Tropical Heat

John Lutz does an incredible job of creating a novel packed chalk full of suspense, humor, mystery and tops it all off with a just a hint of romance to make you crave more. I find myself snickering to myself throughout most of the book and laughed out loud more than once. Highly recommended.

I had read the second novel in this series (SCORCHER)first, and actually it is better than the debut novel, TROPICAL HEAT. John Lutz obviously has to establish his characters in this one, and so some of this exposition tends to diminish the plot's suspense ratio. We meet Fred Carver, a 45 year old, former Orlando police detective. Carver was forced into retirement after suffering a debilitating knee wound in a convenience store robbery. Now, he is a private investigator, still rehabilitating after his life-changing injury. He is friends still with Detective DeSoto, a handsome and debonair Latin/Italian, who wears tailored suits and wants Carver's life to get meaning again. Carver's wife, Laura, has left him taking his two children with her. So when deSoto sends the lovely Edwina Talbot to procure Carver's services to locate her missing lover, Carver reluctantly takes the case. Did Edwina's Willis Davis commit suicide, fake suicide, or has he been kidnapped or murdered? Carver's quest leads him on a search for potential drug runners and real-estate scams. Lutz has created a complex, albeit human, protagonist in Fred Carver. Carver of course finds himself falling for Edwina, and she's still clinging to Willis' chances. The novel doesn't have the terse, brisk pace of SCORCHER, but it is a worthwhile series. The Florida locales add a lot to the narrative.