It’s a treat for me to have New York Times bestselling author Laurence Shames as our guest in this episode of CrimeFiction.FM to discuss his new book, the eleventh in his wildly entertaining Key West Capers series,  KEY WEST LUCK.

We also spend time chatting about some of the other books in the series and wrap up by attempting to clear up the mystery of Larry’s dozen year “ghost” period.

I’ve been a fan of this funny, character driven quasi-series since the mid-1990s. It’s not a series in the traditional sense of a mystery series, but there are returning characters and a setting that readers are anxious to revisit to as each new book is released.

Notes from the Laurence Shames Interview

• We discuss the Key West Caper series from Laurence Shames, which began with FLORIDA STRAITS in 1992.
• We consider the elements that make these books a series that readers can enjoy in any order they please.
• Larry lived in Key West during the 1990s and uses a “romanticized, funkified” version of his days in Key West as the setting for the series.
• We discuss the importance of characters in the books of Laurence Shames and he shares the story of the two leads in KEY WEST LUCK.
• The series had a decade-plus hiatus that ended in 2013 with the publication of SHOT ON LOCATION, the 9th book in the series. Larry explains why and what brought him back to the series.

From the Publisher:

Sometimes small dreams are the ones most worth fighting for…

Phoebe has a dream—a very modest dream. She wants to own a Sno-Cone truck at the beach in Key West. Nicky, her would-be boyfriend, also dreams small. All he wants is a decent gig as a guitar player in a bar.

Doesn’t seem like too much to ask of life, does it?

So why do things keep going so dreadfully wrong for Phoebe and Nicky? Is it just plain bad luck? Or is it the decidedly bad intentions of a sleazy local cheat, a Miami gangster desperate to stay in business, and a murderous Cuban smuggler looking for a fall guy?

Against these enemies, and with only a pair of mangrove-dwelling philosophers and an ancient Mafioso as allies, Phoebe and Nicky will need more than a major shift in fortune to keep their hopes, and themselves, alive. They’ll need a kind of smarts and courage they never knew they had.

Lush with Florida atmosphere, deftly balancing suspense and comedy, romance and mayhem, KEY WEST LUCK will leave you cheering for the exploits of its unlikely heroes.

Links

Purchase KEY WEST LUCK at Amazon

Author’s Website www.laurenceshames.com

Please note that Amazon links are affiliate links. You’ll pay the same price for anything you order, but CrimeFiction.FM will earn a small commission.

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