"It's only when the rich are sick that they feel the impotence of wealth." Franklin

"Sick Puppy" is not only a story of greedy politicians and builders who are destroying Florida's natural beauty, it's a story packed with colorful characters and wacky incidents.

Twilly Spree is a wealthy environmentalist who notices a person who we learn is Palmer Stoat, constantly disregarding the Florida landscape by throwing his gargage out of his car window. Twilly's reaction is to follow the car and when the driver is in a restaurant, to dump a truck' filled with garbage into the open convertable.

When this doesn't get his message of the results of inappropriately throwing garbage where it doesn't belong, Twilly escalates his tactics. In doing this, he meets Stoat's wife and she informs him that her husband in in the midst of working a deal to bulldoze an island that is filled with trees and animals, just to build a golf corse. The project is designed to enrich a builder who contributed to the governor's campaign, as well as benefiting her husband.

The characters were richly drawn and easy to imagine as was the unusual situations that they get into.

Hiasson plays with the reader and gives an amusing tale that is vastly entertaining. This is a good murder mystery mixed with humor.