Cadillac Beach

 Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey  339 pp.

I enjoy Carl Hiaasen's novels about Florida mayhem, especially the ones that include the former governor known as "Skink". I was expecting something in a similar vein in this book featuring Dorsey's main character Serge Storms. Yes, there are similarities but Serge Storms is "over the top" in his actions/reactions. Serge is off his meds and joins with his substance abusing friend, Lenny in the search for the truth about his grandfather Sergio's death and the missing jewels that were stolen in the early 1960s. They set up a phony tour company and kidnap some sports fans/customers for a wild romp through Miami. Flashbacks to the time period of the theft and Sergio's disappearance flesh out the story. The involvement of the Mob, the CIA, FBI, and the militant Cubans makes the story very convoluted. The body count is excessive. In spite of it all the ending is somewhat happy. 

A Reunion of Ghosts / Judith Claire Mitchell 382 pp.

I am enthusiastic about 90% of this book.  Lady, Vee, and Delph Alter, three sisters descended from the Nobel-prize winning chemist responsible for the development of chlorine gas used during WWI, are burdened by the weight of their family history.  The chlorine gas was bad enough; what's worse is that their ancestor's innovation was later used in the creation of Zyklon B.  On the last day of the 20th century, they decide to bring their family history to a permanent close in their claustrophobic Manhattan apartment.  What follows is their suicide letter, the long, tragic and hilarious story of the Alter family.

This is great dark comedy, told with beautifully developed characters and fresh voices.  It's great, that is, until the author decides to conclude with an event that, in life as in fiction, demonstrates the ultimate failure of the imagination.