"To Dr. Michael Pembroke fell the task of dissecting the body of Robert Clinch.
The weight of this doleful assignment was almost unbearable because Dr. Pembroke by training was not a coroner, but a clinical pathologist. He addressed warts, cysts, tumors, and polyps with ease and certitude, but corpses terrified him, as did forensics in general." Chapter 2, pg. 17

"The thirty-acre cemetery was known as Our Lady of Tropicana, since it had been carved out of a moribund citrus grove." Chapter 4, pg. 41

"Decker honked twice as he drove up to Skink's shack. Short, polite honks. The last thing he wanted to do was surprise a man in a shooting mood." Chapter 5, pg. 49

"The possibility of being murdered over a dead fish did not appeal to R.J. Decker's sense of adventure. He had photographed men who had died for less, and many who had died for more. Over the...