People Die in Sunshine: A Novel of Miami

When Miami, Fla., real estate developers Frederick and Coco Rothenstein are found murdered in the estranged couple’s sprawling penthouse, investigators don’t have to look far to find a flotilla of potential suspects in this fizzy cocktail of satire, suspense, and romance from bestseller Nagy (Remain Calm). In fact, so many people need to be questioned quickly within the glitzy Silver Sands condominium—including the victims’ two overindulged adult children and Frederick’s current pair of eye-popping extremely personal assistants—that detective Mikey Martinez deputizes the complex’s head of security, Roy Rogers, who happens to be his recently retired Miami-Dade PD partner, to pitch in. For the most part, the story speeds ahead as narrated by the resident who unexpectedly catches Roy’s eye, a self-deprecating single mom, but hits choppier waters with a subplot involving anti-Semitism as a possible murder motive. The surprising killer, meanwhile, will strike many readers as preposterous. Despite such faults, this smart, often sardonically funny page-turner should amuse fans of Hiaasenian hijinks. (Oct.)