The Man Who Invented Florida (Dead Letter Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Randy Wayne White (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dead Letter Mysteries | Publication Date: March 15, 1997

When solitary marine biologist Doc Ford focused his telescope on the woman in the white boat, he didn't know his life was about to be capsized: that his conniving uncle Tucker Gatrell would discover the Fountain of Youth, that The National Enquirer would write about it, and that the law would beat down his door in search of three missing men.

But Doc Ford is about to find these things out-- the hard way. Because in the shadowy world of Southwest Florida, where gators yawn, cattle craze, and Indian bones are buried, mysteries great and small have found the man to solve them...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the third Doc Ford adventure, White again seamlessly splices an offbeat west coast of Florida locale with even more offbeat inhabitants. Principal among them is Doc Ford, who operates a small biological-supply business from a lab in his stilt-supported house. Lately, Doc has tried to control his telescope viewing of a tanned, red-haired woman who skinny-dips off an offshore sailboat and to limit his beer intake to four a day. While trying to be patient with his hippie pal Thomlinson, who drops by to expound on many topics, Doc reluctantly gets involved with his Uncle Tucker, who lives up the coast in Mango. Tuck has discovered a well of healing water on his land that he claims is responsible for his old gelded horse's newly grown testicles. Smuggled into a local rest home, the water has dramatically revived the moribund sex life of his Native American buddy Joseph Egret. Tuck's trouble is his somewhat uncertain ownership of the land. While he importunes Doc for help, the local news focuses on the disappearance into the mangrove swamps of two government investigators and a much loathed TV fisherman. Like fellow Floridian Carl Hiaasen, White ( The Heat Islands ) is adept at weaving ecological concerns into an oddball narrative with no loss of steam. The fate of the three missing men, even by bizarre Florida crime fiction standards, is inspired.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Series veterans Marion "Doc" Ford and hippie friend Tomlinson ( Sanibel Flats , St. Martin's, 1990) become tangentially involved in the case of three men who go missing near Dinkin's Bay. The "victims" seem to have nothing in common except bad luck; their portion of a broader story melds with a mostly amusing plot dealing with the proposed government expansion of the Everglades National Park. White offers an eclectic vision of Florida with his laid-back prose but pays close attention to various "characters," especially Marion's braggart uncle. Upbeat, literate, fascinating, and clever: manna for deeper readers.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312953984
• ISBN-13: 978-0312953980
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Randy Wayne White is the author of sixteen previous Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction. He lives in an old house built on an Indian mound in Pineland, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different Doc Ford tale, February 14, 2004

By 

Chris Callahan (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Invented Florida (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

One reviewer posted that "even an average Doc Ford story is better than most". While that's certainly true, I'm not sure this is an "average" Doc Ford story--it's just different.

Because it's barely about Doc Ford. Oh sure he appears here and there and sort of rescues the situation at the end. But the story is really about Doc's uncle and his Indian friend/co hort.

Which by the way, does make this the funniest in the Doc Ford series.

Having read every one of the 10 Doc Ford books as of end of 2003, here's my list of how they all rate, (drum roll, please):

(5 stars)
Captiva
Twelve Mile Limit
Shark River
The Heat Islands
Ten Thousand Islands
Sanibal Flats (the first in the series)

The following are the 4 stars in the series--great stories, but I wouldn't recommend them as a first read of the author:

Everglades
The Man Who Invented Florida
North of Havana
The Mangrove Coast

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A big yawn in the sunshine state, January 13, 2007

By 

R. W. Peter "Old guy who reads" (Beaumont,Ca USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man Who Invented Florida (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book starts slow and decelerates from there. Based on the reviews on the back cover I was expecting a captivating read, what a disappointment.
I found the storyline as engrossing as watching the weather channel. I wanted to give it a fair chance, so I read it all the way through. That's 5 hours of my life I'll never get back.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DOC FORD - OK, A LITTLE LESS OF HIM, December 6, 2009

By 

James L. Woolridge "Wooly in PSL, FL." (Sunny Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Invented Florida (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Doc Ford books are some of my favorite beach reads. I like Randy Wayne White's characters and his ecology lessons. That said this is the third in the Ford series and no doubt the book that has less Doc and Tomlinson, his pal, and we get Ford's Uncle Tucker Gatrell and his friend Joseph Egret. The story about a fountain of youth is really laugh out loud funny. Great characters, and humor, alas, less Doc. I still recommend it and if you are reading the set of Doc's books, three is a must. By the by, read the books in order.