman, funding a guerrilla war from his cushy Miami penthouse. Sixto is his hulking, pistol-packing attendant, whose job satisfaction is on the wane. When an aging mobster enters their lives with a promise to help the rebel cause—with a planeload of chickens originally intended for voodoo sacrifice—a tense situation turns combustible."

Skink: No Surrender

Carl Hiaasen

2014

A young adult novel.

"Typical Malley - to avoid being shipped off to boarding school, she takes off with some guy she met online. Poor Richard - he knows his cousin's in trouble before she does. Wild Skink - he's a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair scour the state, undaunted by blinding storms, crazed pigs, flying bullets and giant gators. Carl Hiaasen first introduced readers to Skink more than 25 years ago in DOUBLE WHAMMY, and he quickly became Hiaasen's most iconic and beloved character, appearing in six novels to date. Both teens and adults will be thrilled to catch sight of the elusive 'governor' as he pursues his own unique brand of swamp justice. With Skink at the wheel, the search for a missing girl is both nail-bitingly tense and laugh-out-loud funny."

Kickback

Ace Atkins

2015

A Spenser novel.

"What started out as a joke landed seventeen-year-old Dillon Yates in a lockdown juvenile facility in Boston Harbor. When he set up a prank Twitter account for his vice principal, he never dreamed he could be brought up on criminal charges, but that s exactly what happened. This is Blackburn, Massachusetts, where zero tolerance for minors is a way of life. Leading the movement is tough-as-nails Judge Joe Scali, who gives speeches about getting tough on today s wild youth. But Dillon s mother, who knows other Blackburn kids who are doing hard time for minor infractions, isn't buying Scali s line. She hires Spenser to find the truth behind the draconian sentencing. From the Harbor Islands to a gated Florida community, Spenser and trusted ally Hawk follow a trail through the Boston underworld with links to a shadowy corporation that runs New England s private prisons. They eventually uncover a culture of corruption and cover-ups in the old mill town, where hundreds of kids are sent off to for-profit juvie jails."

Razor Girl

Carl Hiaasen

2016

"When jumped-up reality TV star Buck Nance aggravates the crowd in a Key West bar, he incites a riot and vanishes in the melee. His hapless agent Lane Coolman should have been by Buck's side, but has been accidentally taken hostage by two petty criminals who now think they can turn a quick profit by ransoming an LA talent agent. As the search for Buck continues, the mystery draws in a broad cast of characters from across the island including Andrew Yancy, the disgraced cop who now works restaurants on roach patrol; a delusional fan of Buck's show; the local sheriff who's desperate for re-election; a shady lawyer and his gold-digging fiancée; the gay mayor and his restauranteur partner; a Mafioso hotelier; and a redheaded con artist named Merry who, using a razor blade and a high-speed car, has developed a signature way of luring in her victims."

Florida Happens: Tales Of Mystery, Mayhem, And Suspense From The Sunshine State

Bouchercon Anthology 2018

Editor: Greg Herren

2017

"Edited by award-winning author/editor Greg Herren, with an introduction by New York Times bestselling author Tim Dorsey, FLORIDA HAPPENS is a riveting anthology featuring some of the brightest stars of mystery writing. Published in conjunction with Bouchercon, the world's biggest mystery convention, this new anthology offers stories of pristine white sands and palm trees, snowbirds and theme parks, mangroves and manatees, pirates and policemen - from the redneck Riviera to the southernmost point of the United States."

• The Burglar Who Strove To Go Straight (Lawrence Block)
• The Best Laid Plans (Holly West)
• There’s an Alligator in My Purse (Paul D. Marks)
• Mr. Bones (Hilary Davidson)
• Cold Beer No Flies (Greg Herren)
• Frozen Iguana (Debra Lattanzi Shutika)
• The Fakahatchee Goonch (Jack Bates)
• The Case of the Missing Pot Roast (Barb Goffman)
• How To Handle A Shovel (Craig Pitman)
• Postcard for the Dead (Susanna Calkins)
• Hangover (John D. MacDonald)
• Muscle Memory (Angel Luis Colón)
• The Unidentifieds (J.D. Allen)
• All Accounted For At The Hooray For Hollywood Hotel (Eleanor Cawood Jones)
• Southernmost Point (Neil Plakcy)
• Quarters for the Meter (Alex Segura)
• Breakdown (Brendan DuBois)
• Winner (Michael Wiley)
• Frontier Justice (John M. Floyd)
• When Agnes Left Her House (Patricia Abbott)
• The Ending (Reed Farrel Coleman)

Squirm

Carl Hiaasen

2018

A children's novel.

"Some facts about Billy Dickens: he once saw a biker swerve across the road in order to run over a snake; later, that motorcycle somehow ended up at the bottom of a canal; Billy isn't the type to let things go. Some facts about Billy's family: they've lived in six different Florida towns because Billy's mom insists on getting a house near a bald eagle nest; Billy's dad left when he was four and is a total mystery; Billy has just found his dad's address - in Montana. This summer, Billy will fly across the country, hike a mountain, float a river, dodge a grizzly bear, shoot down a spy drone, save a neighbor's cat, save an endangered panther, and then try to save his own father."