Skinny Dip

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Mystery
Charles "Chaz" Perrone is a biologist who doesn't know anything.  He is testing water samples in the Everglades where he is deathly afraid of the wildlife.  He is running a profitable pollution scam for Red Hammernut, a mogul in the agriculture business.  Chaz fears that his wife Joey may be onto his little scam and decides to do away with her by heaving her overboard on a cruise.


But Joey is a championship swimmer and manages to hang onto a bale of marijuana and then get rescued by loner and ex-cop  Mick Stranahan.  Instead of coming forward to the cops, Joey decides to pay Chaz back.  What follows is a crazy, funny blackmail campaign against the lazy Chaz.


Chaz gets to be babysat by Red Hammernut's muscle man, Tool.  As Chaz gest more and more frenzied Tool grows a conscience.


I loved this book and all the characters but especially Tool.  Hiaasen does a great job of a tongue-in-cheek mystery surrounded by environmental concerns in the Everglades.



First Line: "At the stroke of eleven on a cool April night, a woman named Joey Perrone went overboard from a luxury deck of the cruise liner M.V. Sun Duchess."
Rating:
(4.0/5)