Each chapter is written by an
author with South Florida connections in order, Dave Barry, Les Standiford, Paul
Levine, Edna Buchanan, James W. Hall, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson,
Tananarive Due, Brian Antoni, Vicki Hendricks, John Dufresne, Elmore Leonard and
Carl Hiaasen. The convoluted plot involves an astonishing number of characters,
coincidences, murders and Fidel Castro heads with and without bodies attached.
Mystery fans will enjoy the interplay between familiar characters like
Buchanan's Miami News crime reporter Britt Montero, Levine's brawny lawyer Jake
Lassiter and Standiford's building contractor-turned-sleuth John Deal. The story
is less important than the pleasures to be gleaned from observing very good
writers at play, penning their sardonic love letter to Miami and its environs.
The writers maintain a comic, whimsical pace throughout, and Hiaasen feverishly
ties up loose ends in a final chapter like a department-store gift wrapper
during Christmas rush. A successful experiment in the art of absurdity, this
book inspired in concept and title by the round-robin novel Naked Came the
Stranger (1969), allegedly by "Penelope Ashe" but revealed as the handiwork of
25 Newsday editors and reporters should be read for the pure fun of it. FYI: The
authors' profits were donated to charity.