Andrew Yancy has the severed arm of someone in his freezer. Is it the remains of a shark attack victim or is there some other explanation? Yancy, suspended from his sheriff's job and serving time as a restaurant inspector pursues the case while making the lives of purveyors of less than fresh seafood miserable. DNA confirms the arm belongs to Nicky Stripling, medicare fraud specialist but Yancy has his doubts. Yancy confronts Hiassen's favorite foils, one developer ruining the view from his shack on Big Pine Key, another developing a luxury resort on Andros Island using land stolen from an itinerant fisherman allied with a terrifying voodoo queen and her filthy monkey Driggs. Stripling's widow appears on Andros Island romancing the developer of the luxury resort as evidence of her husband's death by shark unravels and the case is resolved.
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Best part of story, including ending:
Hiaasen blends mystery with hilarious plot lines and believably unbelievable characters. Yancy, seemingly on the verge of insanity, manages to win the love of a seemingly unapproachable woman, solve a crime and defeat developers threatening to destroy South Florida and the Bahamas. Another Hiaasen intricately plotted underdog wins the day tale.
Best scene in story:
On Big Pine Key the developer of the enormous spec house blocking the view from Yancy's shack encounters a hive of angry bees minutes before prospective buyers arrive to inspect and likely sign an agreement. This a one of a continuing series of bombs Yancy drops to kill the deal including slipping in a dead raccoon, building a grotesque Santeria shrine and inviting a homeless couple to occupy the shell of the house. I find the result of his work satisfying because I value pristine beach property and hate to it fall in the hands of reckless developers.