Carl Hiaasen

Knopf

Florida sheriff Andrew Yancey is a fine cop. Unfortunately, a burst of creative violence against his girlfriend's husband leaves him suspended and touring filthy restaurants as a health inspector. He's also storing a man's severed arm in his freezer: Yancey doesn't believe the "official" explanation that it's evidence from a boating accident or a shark attack. Instead, he thinks it's all that's left of a murder victim - and if Yancey can just solve the case, he's certain to get his old gig back. Into this premise, the effortlessly hysterical Hiaasen mixes a voodoo witch; a sex-happy hottie who happens to be a coroner; a homicidal swindler working a health care scam; a building code-scofflaw erecting a giant mansion that blocks Yancey's view of the ocean; a hurricane; a fugitive former teacher who still pines for the long-ago dolt of a student; and, yes, the incredibly annoying titular primate.

- RICK KOSTER