Tubby Dubonnet, the raffish, slightly bemused Big Easy lawyer is back in another spicy bayou stew of Southern damsels in distress and sleazy New Orleans politicians. Tubby's about to become a grandfather, but it's no standard midlife crisis that has him sipping a few too many old-fashioneds and letting his practice languish. He's depressed by the death of his best friend in a shootout for which he feels responsible, and he's determined to find the killers and make them pay for their crime. The trail leads to a corrupt sheriff, a hooker with the proverbial golden heart, and a mother-loving murderer. While Tubby sets up a sting to reel the bad guys in--a worthless franchise for a women's boxing league--he also helps out an old friend's reelection campaign. As usual, Tony Dunbar covers local politics with his trademarked waggish humor. The crayfish boil featuring an out-of-control float, complete with a massacre by three Vietnamese waiters bent on their own vengeance, is worth its weight in fake jewels--which, incidentally, also figure in the plot. Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen fans will see the ending coming, but it won't matter a bit. And faithful series readers will delight in Tubby's sixth wacky adventure. --Jane Adams

Genre: Mystery