Double Whammy

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen  320 pp.

This is an early novel by Hiaasen but the premise is similar to his other Florida based stories. Detective/photographer R.J. Decker is hired by a wealthy to investigate cheating in the world of bass fishing competitions.  The prime suspect in the corruption is the star of a fishing show produced by a big religious television network run by The Reverend Weeb, a not-so-pure evangelist. When a body is found connected with the tournaments Decker finds himself deep in a murder investigation after first being a suspect. With the help of his ex-wife and Hiaasen's recurring character, the Everglades hermit/former Florida governor known as Skink, the story gets even more convoluted and funny while more dead bodies appear. Of course, Skink is the hero of it all. And as an added bonus, devoted Hiaasen readers learn how Skink lost his eye.

Skinny Dip

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen  355 pp.

Marine biologist, Chaz Perrone, is inept at his profession and murdering his wife, Joey. The only thing he's good at is womanizing and since he threw his wife off a cruise ship even that is going wrong. Chaz is so inept at his profession he not only gets the direction of the current wrong, he also forgets Joey is an expert swimmer. She makes her way to a floating bale of marijuana and then floats to an island inhabited by an ex-cop. Together they plot to make Chaz's life miserable before they turn him over to the police for attempted murder. Add in a plot to hide everglades pollution, a large and very hairy bodyguard with a well hidden heart of gold, the crooked head of an agribusiness, more failed murder attempts, and a Florida detective who can't wait to move back to back to Minnesota and you have classic Hiaasen hijinks all the way. There is even a couple of brief appearances by Hiaasen's recurring character "The Captain" aka "Skink." It's not his best but not his worst either--just a fun light and entertaining story.

Star Island

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen  337 pp.

Not the best Hiaasen I've read but it is full of the usual quirky characters that populate his Florida based stories. Cheryl Bunterman, known by the stage name Cherry Pye, is a no-talent, much hyped singer with a penchant for drugs and booze. Her parents, manager, bodyguard, and hired double attempt to keep her career going while Cherry does everything she can to unintentionally destroy it. Also in the mix is a paparazzo who has decided to make Cherry Pie his life's work. When Cherry is "indisposed" aka in rehab, Ann DeLusia makes Cherry's public appearances to perpetrate the myth that the singer is functional. After her last bender, her bodyguard is fired and replaced by Chemo, a one-armed giant with a mutilated face and a weed whacker as a prosthetic hand. Former governor and road-kill eater, Clinton Tyree aka Skink, a favorite Hiaasen character, makes an appearance when he rescues Ann from a car accident and uniquely assaults a crooked real estate developer with a sea urchin. The plot is thin and a little predictable. The outlandish characters are the highlight.

Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen  335 pp.

What do you get when you combine insurance scammers, roofing scammers, a crooked building inspector, newlywed tourists, a crazy one-eyed ex-governor, a wealthy law school dropout who juggles skulls, a son seeking revenge for his mother's death in a mobile home, and a bunch of escaped wild animals thrown together in south Florida during the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew? The result is a large amount of mayhem, murder, accidental death, and a whole lot of wrecked houses. It's the characters that make this book memorable, especially the wild man called Skink. Hiaasen makes a natural disaster fun.