The second or third book I have read by Hiaasen, all set in Florida, this time in the Florida Keys. A fishing boat for tourists ends up catching a human arm instead of a fish, causing all the problems in this somewhat silly, far fetched narrative. But we like the main character, Yancy, on paid leave for shoving a vacuum cleaner up the rectum of his the girl friend's husband because he was belting her. Unfortunately, this action happened in the open, with the public watching, thus the 'on leave.' The sheriff takes pity on him and puts him on restaurant patrol, checking to make sure the shrimp and fish are safe, the kitchen maggot free...they are not and Yancy ends up making few friends in the restaurant business.
Meanwhile, a developer has put up a Mc Mansion across the water from Yancy's home, much to his displeasure and he, when possible, tries to scare off all buyers, by putting a dead raccoon in the house, things like that. And, because he's a detective, he ends up trying to figure out whose arm was caught and along with his new girl friend, a coroner, they follow the trail, of murder, of two people to start with, the another as they get closer to the solution. The killer, and his wife, end up being Medicare scam artists, having made millions off of aging Floridians, surprise. When the scam artist is faced with a lengthy prison term, he takes his boat out in the Keys, has a friend, a surgeon, cut off his arm, then throws it on a beach, and sinks the boat, assuming he will be ruled dead. The best laid plans of men, however, often go awry, and Yancy, hot on his trail, with friend he meets (who owns the monkey), spoil the one armed man's plans as well as those of his wife, the husband dying, the wife, we assume, going to jail. A pretty silly premise but we like the roustabout character of Yancy, charming with the ladies, refusing to follow the rules, doing things that he shouldn't but we tend to like this kind of guy. If he hurts someone, they deserve it.
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