Laurence Shames

Mangrove Squeeze

Key West Mystery

Hyperion, May 1998

People go to Key West for lots of different reasons. Not all of them are legal, sane, or in the interest of public safety.

Suki Sperakis went to Key West for a better life—even though the tradeoff was a series of lousy jobs, the latest of which is selling ad space for a third-rate freebie paper.

Aaron Katz went to Key West to escape the double hell of a Wall Street job and a soured marriage. And to pursue a dream of restoring a doomed and rotting wreck of a guest house.

Then there were the Russians…THEY came to Key West for the opportunity. Blue jeans! Gold chains! Harley-Davidsons! And a cozy, unprotected spot that harbored the richest, most explosive stash of contraband they could possibly imagine.

When Suki starts sniffing around a story that could really make a difference to the town she loves, and Aaron falls for her as the blithe spirit who could turn his life around, and Aaron’s senile father joins forces with retired mafioso Bert the Shirt, and the Russians start to worry that too many nosy Americans are sniffing around… that’s when MANGROVE SQUEEZE takes off!