Strip Tease

A strip-club dancer and a desperate single mother become entangled with a corrupt Florida congressman and his powerful sugar-industry backers — this is a crime plot built on blackmail, murder, and political corruption, so crime and a darker, satirical edge justify the dark-comedy/satire genre mix.

The tone is comic and satirical throughout, with Hiaasen's signature absurdism and wit, while the murder plot and blackmail add genuine tension.

Tropes: a murder-mystery core (the blackmailers are killed off one by one), a revenge arc (Erin and the detective closing in on Dilbeck), and a betrayal (Dilbeck's betrayal of his own interests for obsession), and a fish-out-of-water element as the detective's vacation is upended by the case.