TROPIC OF DECEIT

Debut thriller about a very irresponsible, very sexy young woman who drops in on her friend, the American consul, and changes the course of his career, local politics, and the social life on a backwater Caribbean island. Idle hands, etc. Nobody except the local crime boss has enough to do on tropical Navidad. Slowly rising young State Department fogy Jim Biggins spends his time approving visas and padding his paunch. The CIA station chief spends his time tut-tutting about liberal reforms. The natives nap. Then, about the time the corpse of a young American is found by the side of a road where he appears to have been run over by a truck but was, in fact, not, Miss Bobbi Lyons, Biggins's semi-truthful former colleague from his previous publishing existence, seeks Jim's protection, having fled the lustful approaches of a yachtsman from whom she has bummed a ride. Bobbi bums rides everywhere. People can't say no to her, even though they might like to. Jim certainly can't say no to her moving in on him, even though he can expect no quid for his quo. Biggins's quiet life is over. Bobbi, to Jim's considerable surprise, crawls into his bed, and then, to his great chagrin, worms her way into his professional life and the investigation of the death of the young American, which is connected to the mysterious nighttime activities of the local criminal strongman, who's being investigated by the CIA for his involvement with the local Cuban spy chief, who may or may not be crooked. Every bit of mischief is interrelated. It is, after all, a very small island. Witty, stylish, smart thriller, with far more than its share of splendidly drawn characters.