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An Alex Rutledge Mystery #5
Air Dance Iguana
Lately, Key West is not quite the laid back place that occasional freelance crime-scene-photographer Alex Rutledge prefers. It's bad enough that the discovery of two dead ex-Navy men one morning--both found swinging on boat lifts twenty miles apart--means grisly work at the indecent hour of 7AM. It's worse that Alex's run-in with a chest-thumping new deputy turns out to have ominous consequences when his wayward younger brother turns up in town...and becomes the prime suspect.
Alex knows Tim has messed up his life, but he just can't believe his brother is a killer. As Alex digs deeper, he starts to make connections the cops have missed--but he's baffled when he finds one of the deceased owns a picture of a young girl who turned to Alex for help many years ago. And when a third man is found swinging on the docks, he knows time is running out for his brother. But what he doesn't know is that facing the killer may turn out to be the least of his problems...
Alex knows Tim has messed up his life, but he just can't believe his brother is a killer. As Alex digs deeper, he starts to make connections the cops have missed--but he's baffled when he finds one of the deceased owns a picture of a young girl who turned to Alex for help many years ago. And when a third man is found swinging on the docks, he knows time is running out for his brother. But what he doesn't know is that facing the killer may turn out to be the least of his problems...
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
23 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Tom Corcoran
70 books102 followersThere is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Tom Corcoran first moved to Florida in 1970. He has been a disc jockey, bartender, AAA travel counselor, U. S. Navy officer, screenwriter, freelance photographer, automotive magazine editor, computer graphic artist, and journalist.
Tom Corcoran first moved to Florida in 1970. He has been a disc jockey, bartender, AAA travel counselor, U. S. Navy officer, screenwriter, freelance photographer, automotive magazine editor, computer graphic artist, and journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 22, 2018
The most horrible book I've read in a long time. The author is obsessed with painting a picture that doesn't need to be painted. The book moves at a snail's pace, by the time the action rolled around (page 250 of 280ish), I was so over the book I was skimming.
There are too many characters and every single one of them is unlikable. The protagonist is a smug, pretentious photographer who just so happens to be the smartest person on Key West. Oh and every cop is a bumbling moron. 1/10.
There are too many characters and every single one of them is unlikable. The protagonist is a smug, pretentious photographer who just so happens to be the smartest person on Key West. Oh and every cop is a bumbling moron. 1/10.
July 16, 2021
A nice guy in the Keys had his bad brother show up. About the time his brother comes to town, people started dying, and hanging from the davits in their yards. There is a clue - an engraved lighter with initials. This guy is a photographer and the police chief keeps calling him to come photograph these killings. If you know the Keys well, you might love it. He is always telling you what Key he is near or what Key he is headed for. It is a nice quick mystery, but very entertaining for those who know and love the area. Corcoran is famous for things other that writing a book. His photos have been on 7 Jimmy Buffet albums and he co-wrote "Fins." For those things, I gave him an extra star.
February 22, 2019
This is the first Corcoran novel that I have read. While I enjoyed reading it, I felt that the story would appeal more to a male audience. Living in the Florida Keys, I have seen many colorful characters. Too bad they are disappearing from Marathon, but I think that Key West still has enough to make Me Corcoran's books believable.
January 1, 2026
Another great page-turner from Corcoran! He just really does a great job of pulling together numerous plot lines and delivering a truly satisfying conclusion. This one also had a great “Wait, that’s _______?!?” Throw in the wonderful and faithfully presented Keys locales and characters and I’m just sorry to know there’s only a limited number of Alex Rutledge stories left for me to read.
April 27, 2018
Keys craziness with hometown feel brings back the past amid the bustling tourist life.
June 16, 2018
Found the book an okay read. It came in a box that was given to me. I decided to read it because it is set in Florida where I live.
May 31, 2022
Excellent book…first Alex Rutledge I’ve read….a bit confusing keeping all the names straight, but a good story and ending…
June 2, 2017
Registered on Bookcrossing - http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...
Another great book in the Alex Rutledge mystery series. I love this series and now I want to live in Key West.
Another great book in the Alex Rutledge mystery series. I love this series and now I want to live in Key West.
April 19, 2021
Photographer Alex Rutledge thinks he’s finally going to have some down time. He’s rented his house on Key West to a friend and will housesit at another where he’ll have peace and quiet. The night before he’s due to leave, the phone rings bringing trouble. Alex’s brother Tim is in town, drunk, and unruly. The cops are doing Alex a favor by letting him pick him up rather than throwing him in jail. Eight years earlier Alex had kicked Tim out of Key West for all the trouble and people he had pissed off.
In the morning, Rutledge is called to photograph a crime scene: a man known as Kansas Jack is hanging from a davit. As soon as he finishes, Sheriff “Chicken Neck” Liska sends Alex to another crime scene where a man known as Milton Navarre is also found hanging from a davit. This scene is supervised by Detective Millican who doesn’t want a civilian on his crime scene, yet he allows Rutledge enough access to give Liska what he wants: a feel for the crime scene. As Rutledge finally leaves on vacation, he literally drives by an accident and is waved down by a deputy. Yet one more body hung from a davit. Lucky Haskins was not lucky hanging from his davit. Alex is even more curious when a new detective shows up at the scene, hired just that week. What was up with Liska that he didn’t want to be involved with these crime scenes?
Later the next day Detective Millican drove up to Alex’s temporary home and tried to beat answers out of him. Seems there was some funny credit card shenanigans at a gas station a couple of nights ago caught on tape, but it was Tim not Alex, who did the dirty work. Millican wouldn’t buy it, and in questioning Alex cuffed in the backseat of his car, Millican causes an accident. Alex was bruised pretty badly and put up in a local hotel rather than the hospital at his insistence until he could heal enough to return home. Alex just does not believe his brother could commit murder.
Current girlfriend and cop Bobbi Lewis and Alex seem to mix their professional and personal lives fairly well, but even that was tenuous right now. Alex ends up dealing with several of his past girlfriends in this volume, sometimes all at once. There is no time for it to feel awkward because by then, they have solved the mystery of the davit hangings.
This multi-faceted case involved many people from years past with hopes that facts would stay buried in the past, yet they were bubbling up all around Key West. The book is intricate with many clues and twists. Rutledge takes us along with him every step of the way explaining each clue as it is revealed to him.
I especially enjoyed the ride until the ultimate conclusion is reached, one I never expected yet one that made perfect sense. This book truly represents a big step forward in Tom Corcoran’s writing. The book is tighter, better, and more complex. I hope Alex continues his Key West antics but finally gets that rest and relaxation he so deserves.
In the morning, Rutledge is called to photograph a crime scene: a man known as Kansas Jack is hanging from a davit. As soon as he finishes, Sheriff “Chicken Neck” Liska sends Alex to another crime scene where a man known as Milton Navarre is also found hanging from a davit. This scene is supervised by Detective Millican who doesn’t want a civilian on his crime scene, yet he allows Rutledge enough access to give Liska what he wants: a feel for the crime scene. As Rutledge finally leaves on vacation, he literally drives by an accident and is waved down by a deputy. Yet one more body hung from a davit. Lucky Haskins was not lucky hanging from his davit. Alex is even more curious when a new detective shows up at the scene, hired just that week. What was up with Liska that he didn’t want to be involved with these crime scenes?
Later the next day Detective Millican drove up to Alex’s temporary home and tried to beat answers out of him. Seems there was some funny credit card shenanigans at a gas station a couple of nights ago caught on tape, but it was Tim not Alex, who did the dirty work. Millican wouldn’t buy it, and in questioning Alex cuffed in the backseat of his car, Millican causes an accident. Alex was bruised pretty badly and put up in a local hotel rather than the hospital at his insistence until he could heal enough to return home. Alex just does not believe his brother could commit murder.
Current girlfriend and cop Bobbi Lewis and Alex seem to mix their professional and personal lives fairly well, but even that was tenuous right now. Alex ends up dealing with several of his past girlfriends in this volume, sometimes all at once. There is no time for it to feel awkward because by then, they have solved the mystery of the davit hangings.
This multi-faceted case involved many people from years past with hopes that facts would stay buried in the past, yet they were bubbling up all around Key West. The book is intricate with many clues and twists. Rutledge takes us along with him every step of the way explaining each clue as it is revealed to him.
I especially enjoyed the ride until the ultimate conclusion is reached, one I never expected yet one that made perfect sense. This book truly represents a big step forward in Tom Corcoran’s writing. The book is tighter, better, and more complex. I hope Alex continues his Key West antics but finally gets that rest and relaxation he so deserves.
June 8, 2015
Corcoran brings back Key West freelance photographer Alex Rutledge for his fifth turn as an accidental private investigator. His listening and observation skills honed in living on the keys for several decades provide him with an ability and aptitude for curiosity that well suits him for his amateur pursuit. (If this paragraph sounds familiar, see my review of Backstabber: A Hitchcock Sewell Mystery by Tim Cockey, which I read just before this and found strikingly similar in style and series cadence).
In this outing Rutledge is bedeviled by his ne'er-do-well brother, who ends up accused of a pair of revenge hangings, shortly before a third raises our hero's question--answered by his intrepid newspaper report/friend--of how long its been since there were any such gruesome murders in Paradise. Rutledge scents out odd reactions among local law enforcement, and in his laid-back Island style ends up putting himself in danger's way several times, and ends up solving the case, but not before one last imbroglio that nearly leaves him, well, hanging.
I've never been to Key West except in a Jimmy Buffett song, but Corcoran's word pictures evoke both its awe and awfulness through the lens of a long time resident. Iguana is fun, fast, and as comfortable as a blown-out flipflop.
In this outing Rutledge is bedeviled by his ne'er-do-well brother, who ends up accused of a pair of revenge hangings, shortly before a third raises our hero's question--answered by his intrepid newspaper report/friend--of how long its been since there were any such gruesome murders in Paradise. Rutledge scents out odd reactions among local law enforcement, and in his laid-back Island style ends up putting himself in danger's way several times, and ends up solving the case, but not before one last imbroglio that nearly leaves him, well, hanging.
I've never been to Key West except in a Jimmy Buffett song, but Corcoran's word pictures evoke both its awe and awfulness through the lens of a long time resident. Iguana is fun, fast, and as comfortable as a blown-out flipflop.
August 13, 2007
AIR DANCE IGUANA (Amateur Sleuth-Florida Keys-Cont) – Ok
Corcoran, Tom – 5th in series
St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2005- Paperback
*** Florida Keys resident Alex Rutledge is a photographer and, lately, a police photographer. There hasn’t been a hanging on the Keys in thirty years and, suddenly, there are two and maybe three. The odd thing is that Alex, rather than a policeman, was the only one at all three crime scenes and he’s having a hard time convincing the police the three crimes are not suicide and are related. His problems increase when his older brother, who looks almost like Alex but has a less than clean record, comes to town and becomes a suspect.
*** I enjoyed the setting of the Florida Keys and, to me, it was one of the most interesting parts of the book. The plot was improbable that, even with so many jurisdictions, the police work could be that sloppy and that Alex could come up with information and connections the police couldn’t. But that’s my problem with most stories whose protagonists are amateur sleuths. Still, I enjoyed the characters, the dialogue and the setting. It wasn’t a great book, but it was an okay read.
Corcoran, Tom – 5th in series
St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2005- Paperback
*** Florida Keys resident Alex Rutledge is a photographer and, lately, a police photographer. There hasn’t been a hanging on the Keys in thirty years and, suddenly, there are two and maybe three. The odd thing is that Alex, rather than a policeman, was the only one at all three crime scenes and he’s having a hard time convincing the police the three crimes are not suicide and are related. His problems increase when his older brother, who looks almost like Alex but has a less than clean record, comes to town and becomes a suspect.
*** I enjoyed the setting of the Florida Keys and, to me, it was one of the most interesting parts of the book. The plot was improbable that, even with so many jurisdictions, the police work could be that sloppy and that Alex could come up with information and connections the police couldn’t. But that’s my problem with most stories whose protagonists are amateur sleuths. Still, I enjoyed the characters, the dialogue and the setting. It wasn’t a great book, but it was an okay read.
April 21, 2012
I would be interested in reading more of this series. I kind of had some of the mystery figured out half way through so it was good that he threw some twists in there to keep me reading. The whole story took place in the Florida Keys and at times it felt like he was writing just for the residents of that area, but I got it...I used to live in a tourist area myself and understood where he was coming from.
February 28, 2008
Tis was an entertaining enough cozy mystery. Set in the Florida Keys, this is the 5th installement of the "Alex Rutledge" mysteries, but my first foray into Corcoran's work; this was an enjoyable yarn, with a well told plot and a great sense of place - I'll read others in this series if I find an opportunity.
August 6, 2014
Entertaining enough, Corcoran's prose is sometimes stiff and the dialog clanks as often as it chimes. Very good at creating characters, even the minor ones, and the plot only, occasionally, seemed silly and contrived. He certainly knows Key West. A little too well, sometimes. I didn't really need detailed descriptions of highways and byways.
Read
July 11, 2012Fun mystery to read, especially after finishing "Mile Marker Zero". Matching the scenes in the book to Key West, and then real Key West history from "Mile Marker Zero" to the scenes & events from Air Dance Iguana. Can't wait to read more of his books...
Read
August 9, 2016A photographer turned crime scene photo shoot? Well anything is possible in the Key West. Throw in a laid back Sheriff, a brother who lives a life of crime and the Navy and you get a somewhat good story. Not difficult to pick out the bad dude or dudes in this ok read.
Read
August 16, 2008Tom's my uncle. Enjoyed the book.
February 8, 2009
A great novel with the South Florida/Keys vibe that kept me reading. It was similar to a Hiaasen book.
August 11, 2012
I couldn't put this one down!
January 5, 2013
Corcoran's Rutledge is always fun...
May 6, 2013
I really liked it. Very entertaining.
September 17, 2013
fun read
January 30, 2014
enjoyable intrigue.
September 3, 2015
OK plot. Standard PI novel. The key West setting makes it enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews