Key West Mysteries Books in Order
Part ofLaurence Shames Books in OrderExplore the Key West Mysteries by Laurence Shames in order, with short plot summaries and guidance on how to start reading these funny island crime capers.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
19 books
Florida Straits
by Laurence Shames
1992
Low level New York mob gofer Joey Goldman bolts for Key West with his girlfriend, hoping to reinvent himself as a big time gangster. When half brother Gino arrives with stolen emeralds and furious rivals, Joey must finally grow a spine or go under.
Scavenger Reef
by Laurence Shames
1994
When painter Augie Silver disappears in a Key West boating accident, his friends mourn him and watch the value of his work soar. Then Augie limps back to town, and someone starts trying to kill him for real, forcing the whole bohemian circle to choose sides.
Sunburn
by Laurence Shames
1995
A lifetime of secrets is crushing aging godfather Vincente Delgatto, so son Joey arranges a tell all memoir with a naive local editor. As the project spooks mobsters, law enforcement, and jealous heirs, loyalties fray and the family business turns very dangerous, very fast.
Tropical Depression
by Laurence Shames
1996
Depressed bra magnate Murray Zemelman walks away from his New Jersey life and heads to Key West in search of meaning. Teaming up with Native American fishing guide Tommy Tarpon on a tribal casino plan, he collides with crooked politicians, mob bosses, and his unresolved first marriage.
Virgin Heat
by Laurence Shames
1997
Angelina Amaro, daughter of a Brooklyn mob boss, secretly loves Sal Martucci, the man who informed against her father. When she spots Sal tending bar in a Key West home video, she chases him south, setting off a chaotic mix of romance, revenge, and family payback.
Mangrove Squeeze
by Laurence Shames
1998
Former Wall Street deal maker Aaron Katz buys a crumbling Key West guesthouse, dreaming of a slower life. Ambitious ad seller Suki Sperakis instead uncovers a Russian mob racket hidden behind tourist T shirt shops, and soon she, Aaron, and his eccentric father are running for their lives.
Welcome to Paradise
by Laurence Shames
1999
Furniture salesman Al Tuschman wins a Key West vacation at the Paradise Hotel, only to discover it is a barely disguised nudist resort. Worse, two dimwitted hit men mistake him for a mobster nicknamed Big Al, turning his prize trip into a weeklong, increasingly dangerous prank.
The Naked Detective
by Laurence Shames
2000
Early retired Pete Amsterdam lives quietly in Key West with a sham private eye license he uses as a tax dodge. When a mysterious blond visitor turns up dead after begging for help, he is forced into real sleuthing amid bartenders, thugs, and a very literal paper trail.
Shot on Location
by Laurence Shames
2013
A hit reality show brings a Hollywood production to the Keys, complete with a tantrum prone star, an exhausted showrunner, and a bitter ghostwriter. When insurance scams, stunts, and mob money intersect, locals like Bert the Shirt help keep the whole shoot from ending in disaster.
Chickens
by Laurence Shames
2014
In this short Key West story, a furious neighborhood rooster squares off against retired gangster Bert the Shirt and his undersized chihuahua. What starts as a noisy nuisance becomes a small, funny lesson in fear, pride, and the courage it takes to stand your ground.
Tropical Swap
by Laurence Shames
2014
Manhattan couple Meg and Peter Kaplan swap their apartment for a Key West house with a pool, expecting a lazy escape from winter. Instead they inherit a panicked low level mobster, coconut delivered death threats, nosy neighbors, and a mounting suspicion that their home exchange could be fatal.
Key West Luck
by Laurence Shames
2015
Fresh from prison after playing the wrong kind of girlfriend, Phoebe Goodyear lands in Key West determined to make a go of a shabby sno cone truck. When a sleazy lender threatens to repossess it, she and musician Nicky Angelo bumble into the cross hairs of rival crime bosses.
One Big Joke
by Laurence Shames
2017
Out of work television writer Lenny Sullivan flees New York for Key West to recharge at his friend Pat's struggling comedy club. When a ruthless investor and a pair of bumbling mobsters move to burn the place down, Lenny and ninety something Bert the Shirt improvise a rescue.
One Strange Date
by Laurence Shames
2017
Renita Daughtry is young, romantic, and seemingly easy to fool, which makes her a tempting mark for professional liar Richie Pestucci. As their cat and mouse courtship deepens, friends and family, including a devoted twin brother and Bert the Shirt, scramble to keep the game from turning deadly.
Nacho Unleashed
by Laurence Shames
2019
Nacho, a tiny but fearless chihuahua, adores his master Bert the Shirt and falls hard for wisecracking newcomer Rita Janneau. When Rita's bartending job at a waterfront rum distillery exposes a shady operation and a reclusive scientist, Nacho becomes the unlikely hero who has to save her.
The Paradise Gig
by Laurence Shames
2020
In 1964 the Beatles briefly land in Key West, play an unannounced hotel bar set, and somehow misplace a notebook full of songs. Decades later a kidnapped yogi, an eager singer, and a trail of bodies convince Bert the Shirt that the long lost treasure has resurfaced.
Key West Normal
by Laurence Shames
2021
Two broke friends quietly tow away an abandoned hot dog truck, not realizing a sleepless New Yorker and a fortune in smuggled goods are hidden inside. As criminals close in, homeless philosopher Pineapple and aging mobster Bert the Shirt race to untangle the mess before anyone gets hurt.
Relative Humidity
by Laurence Shames
2023
Reluctant detective Pete Amsterdam is enjoying sunny idleness until his sharp tongued mother Gertie arrives in Key West and volunteers him to help charming Uncle Gianni. With pickleball pro Penelope Calabro in danger and a hit man circling, Pete leans on Bert, Nacho, and two food truck drifters.
Sunset Bluff
by Laurence Shames
2024
In Key West, two overworked ghostwriters meet in a bar and impulsively swap clients, one taking a gambling king's memoir, the other a book for a supposedly dead novelist. Their simple switch erupts into fraud, romance, and life threatening blowback from people who hate being rewritten.
Series background & context
The Key West Mysteries drop readers into a version of the island where sunburned tourists, New York mobsters, and local eccentrics crowd the same streets. Beginning with Florida Straits in the early 1990s, Laurence Shames uses crime as an excuse to explore what happens when people run away from their old lives and discover that their problems catch the same plane south.
The early books circle around Joey Goldman, the half Jewish, illegitimate son of a powerful mob boss who decamps from Queens with dreams of becoming his own kind of gangster. In Key West he finds that the numbers racket belongs to the Cubans, the garbage routes are locked up, and the island has its own rules. Instead of easy money he gets humbling day jobs, an on again, off again girlfriend, and unwanted visits from his terrifying father Vincente Delgatto and brutal half brother Gino.
Threading through Joey's misadventures is Bert the Shirt, a retired Brooklyn enforcer now enjoying late life in a white linen wardrobe with a succession of tiny, spoiled dogs. Bert acts as both comic relief and moral compass, the guy who understands exactly how dangerous the mob can be but also believes in small acts of bravery. His presence links many of the novels, from the art world satire of Scavenger Reef to the Key West casino scheme in Tropical Depression and the memoir plot of Sunburn.
Each book brings a new protagonist into the orbit of Key West's humidity and hustles. A depressed lingerie tycoon, a mob princess chasing a lost love, a Jersey salesman misidentified as a feared capo, an anxious ad rep who stumbles onto the Russian mafia, and even a reluctant private investigator all find themselves pushed beyond their comfort zones. Shames lets them make bad choices and worse lies, but he is less interested in hard boiled violence than in watching flawed people grope their way toward decency.
The island itself is a recurring character. Bars, marinas, rotting guesthouses, and palm shaded side streets form the backdrop for scams and schemes that could only work in a place a little removed from the mainland. Tropical weather, hurricanes, and the constant presence of tourists amplify the sense that normal rules have been suspended. Underneath the jokes about dogs in sunglasses and lizards on porch railings, there is a real affection for a community made up of drifters, burnouts, dreamers, and locals who have decided that the end of the road is far enough.
Later entries in the sequence expand the canvas with film crews, home exchange disasters, talking chihuahuas, and musicians chasing one last shot at fame, but the emotional core stays the same. People arrive in Key West looking to escape debt, family, or the law, and wind up tested by loyalty, love, and the question of what kind of life they really want.
Whether you start at the beginning with Florida Straits or jump in with a later caper, the books stand alone while quietly rewarding readers who notice returning faces and running gags. Expect crime played for laughs, suspense that never entirely overwhelms the warmth, and an ongoing argument that second chances can happen at any age if you are willing to sweat a little.
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