Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen *****

Jimmy Stoma, front man for Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, an 80s rock band, died while diving in Bahamas. Jack Tagger, reporter for the Union-Register, has been banished to the obituary page, for reasons too convoluted to report here. Cleo Rio, Jimmy's widow famous for a single MTV video featuring her pubic hair, didn't mourn enough for Jack's sensibilities. So Jack, his boss Emma, and Jimmy's sister Janet band together to get Cleo for murder. On Cleo's team is "record producer" Loreal with tresses down to his waist, and Jerry, who lost an eye in a fight with a dead monitor lizard named "Colonel Tom" - again too convoluted to report at length.

This gives you a sense of Basket Case by Carl Hiaason. Deep inside this fantastic novel, the author lets his inspiration slip out - Fargo. Yes that's it: senseless crime performed by idiots and out of control with mayhem beyond any rational expectations with results that would be pitiful and pathetic, were it not for the string of corpses that pile up along the way.

The only thing that slows down the pace of this page-turner is the delays for hilarious laughter and dumbfounded head scratching.