Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Our group read lead forBad Monkey is Anne N. Look forward to an intro to the books and the author, and to a cracking discussion.

As usual, please note we discuss all aspects of the books we read - the plots, the characters, the settings and so on - on our discussions threads. Hence the discussion threads will contain spoilers from the start. if you haven't finished the book yet be careful not to read others' posts until the end.





Summary: Andrew Yancy--late of the Miami Police, soon-to-be-late of the Key West Police--has a human arm in his freezer. There's a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, his commander might relieve him of Health Inspector duties, aka Roach Patrol. But first Yancy will negotiate an ever-surprising course of events--from the Keys to Miami to a Bahamian out island--with a crew of equally ever-surprising characters, including: the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; an avariciously idiotic real estate developer; a voodoo witch whose lovers are blinded-unto-death by her particularly peculiar charms; Yancy's new love, a kinky medical examiner; and the eponymous Bad Monkey, who earns his place among Hiaasen's greatest characters with hilariously wicked aplomb.

Hi everyone! I hope you have enjoyed the book as much as I have. It was a little funny that Hiaasen would have Yancy create havoc on his neighbor's pursuit of retail sale. Living in Florida, I can relate to huge condos messing up the scenery. Did it make you feel sorry for his neighbor? Did you find the sub-plots distracting from the main plot? I was immersed in this book, there was so much going on. I loved that Yancy wasn't really supposed to be investigating anything more interesting than roach invasions. I would like to see more about Yancy in the near future!

This is a slightly edited version of the review I posted on Goodreads after reading it in July:

Hiaasen delivers his usual mix of conmen, greedy dudes, and connivers along with a few people trying to do the right thing.
As always these people cross paths with amusing (sometimes hilarious) results and in the end, the bad guys always get their due.
I can't rate this one as high as other Hiaasen books because it didn't have the laugh out loud humor of some of his earlier works. It must be hard to constantly come up with situations that funny.
And I think the monkey of the title added nothing to the story.
Still, any Hiaasen book is a hoot and a great change of pace from darker, more serious mysteries and thrillers.

To answer your questions, Anne:
I had mixed feelings about the neighbor. It was his land to do with as he pleased but to not take Yancy's concerns into consideration was selfish.
The subplots didn't bother me.

Dave wrote: "This is a slightly edited version of the review I posted on Goodreads after reading it in July:

Hiaasen delivers his usual mix of conmen, greedy dudes, and connivers along with a few people trying..."

The subplots didn't bother me either, I think it added to the story.
A lot of people build big homes and don't consider their neighbors concerns. Sometimes it's all about the money. The view in my part of Florida is spectacular and I can only imagine the view that Yancy had.

I just started this. I love mysteries with humor and I loved the other Hiaason books I have read so I expect I will love this too.

I was anxious to read this book because I heard good things about the author. I have to admit I've only read about 25% of the book, but I don't like it. The characters are shallow, story line is weird and I haven't read anything funny yet. I breezed through the rest of the book and decided not to finish.

Sorry you didn't like it Evelyn.

I have to say I am enjoying it, but I like weird. Yes it is shallow but I wasn't expecting anything deep.

My only complaint thus far are the names. Yancy? Plover? Terrible. Spillwright? HA. I've decided he's having fun with the names.

My favorite Hiaasen book is "Skintight," but I think "Bad Monkey" is my second favorite. I thought it had some really funny scenes. I'd like to see some more of Yancy, also. :-)

Finished this today and it is the first Hiassen book I have read. I enjoyed the humor and how the subplots all wove together. I've actually recommended that my husband read this, so I'm looking forward to hearing his review.

I have about 100 pages left. Really enjoying this. I like humor in my books so it is right up my alley.

The plot twist was good and the book was nominated in the Humor category and deserves it too!!! :) Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This is a really enjoyable book. I found it hard to put down. The mystery makes me curious enough, the humour makes me smile often.

I have one chapter left. I know, stopping that close to the end is unbelievable but I was really tired. I really like this book. I haven't read him since high school. It is nice to know that he is still churning out some fun, interesting reds.

He even managed to surprise me. I figured N.S. AKA Grunion was dead and his wife and a boyfriend did it.

I am going to have to start reading him again.

I'm listening to the audiobook. I think this book has slow, convoluted parts and very intereresting parts. Just when I am going to give up, it gets interesting again. Still have another 5 hours or so left.

Finished the book tonight. Love how everything tied up. Honestly, with all the convolutions, this was a mystery cozy but geared towards men.

Geared towards men? Really interesting idea there. I do think it definitely rather masculine in its story telling.

I think the small bits of sex and swearing would disqualify this book from being considered a cozy.

I loved how the main character was a "normal" type of guy, with his distaste for his job and his neighbor. As for the N.S. character, I was all over the place. I thought for sure that the wife was the culprit, but I never guessed the real scenario until I actually read it. I am usually very good at guessing the who-done-it stuff way before it is revealed.

Anne wrote: "I loved how the main character was a "normal" type of guy, with his distaste for his job and his neighbor. As for the N.S. character, I was all over the place. I thought for sure that the wife was ..."

SAME!!! Don't you just love it when you are surprised by a book? As I was reading that part I actually said, "I'll be damned!"