Shark Skin Suite

Florida serial killer Serge A. Storms is still going strong, as shown by bestseller Dorsey's 18th entry in this brilliantly funny series (after 2014's Tiger Shrimp Tango). Accompanied by stoner friend Coleman, Stoner rockets around the state reveling in little known tidbits of Florida history, uncovering scams both blatantly obvious and stunningly subtle, and meting out inventive and inspired punishments to evil-doers. All of this is done with a razor sharp wit that skewers human foibles and follies illustrated by instantly recognizable character types. Big banks are engaging in mortgage fraud ("Florida has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation"), but the main human interest is with Brook Campanella, a newly minted lawyer and a former girlfriend of Serge's. Brook wages a losing war in the courtroom against powerful Consolidated Financial, until Serge appoints himself attorney for the plaintiff and makes a memorable courtroom appearance. Consolidated fights dirty, but that's Serge's specialty, and though the end result is obvious, the path Serge takes is not. Author tour. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber. (Jan.)