Sergeant Mendez denied all wrongdoing but was quietly reassigned to the K-9 division. Soon thereafter he was bitten in the groin by a Belgian shepherd trainee named Kong, and he required three operations, culminating in a scrotal graft from a Brahma steer. [p. 13]
The perfect beach read, which I consumed on my first beach trip of 2020. Hiaasen at his best is laugh-out-loud funny, cheerfully satirical, and capable of combining disparate characters (including, in this instance, a capuchin monkey alleged to have starred in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) and ornate plot complications (such as a lovingly-created occult shrine) with evocative Florida / Caribbean locations and hilariously detailed asides.
Andrew Yancy, on suspension from Key West police due to an incident involving a handheld vacuum cleaner and his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend's husband, is redeployed as a restaurant inspector. (Note to self: never ever eat anything in a Florida restaurant, ever.) He becomes involved in the case of a severed human arm, indicative of the demise of Nick Stripling, entrepreneur and fraudster. Stripling's daughter thinks he was murdered: Yancy's contact at the morgue thinks the arm may not actually be the sole relic of a tragic boating accident, as is initially assumed. Meanwhile, an amiable chap named Neville is trying to prevent his home being destroyed by corrupt development, and engages the services of the local voodoo practitioner -- who takes a fancy to Neville's monkey, Driggs.
I will not detail the convolutions of the plot, except to say that everything ties together very satisfactorily and justice triumphs. An extremely enjoyable read, though I was a little uncomfortable with the dialect presentation of Bahamian dialogue: “He was in de movies wit Johnny Depp. It’s no lie.” “Cap’n Jack Sparrow? You fulla crap. Your boy played de bod monkey?” [p. 121] Do I class this as racist? (There are other black characters whose speech isn't rendered thus.) Classist? maybe ...
I do wonder if there are female writers exploring similar crime/thriller/satire territory. Suggestions welcome!
No comments:
Post a Comment