Book 5 in the Dan Coast series by Rodney Riesel is Double Trouble. Dan starts out doing a divorce case with the help of his friend Red (who still has to drive him around until he gets his license back after a DUI). They are discovered snooping, and have to make tracks.

Then Dan’s dog finds a body buried in the sand in front of his Key West house. Dan calls the police, but leaves the scene, and when the cops get there the body has vanished.

That mystery is explained (partly) when a man shows up looking for his missing sister. He had come to the Keys with his twin brother, who has also disappeared. Dan recognizes him as the spitting image of the guy in the sand. The surviving brother hires Dan to help him find the sister.

I keep complaining about the writing in the Dan Coast series, but then I keep buying the books. So they can’t be that bad. I still have some trouble with the tone – it alternates between buffoonery and deep tragedy. Often the characters don’t seem to be realistically affected by death, even deaths of people close to them. Author Riesel seems to have trouble hitting any notes in between Bottom and Othello. It can be disorienting for the reader.

Also, the big surprise in the book was kind of a chestnut. I saw it coming a mile off.

But I’m continuing reading the series. Cautions for language, inappropriate jokes, and misspelling.