Too Much Stuff

October 3, 2011
Reading like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre channeled through Elmore Leonard, Bruns’s fifth outing for James Lessor and Skip Moore (after 2010’s Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff) sends the two bumbling would-be PIs to the Florida Keys to search for lost gold. Their employer, Mary Trueblood, suspects that a train shipment of gold, then worth $1.2 million and supposedly lost during a 1935 hurricane, was in fact stolen by her great-grandfather, Matthew Kriegel, and hidden in the village of Islamorad. They instead find a smuggling operation and the murdered body of either Todd Markim or Jim Weezle, a previous pair of treasure hunters. Bruns milks humor from Skip’s dawning awareness of his and James’s investigative ineptitude, and from their luck in attracting far more intelligent and resourceful women like Skip’s girlfriend, Emily. Those not looking for tight plotting or suspense will best appreciate this breezy beach read for all seasons.

October 1, 2011

Call them fun-loving slackers, but partners Skip and James aren't suffering from any quarter-life crisis. Their fifth case (after Don't Sweat the Small Stuff) brings the bumbling duo back for a treasure hunt caper in the Florida Keys. They've been hired by a lovely (natch!) descendant of a railroad tycoon who might have buried several million dollars' worth of gold bars in the Keys back in 1935. A hurricane destroyed the booming resort area of Islamorada that year, and her great-grandfather and the gold disappeared. Luckily, she has an old letter with clues in it, so our guys give it a shot. Skip's savvy girlfriend, Em, sniffs out those leads and joins in. The hapless group muddles along, finding some current crime issues and quite a few laughs along the way. Plus, a librarian helps solve the case! VERDICT Inspired by Les Standiford's book Last Train to Paradise, this silly caper just happens to share some Florida history, too. Recommend for those looking for a chuckle, movie quotes (Skip and James's specialty), and something along the lines of Dave Barry.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.