Ahoy there me mateys! This was another audiobook that I picked up because of a cat on the cover.

I am so glad I did. Nick and Marta are in a biology class taught by the dreaded Bunny Starch. She is feared by students and teachers alike. The class goes on a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp. A fire breaks out and the kids are evacuated but Bunny Starch doesn’t come out. Who started the fire? Where is their teacher? Is she dead or alive? Nick and Marta have to find out or an innocent student might end up behind bars!

This book was so funny and clever. The narration by Edward Asner was fabulous. The story has multiple viewpoints from the crazy people involved with the school and the case. The principal, the substitute teacher, and Smoke’s dad were me favourites. I personally enjoyed the first half of the book best. Once the mystery is “solved,” the story then becomes about protecting the environment and how to stop the bad guys. It wasn’t bad at all. It is just that in the first half, I had no idea where the plot was going to go. And that was fun!

It was a fantastic introduction to the author’s work and I will be reading other novels by him. Apparently he has 3 other books in this series. And a non-fiction book that makes golf sound interesting. Can’t wait.

Side note: The First Mate told me that Carl Hiaasen is an award winning journalist! I didn’t know that. The First Mate didn’t know that he wrote novels. Arrr!

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