Squeeze Me

When I saw Carl Hiaasen on a speaking tour for Razor Girl, he joked that he hoped Florida didn't cause any problems in the 2016 election. Instead, they became the site of the Winter White House. And at a thinly veiled version of Mar a Lago, Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons, a member of the wealthy and elderly presidential fan club called the Potussies, gets eaten by a snake during the White Ibis Ball for IBS. The club manager calls in wildlife rangler Edie Armstrong to handle the problem and then hires two incompetent (of course) criminals to remove the body (and snake) from Edie's storage locker. Of course they stop at a strip bar along the way, which leads to the decomposed snake disrupting the FLOTUS's motorcade. As usual, Hiaasen ties several ridiculous side stories together into a well supported plot, but my favorite part of the book was the references to all of the minor charity balls being held "after the pandemic." Partially because "Stars for SARS" sounds funny, but partially because it gives hope that there will be an "after" when life returns to normal. Or as normal as it gets in Hiaasen's Florida.