Books like Naked Came the Manatee by Carl Hiaasen

A friendship‑driven adventure in Florida that highlights environmental protection and the plight of owls.

Detective Andrew Yancy investigates a mysterious frozen arm in Florida, racing against time and eccentric suspects from Key West to the Bahamas in a crime‑packed, humorous thriller.

In Carl Hiaasen’s playful mystery, Honey Santana retorts to an obnoxious telemarketer by weaving a Florida real‑estate scheme that pulls in the agent’s mistress, Honey’s ex‑husband, and her 12‑year‑old son.

A rookie private eye in Florida’s Coon Bog hunts a killer amid a corrupt bass‑tournament, battling eccentric locals, murderous televangelists, and his own perilous past.

A radical group targets Florida’s tourism industry in a violent attempt to cleanse the state of greed and corruption, drawing a gritty detective narrative into the heart of Miami’s resort culture.

A topless dancer in South Florida teams up with a police officer to expose a blackmail scheme involving government officials.

Detective JJ Hooker and racer Barney Buck meet on a high‑speed adventure when a crashed NASCAR hauler contains a dead body and stolen cars. Their investigation takes them from hot Florida nights to North Carolina racing circuits.

A humorous thriller set in Florida where a motley crew—including a tree‑dwelling homeless man, a school‑squirt‑gun fighter, two real killers, and a terrorist with a suitcase bomb—get tangled in a chaotic, slapstick adventure.

A sharp-tongued thief, a washed-up detective, and a swindle so heinous it's best left unsaid.

A Palm Beach playboy, Warren "Chip" Ganz, holds a wealthy businessman hostage, only to confide in the shady bookmaker Harry Arno—an elusive scam artist being chased by a U.S. Marshal—setting up a high-stakes, gun‑fueled showdown.

After a career crash, investigative reporter Jack Tagger becomes an obituary writer in South Florida, yet his ambition drives him to solve the mysterious death of rock star Jimmy Stoma while battling jealous editors, a widow, and a ruthless editor-in-chief.

When a vacation in Florida turns into a crime‑filled escape, Wisconsinites Patrick and Barbara McDougal find themselves rescued by the charismatic, eccentric tour guide Serge Storms and plunge into a wild, comedic adventure.

Ex‑muckraking reporter turned PR man at the Amazing Kingdom theme park must recover stolen blue‑tongued mango voles before a darker mystery unfolds.

A satirical thriller set after Hurricane Andrew, where Florida is raided by insurance swindlers and a former governor rallies against them.

Former Florida police chief turned CIA operative Holly Barker joins a special task force to hunt serial killer Teddy Fay, who stalks political targets. When she confronts him, a frantic chase through Manhattan ensues.

A mother manatee and her little calf travel from the Gulf of Mexico through dangerous water full of speeding boats.

An older widow in a Miami condominium discovers new friends and unexpected adventures, forcing her to confront her past and redefine her independence after her husband's death.

Ah, Florida: sun, surf, sand, South Beach, and senior citizens. That's about it, right? Well, no, not exactly. Florida is also one of the best places to chart your weirdest travel destinations. And who better to chronicle this state's fabled places, roadside wonders, bizarre beasts, and downright peculiar people than Charlie Carlson, a tenth-generation Floridian. All who know Charlie can testify that he is one very strange dude and the perfect person to steer you to Florida's best-kept secrets and oddest legends. Mosquito netting in place and notepad in hand, Charlie has waddled through swamps, trekked the lesser-traveled roads, and visited the weirder destinations of our country's only peninsula state. Looking for the odd and the offbeat, he found them everywhere. He has tracked down impossible-to-believe tales that had just enough truth in them to create the same uneasiness a gator sighting would. Whether it's the Skunk Ape, the Devil's Chair of Cassadaga, or the She-Man of the Caloosahatchee River, Charlie presents it here for you, our fellow admirers of the weird. So act like a tourist and start browsing. You'll be entranced with the beer-can car, the tombstone for Pearl ("I told you I was sick") Roberts, the Blue Heaven Rooster Graveyard, the Devil Tree, the bowling-ball house, Catalina's ghost, the Mafia House, and Xanadu, the abandoned and neglected house of the future. Read all about the Wizard of Central Florida and Count Von Cosel and his immortal love. It's all here. It's all for you. It's all...very weird. A brand-new entry in the best-selling *Weird U.S.* series, *Weird Florida* is packed with all the info about the Sunshine State that your history teacher never taught you. So travel down our state's highways and byways with your tour guide, Mr. Charlie. It's a great adventure. And we promise: it's a journey you'll never forget.

A town clerk's investigation of a murder that could clear a political scandal.