This is a story about unlikable people doing really dumb things. Extraordinarily dumb things. I mean, I know it's set in Florida and all, but even for Floridians, these are remarkedly dumb things.
No way am I reading another book in this series. ( )

great fun! I will definitely read the rest in the series ... ( )

My first Hoke book, though I have read a few other earlier Willefords. Hoke is indeed a fine creation... all kinds of personal problems (no money from divorce, false teeth flying away all the time, not always right about things) but dogged. This is the story of the ex-con from California taking off for Miami and immediately killing a Hare Krishna by breaking his finger at the airport (Krishna had offended him by putting a flower in his expensive stolen jacket). Of course he immediately stumbles across the dead man's hooker sister (huh? how is that possible- give me a break, Mr. Willeford)? They settle down to a contended semi platonic marriage. Hoke is on their trail, of course. I do like the direct, non thinking (psychopathic?) thinking of the criminal and yes there are deaths and it all works out well in the end. The plot: ridiculous. the characters: great. the setting: good. ( )

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2022-04.html#willeford ( )

I picked this book up the last time I bought some used paperbacks from a Salvation Army bookshop in my town. I hadn't heard of Charles Willeford or realised that this was the first book in the Hoke Moseley series so I got lucky there. I was drawn to the book for one reason only, the cover. It immediately stood out from the rest of the generally bland looking covers and it perfectly sums up when and where the book is set, Miami in the 1980's. The synopsis seems a bit mad and the sort of thing that I would find entertaining so I decided it was worth a shot.

The story starts by introducing us to Freddy Frenger (Junior) who has recently been released from a stint in prison. He decides to head to Miami with nothing to his name except some stolen credit cards and his criminal skills. Due to his time inside he also owns a strong body, built over many hours spent in the prison gym. As soon as he steps off the plane he commits his first two crimes, a theft and the unintentional murder of a Hare Krishna. It's fair to say that Junior is a pretty insane character who doesn't really care about the repercussions of his actions. Hoke Moseley is the policeman landed with the responsibility of solving the killing and this sets him on a collision course with Junior.

Added into this mix is Susan, the sister of the dead Hare Krishna and a part time hooker. Junior and Susan form a very strange and unlikely partnership, with Junior being the dominant member of the partnership. Throughout the book Susan comes across as more than a bit dim-witted but towards the end of the book I felt that she wasn't as much of an airhead as we first assume. Hoke is a pretty down-trodden police detective who is living the life of a pauper due to medical bills and alimony. He is a fairly typical hard-boiled cop although he certainly isn't a tough man and as a result we see no heroics from him at all.

I quite enjoyed this book but I did find some of the asides in the story a bit off-putting. I found it easy to read and it didn't take me long to read. It was nice to read a noir type police book set somewhere other than L.A. The climate in Miami gives the book quite a different feel to a lot of noir and it was something that took me by surprise. I will keep an eye out for the next book in the series and other works by Willeford as I found his writing entertaining. ( )