When a six-foot tiki statue "walks away" from a Florida retirement home, ex-corporate executive turned private investigator Gumbo Malone thinks he's dealing with simple theft. He's wrong. Dead wrong.

Welcome to Cedar Key, Florida, where the weird is normal and the normal is nowhere to be found. Private investigator Gumbo Malone lives on a boat, hunts missing flamingo lawn ornaments, and expects to spend his days photographing cheating spouses. Instead, every bizarre mystery in the Sunshine State shows up at his floating office door.

This time, it's a "walking" tiki statue.

Big Kahuna, a priceless 1947 Polynesian artifact, vanishes overnight from the Sunset Palms retirement community. Elderly witnesses swear they watched the six-foot wooden statue stroll across the courtyard at dawn, heading for the canal like he had somewhere important to be. The security cameras show nothing. The police find no evidence. But the residents are convinced: Big Kahuna walked away to find his "tiki family."

What starts as retirement home drama becomes a federal case involving:

• Insurance fraud with remote-controlled puppetry
• A $50 million international art theft ring
• Hawaiian cultural artifacts stolen from museums
• A wealthy collector with multiple identities
• Federal investigators tracking decades of cultural crimes
• Mysterious "accidents" that might be ancient curses
• A nephew whose inheritance schemes backfire spectacularly

Gumbo's investigation uncovers a network of dealers, forgers, and collectors who've been systematically looting Pacific cultural treasures for thirty years. From tiki bars to federal raids, from retirement home politics to international art crime, Gumbo navigates a case where everyone has secrets and nothing is what it seems.

Join Gumbo Malone as he proves that in Florida, even the lawn ornaments have secrets.

Another book in the acclaimed Gumbo Malone Mystery Series. Each book stands alone, but once you meet Gumbo, you'll want to solve every weird case Florida has to offer.