Landini Cadence

Enjoy the dark side of paradise in Hal Howland's hilarious and heartwarming novella Landini Cadence. Cranky Key West detective Rich Castillo, who takes his girlfriend, Victoria Landini, and his music career as seriously as he does his day job, is handed nine murders connected by roadside sex and redneck religion. Victoria's family and the world's worst Christian rock band enliven this unflinching portrait of a desperate tourist town.

The novella Brice Miller's Notebooks eavesdrops on an Irish Key West writer trying her hand at erotica. Castillo investigates Key Westers in the sex trade who are dying in cleverly gruesome ways.

And in the short satire "Murder in the Percussion Section," someone is going around the country killing successful drummers, using vintage percussion accessories as weapons. An FBI agent partners with Castillo, whose drumming experience may help crack the case.