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** In ''Coconut Cowboy'', the proprietor of a [[CruellaToAnimals crush video]] website is trampled by a hippo.
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** Maggie Crenshaw, who is briefly neighbors with Serge in ''Mermaid Confidential'', fondly listens to jazz music by [[Music/HerbAlpert the Tijuana Brass]] and has a mellow, easygoing attitude that is reminiscent of their music.
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** Maggie Crenshaw, who is briefly neighbors with Serge in ''Mermaid Confidential'', Confidential'' and ''The Maltese Iguana'', fondly listens to jazz music by [[Music/HerbAlpert the Tijuana Brass]] and has a mellow, easygoing attitude that is reminiscent of their music.
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Changed line(s) 147 (click to see context) from:
** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', a man who was trying to keep a bunch of baby sea turtles from making it safely to the ocean for laughs has his feet tied to the turtles' parents, who drag him into the ocean, where they will [[UncertainDoom likely]] either drown him by diving in deep water or draw and quarter him by swimming in different directions.
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** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', Beach'':
*** Serge makes Sterling Hanover, a CorruptCorporateExecutive who arbitrarily jacked up the prices of life-saving drugs, ingest brain-eating amoeba. Serge releases Sterling near a drugstore but doesn't leave him enough money to pay for the treatment drug at its current unreasonable price, with Sterling getting NoSympathy and no help from the pharmacists and paramedics who could help him but have seen people die because of his greed. A freak accident caused by his confusion and desperation kills him before the amoeba can, though.
*** A man who was trying to keep a bunch of baby sea turtles from making it safely to the ocean for laughs has his feet tied to the turtles' parents, who drag him into the ocean, where they will [[UncertainDoom likely]] either drown him by diving in deep water or draw and quarter him by swimming in different directions.
*** Serge makes Sterling Hanover, a CorruptCorporateExecutive who arbitrarily jacked up the prices of life-saving drugs, ingest brain-eating amoeba. Serge releases Sterling near a drugstore but doesn't leave him enough money to pay for the treatment drug at its current unreasonable price, with Sterling getting NoSympathy and no help from the pharmacists and paramedics who could help him but have seen people die because of his greed. A freak accident caused by his confusion and desperation kills him before the amoeba can, though.
*** A man who was trying to keep a bunch of baby sea turtles from making it safely to the ocean for laughs has his feet tied to the turtles' parents, who drag him into the ocean, where they will [[UncertainDoom likely]] either drown him by diving in deep water or draw and quarter him by swimming in different directions.
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** The Davenport kids from ''Triggerfish Twist'' are in college by ''Gator A-Go-Go''.
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** The two older Davenport kids from ''Triggerfish Twist'' are in college by ''Gator A-Go-Go''.
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* SexIsViolence: Some of Serge's less healthy relationships (most notably with Sharon and Rachael) involve the couple hitting or threatening each other before and during sex. Coleman thinks Serge and Sharon's lovemaking is too mutually violent to count as actual rough sex and is more of "an alley fight with a quickie worked into the choreography."
-> ''Across the street, Serge and Sharon were in their bedroom breaking lamps, throwing ashtrays, pulling knives, and otherwise making love.''
-> ''Across the street, Serge and Sharon were in their bedroom breaking lamps, throwing ashtrays, pulling knives, and otherwise making love.''
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:
** Before retconning stoner {{Sidekick}} Coleman's death in the first book, the author had Serge acquire a second stoner sidekick, Lenny, for several books. In ''Gator-a-Go'', when City and Country meet Coleman for the first time, they immediately compare him to Lenny. Serge replies, "Coleman's the original: Lenny, beta version, initial glitches intact."
** After Sharon is written out of the series (minus one AnachronicOrder reappearance), the next book introduces RecurringCharacter Ingrid "Country" Praline, another blond woman who sometimes does drugs (albeit weed instead of coke) and assists Serge throughout various schemes that she is often apathetic to while having regular CoitusEnsues moments with Serge and bickering with him just as regularly. However, unlike TokenEvilTeammate Sharon, Country is a NiceGirl, or a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst, values her friendships, doesn't commit crimes out of greed, can be more genuinely helpful than Sharon, and avoids the SexIsViolence aspect of Serge and Sharon's relationship.
** By the time of ''Atomic Lobster'' (book 10), Serge tends to date women of a higher intellectual caliber than Sharon and Country (with his occasional reunions with Country being among the rare exceptions to this). However, like Sharon, his MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness GirlOfTheWeek Rachael is a blond stripper with criminal inclinations (although Rachael is more of a ShamelessFanserviceGirl petty crook compared to Sharon's status as TheVamp and an AxCrazy armed robber and BlackWidow with a much higher body count), a preoccupation with doing coke, a fiery temper, and a SexIsViolence relationship with Serge. Serge and Coleman lampshade the trope and comment it's like the two women were separated at birth. They only reconsider this opinion at the end of the book, [[spoiler:upon learning that Sharon and Rachael are [[BackupTwin actual sisters]] rather than {{Identical Stranger}}s]]. Rachael also has a dancing style that is nearly identical to Country's.
** Story from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' (book 11) has many notable similarities to Rachael, some but not all of which she also shares with Sharon. Both are strippers with similar appearances who can be hot-headed and, near the end of their respective books, are set up to potentially have dangerous fallings out with Serge [[spoiler:due to harm that befell their respective siblings]]. However, the two also diverge in many ways. Rachael is coarse, undriven, and dim, while Story is an intelligent and articulate part-time college student. [[spoiler: Rachael gets wasted and tries to kill Serge with little to no premeditation after learning that he killed her sister. Story is seemingly plotting to manipulate and kill Serge from their first meeting because she wrongly thinks he put her brother in the hospital, but the ending reveals she always knew Serge was innocent and has been working with him to kill the real culprits]].
** Before retconning stoner {{Sidekick}} Coleman's death in the first book, the author had Serge acquire a second stoner sidekick, Lenny, for several books. In ''Gator-a-Go'', when City and Country meet Coleman for the first time, they immediately compare him to Lenny. Serge replies, "Coleman's the original: Lenny, beta version, initial glitches intact."
** After Sharon is written out of the series (minus one AnachronicOrder reappearance), the next book introduces RecurringCharacter Ingrid "Country" Praline, another blond woman who sometimes does drugs (albeit weed instead of coke) and assists Serge throughout various schemes that she is often apathetic to while having regular CoitusEnsues moments with Serge and bickering with him just as regularly. However, unlike TokenEvilTeammate Sharon, Country is a NiceGirl, or a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst, values her friendships, doesn't commit crimes out of greed, can be more genuinely helpful than Sharon, and avoids the SexIsViolence aspect of Serge and Sharon's relationship.
** By the time of ''Atomic Lobster'' (book 10), Serge tends to date women of a higher intellectual caliber than Sharon and Country (with his occasional reunions with Country being among the rare exceptions to this). However, like Sharon, his MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness GirlOfTheWeek Rachael is a blond stripper with criminal inclinations (although Rachael is more of a ShamelessFanserviceGirl petty crook compared to Sharon's status as TheVamp and an AxCrazy armed robber and BlackWidow with a much higher body count), a preoccupation with doing coke, a fiery temper, and a SexIsViolence relationship with Serge. Serge and Coleman lampshade the trope and comment it's like the two women were separated at birth. They only reconsider this opinion at the end of the book, [[spoiler:upon learning that Sharon and Rachael are [[BackupTwin actual sisters]] rather than {{Identical Stranger}}s]]. Rachael also has a dancing style that is nearly identical to Country's.
** Story from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' (book 11) has many notable similarities to Rachael, some but not all of which she also shares with Sharon. Both are strippers with similar appearances who can be hot-headed and, near the end of their respective books, are set up to potentially have dangerous fallings out with Serge [[spoiler:due to harm that befell their respective siblings]]. However, the two also diverge in many ways. Rachael is coarse, undriven, and dim, while Story is an intelligent and articulate part-time college student. [[spoiler: Rachael gets wasted and tries to kill Serge with little to no premeditation after learning that he killed her sister. Story is seemingly plotting to manipulate and kill Serge from their first meeting because she wrongly thinks he put her brother in the hospital, but the ending reveals she always knew Serge was innocent and has been working with him to kill the real culprits]].
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* {{Touche}}: In [[spoiler:''The Riptide ultra-glide'']], Serge is OutGambitted by two assassins who only spare his life out of PragmaticVillainy (the continuing police manhunt for Serge will distract the cops from realizing what the assassins did). Serge threatens to reveal the truth, but the assassins point out he's insane and therefore not credible, which Serge concedes with a wry "Touche."
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* TrueCompanions: Serge's grandfather's old crew of con artists are among the most closely-knit characters in the series, sticking together for decades even as several of their members begin dying of natural causes, with their various kids and grandkids also being part of their circle, which is most prominently depicted in ''Electric Barracuda.''
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* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: By the time of ''Mermaid Confidential'', long-time drug cartel leader Raffy Benzappa is a senile old man who is preoccupied with watching 1960s sitcoms, has his sons (who he rarely recognizes anymore) handle the family business, and, during his lucid moments, displays occasional disappointment at how violent the escalating cartel wars are. His younger son Mercado is GoodWithNumbers but a NonActionGuy who rarely even talks about the cartel's killings. On the other hand, the family's scores of fiercely loyal enforcers are skilled gunfighters and strategic assassins who are merciless to their enemies.
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* LeftHanging: While ''Pineapple Grenade'' ends with Serge killing the BigBad, nothing gets mentioned about whether the corrupt generals back in Costa Gorda suffer any comeuppance and will be in a position to try to continue with their plans to [[spoiler:undermine their president and allow oil drilling near protected coral reefs]].
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* ManOfTheCity: In ''The Pope of Palm Beach,'' Darby Pope is a local surfer who is famous for knowing everyone in the town of Riviera Beach. He is always giving people friendly greetings and happily does whatever favors anyone asks. Even the {{Dirty Cop}}s view him with pure respect.
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* ParentsInDistress: Nicole Davenport is a BrattyTeenageDaughter for most of ''When Elves Attack'', but one of her first TookALevelInKindness moments comes from jumping on her boyfriend's back to try to stop him from beating up her dad over a minor slight.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations:
** In ''Atomic Lobster'', Rachael is exactly a decade younger than her only confirmed sibling (the AmbiguousSyntax of her comment that she once had "a sister in Tampa" could indicate a larger family), a sister who she is implied to have looked up to before the other woman's death.
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', Mercado Benzappa, an AffablyEvil cartel member, is 7-12 years younger than his only brother AJ (Mercado was in high school when AJ turned 25), who Mercado [[BigBrotherWorship looks up to]]. Mercado mentions that they have at least three sisters, all between them in age.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations:
** In ''Atomic Lobster'', Rachael is exactly a decade younger than her only confirmed sibling (the AmbiguousSyntax of her comment that she once had "a sister in Tampa" could indicate a larger family), a sister who she is implied to have looked up to before the other woman's death.
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', Mercado Benzappa, an AffablyEvil cartel member, is 7-12 years younger than his only brother AJ (Mercado was in high school when AJ turned 25), who Mercado [[BigBrotherWorship looks up to]]. Mercado mentions that they have at least three sisters, all between them in age.
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** Detective Mahoney is a fairly normal police officer when we [[AnachronicOrder chronologically first meet him]] in Triggerfish Twist, but before long he winds up locked up in an asylum [[InfectiousInsanity thanks to spending too much time trying to figure out Serge]] where he tends to [[MotorMouth rattle off random Florida trivia]] exactly as Serge would. This eventually gives way to him being sane enough for duty again, but [[BornInTheWrongCentury now is prone to speaking and acting like a police officer or private eye from a ]][[FilmNoir Film Noir piece]] making him just as weird as Serge, but in a distinctly different way.
to:
** Detective Mahoney is a fairly normal police officer when we [[AnachronicOrder chronologically first meet him]] in Triggerfish Twist, but before long he winds up locked up in an asylum [[InfectiousInsanity thanks to spending too much time trying to figure out Serge]] where he tends to [[MotorMouth rattle off random Florida trivia]] exactly as Serge would.Serge]]. This eventually gives way to him being sane enough for duty again, but [[BornInTheWrongCentury now is prone to speaking and acting like a police officer or private eye from a ]][[FilmNoir Film Noir piece]] making him just as weird as Serge, but in a distinctly different way.
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* HiddenDepths: Coleman, considering his knowledge of fluid dynamics, advanced physics, college-level chemistry, and philosophy. Which he uses solely to get drunk and high.
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* HiddenDepths: HiddenDepths:
** Coleman, considering his knowledge of fluid dynamics, advanced physics, college-level chemistry, and philosophy. Which he uses solely to get drunk andhigh.high.
** In ''Atomic Lobster'', Rachael, a PrettyFreeloader and AddledAddict with a HairTriggerTemper, knows enough about computers to create and run a profitable website. Granted, it's a porn site with pictures of herself, but Serge is surprised she even knows how to turn a computer on (especially since the book is set in 2008).
** Coleman, considering his knowledge of fluid dynamics, advanced physics, college-level chemistry, and philosophy. Which he uses solely to get drunk and
** In ''Atomic Lobster'', Rachael, a PrettyFreeloader and AddledAddict with a HairTriggerTemper, knows enough about computers to create and run a profitable website. Granted, it's a porn site with pictures of herself, but Serge is surprised she even knows how to turn a computer on (especially since the book is set in 2008).
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* KarmicDeath:
** Most of Serge's victims are killed in elaborate death traps that reflect the jerkass actions they committed to earn Serge's wrath.
** For example, a rude Hummer owner blasting out rap music from his car gets tied up within an empty skyscraper that Serge converts into the world's largest speaker... and then Serge [[BrownNote plugs in his guitar]]...
** Most of Serge's victims are killed in elaborate death traps that reflect the jerkass actions they committed to earn Serge's wrath.
** For example, a rude Hummer owner blasting out rap music from his car gets tied up within an empty skyscraper that Serge converts into the world's largest speaker... and then Serge [[BrownNote plugs in his guitar]]...
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* KarmicDeath:
** MostKarmicDeath: While many of Serge's victims are killed in elaborate death traps and other murder methods are rather random, sometimes, the punishment has some relation to the {{Asshole Victim}}s offense, although [=YMMV=] on whether some are karmic or disproportionate.
** Downplayed in ''The Stingray Shuffle'', where Preston loves HypnoFool {{Jerkass}}ery thatreflect extends to BedTrick sexual assault, with the jerkass actions they committed only question about his inevitable death being [[WhoMurderedTheAsshole whether one of the many guest characters he has wronged will kill him before Serge can]]. Preston's cause of death is [[spoiler:Serge hypnotizing him into having a shock-induced heart attack and then [[NeckSnap breaking his neck]] to earn MakeSureHesDead.]]
** In [[spoiler:''Pineapple Grenade'']], Serge kills the BigBad who got Serge'swrath.
GirlOfTheWeek killed by tying him to the seat of a vehicle that is rigged to drive straight through an area that would normally be harmless to traverse but is currently on fire because of an ecological disaster that Serge's victim's greed caused.
**For example, ''Tiger Shrimp Tango'' has a rare accidental KarmicDeath after Serge's scheming leads to a pair of con artists (who stole money that was intended for a child with cancer) being chased by a lynch mob. Eventually, the desperate scammers risk darting across an intersection to try to lose their pursuers.
--> '''Coleman''': I don't think they see that bus.\\
'''Serge:''' Which bus?\\
'''Coleman:''' The big one with the ad on the side for the children's hospital…[[OffScreenCrash Ooo! God!]]\\
'''Serge:''' That's ironic.
** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', a man who was trying to keep a bunch of baby sea turtles from making it safely to the ocean for laughs has his feet tied to the turtles' parents, who drag him into the ocean, where they will [[UncertainDoom likely]] either drown him by diving in deep water or draw and quarter him by swimming in different directions.
** A man who poisons seagulls in ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is forced to ingest that same poison while simultaneously being staked out on a beach, covered with chips that attract sharp-beaked seagulls (one of which quickly pecks through his femoral artery).
** A rude Hummer owner blasting out rap music from his car gets tied up within an empty skyscraper that Serge converts into the world's largest speaker... and then Serge [[BrownNote plugs in his guitar]]...
** Most
** Downplayed in ''The Stingray Shuffle'', where Preston loves HypnoFool {{Jerkass}}ery that
** In [[spoiler:''Pineapple Grenade'']], Serge kills the BigBad who got Serge's
**
--> '''Coleman''': I don't think they see that bus.\\
'''Serge:''' Which bus?\\
'''Coleman:''' The big one with the ad on the side for the children's hospital…[[OffScreenCrash Ooo! God!]]\\
'''Serge:''' That's ironic.
** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', a man who was trying to keep a bunch of baby sea turtles from making it safely to the ocean for laughs has his feet tied to the turtles' parents, who drag him into the ocean, where they will [[UncertainDoom likely]] either drown him by diving in deep water or draw and quarter him by swimming in different directions.
** A man who poisons seagulls in ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is forced to ingest that same poison while simultaneously being staked out on a beach, covered with chips that attract sharp-beaked seagulls (one of which quickly pecks through his femoral artery).
** A rude Hummer owner blasting out rap music from his car gets tied up within an empty skyscraper that Serge converts into the world's largest speaker... and then Serge [[BrownNote plugs in his guitar]]...
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** At the beginning of ''Tropic of Stupid'', Nathan Sparrow is an ambulance-chasing workaholic lawyer and fundraiser for slimy politicians. The sudden death of his ParentalSubstitute and a disgruntled client trying to ruin Nathan's daughter's career makes Nathan reevaluate his life. He quits his job, makes restitution to people he has wronged, destroys the career of the man who went after his daughter, and takes up a CallToAgriculture.
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** At the beginning of ''Tropic of Stupid'', Nathan Sparrow is an ambulance-chasing workaholic lawyer and fundraiser for slimy politicians. The sudden death of his ParentalSubstitute and a disgruntled client trying to ruin Nathan's daughter's career makes Nathan reevaluate his life. He quits his job, makes restitution to people he has wronged, destroys the career of the man who went after his daughter, and takes up a CallToAgriculture.
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', cartel member Mercado inserts himself into the life of hospice worker Julie to provide for her and her patients to atone for the one time he personally killed someone (a BadassBystander near a botched drug deal).
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', cartel member Mercado inserts himself into the life of hospice worker Julie to provide for her and her patients to atone for the one time he personally killed someone (a BadassBystander near a botched drug deal).
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** In ''Pineapple Grenade'', Ted Savage is introduced as a CIA agent stirring up guerillas to destabilize an honest South American president (indirectly on behalf of {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s) but goes on to help Serge protect the president from an assassin after feeling betrayed by his handlers, and seems invested in his new mission.
** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', a group of {{Dirty Cop}}s are outraged enough by the murder of a ManOfTheCity and two of their colleagues to kill the cartel goons responsible and then work to protect a witness to the crime rather than try to kill him and steal the millions of dollars he ended up instinctively taking from the crime scene.
** In ''No Sunscreen for the Dead'', NewAgeRetroHippie Tofer Baez was a high-profile Soviet spy for much of the Cold War. However, he has come to acknowledge the worst aspects of the Russian government and would have quit before the end of the Cold War if he wasn't being blackmailed. When old Russian contacts still in America start being murdered, he sets out to warn people who he had manipulated into giving information that they may be in danger as well and assists Serge and various other guest characters in the climactic shootout.
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', cartel member Mercado inserts himself into the life of hospice worker Julie to provide for her and her patients to atone for the one time he personally killed someone (a BadassBystander near a botched drug deal).
** In ''The Pope of Palm Beach'', a group of {{Dirty Cop}}s are outraged enough by the murder of a ManOfTheCity and two of their colleagues to kill the cartel goons responsible and then work to protect a witness to the crime rather than try to kill him and steal the millions of dollars he ended up instinctively taking from the crime scene.
** In ''No Sunscreen for the Dead'', NewAgeRetroHippie Tofer Baez was a high-profile Soviet spy for much of the Cold War. However, he has come to acknowledge the worst aspects of the Russian government and would have quit before the end of the Cold War if he wasn't being blackmailed. When old Russian contacts still in America start being murdered, he sets out to warn people who he had manipulated into giving information that they may be in danger as well and assists Serge and various other guest characters in the climactic shootout.
** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', cartel member Mercado inserts himself into the life of hospice worker Julie to provide for her and her patients to atone for the one time he personally killed someone (a BadassBystander near a botched drug deal).
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** In ''Mermaid Confidential'', cartel member Mercado inserts himself into the life of hospice worker Julie to provide for her and her patients to atone for the one time he personally killed someone (a BadassBystander near a botched drug deal).
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** A smaller one can be found in ''The Riptide Ultra-Glide'' where Serge reveals he has a pair of T-shirts based on a series of events in the Florida Keys [[CallBack that we saw unfold in several books ago]]. Coleman is unsure about how Serge could have gotten such shirts, despite ''Torpedo Juice'' being the book where the two were reunited, so he was very much present [[MakesSenseInContext when Serge became an unwilling cult leader.]] Though unlike in Mahoney's example [[TheStoner Coleman's long history of drug abuse ]][[WatsonianVersusDoylist makes it easy to believe he wouldn't actually remember those particular events.]]
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* FamilyThemeNaming: In ''Mermaid Confidential'', Vixen (aka Vix) and her brothers Prancer, Comet, and Cupid were named after Santa’s reindeer by their Christmas-obsessed parents. This resulted in Vix having a childhood full of teasing and beatings that [[FreudianExcuse led to her]] becoming a [[TheGrinch Christmas-hating]], AxCrazy thief, murderer, and drug addict who will attack anyone who inquires about her name.
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* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: ''Tropic of Stupid'' reveals that Serge is a distant cousin of real-life retired baseball player Bill Lee.
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* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative:
** In ''Electric Barracuda'', [[spoiler:Molly's supposed son with Serge was really fathered by real-life Florida photographer Lucky Cole]].
** ''Tropic of Stupid'' reveals that Serge is a distant cousin of real-life retired baseball player Bill Lee.
** In ''Electric Barracuda'', [[spoiler:Molly's supposed son with Serge was really fathered by real-life Florida photographer Lucky Cole]].
** ''Tropic of Stupid'' reveals that Serge is a distant cousin of real-life retired baseball player Bill Lee.
* SouthernFriedGenius:
** Story Long from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' is a stripper from Jacksonville who enjoys drinking cold beer, wearing cutoff jeans, and in-depth discussions of Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, Florida history, and the Code of UsefulNotes/{{Hammurabi}}.
** Jasper from ''Clownfish Blues'' is an Apalachicola fisherman who digs up his own bait and whose appearance prompts a ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' joke, only for Jasper to reveal that, unlike most people Serge knows, he's read the original book by James Dickey, along with the works of Creator/JamesJoyce and Creator/WilliamFaulkner
--> '''Jasper''': Dad-gum right I know Dickey, Southern literary lion, and poet loreee-''ate''.
** Story Long from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' is a stripper from Jacksonville who enjoys drinking cold beer, wearing cutoff jeans, and in-depth discussions of Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, Florida history, and the Code of UsefulNotes/{{Hammurabi}}.
** Jasper from ''Clownfish Blues'' is an Apalachicola fisherman who digs up his own bait and whose appearance prompts a ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' joke, only for Jasper to reveal that, unlike most people Serge knows, he's read the original book by James Dickey, along with the works of Creator/JamesJoyce and Creator/WilliamFaulkner
--> '''Jasper''': Dad-gum right I know Dickey, Southern literary lion, and poet loreee-''ate''.
* TrainJob: The climax of ''The Stingray Shuffle'' begins when Ivan and Zigzag learn that a briefcase of drug money is on a mystery theater train and borrow some horses from a racetrack to catch up to the moving train (the passengers think their pursuit is AllPartOfTheShow), board it, and try to take the money at gunpoint.
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* TheWatson: Coleman largely serves as a sounding board for Serge to bounce whatever particular bit of Florida trivia he's most interested at the moment off of.
to:
* TheWatson: Coleman largely serves as a sounding board for A large part of Coleman's role is to be someone Serge can talk to bounce whatever particular bit of Florida trivia he's most interested at about the moment off of.workings of his {{Death Trap}}s, his travel plans, and his opinions about societal events, Florida, or other people.
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** As a journalist-turned-author, Dorsey is sympathetic to the newspaper publishing industry. Especially in ''Hurricane Punch'' and ''Shark Skin Suite''. He worked for the Tampa Tribune, and a lot of novels are based or have scenes in that metro.
to:
** As a journalist-turned-author, Dorsey is sympathetic to the newspaper publishing industry. Especially in ''Hurricane Punch'' and ''Shark Skin Suite''. He worked for the Tampa Tribune, and a lot of novels are based or have scenes in that metro.metro.
* YouGoGirl: The main subplot of ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is AcademicAthlete Chris, who has always been a faster runner than her male classmates but hasn't gotten much respect for it, joining her school's football team with the help of TeamDad Coach Calhoun.
* YouGoGirl: The main subplot of ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is AcademicAthlete Chris, who has always been a faster runner than her male classmates but hasn't gotten much respect for it, joining her school's football team with the help of TeamDad Coach Calhoun.
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* CoolShades: Recurring FemmeFatale Sharon often wears opaque sunglasses.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: For a [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower given definition of the term]] Agent Foxtrot has this problem. Foxtrot is probably the most well trained hand to hand combatant in the series and could easily resolve numerous physical confrontations, but not without revealing that [[spoiler: Martha Davenport]] used to be a highly trained special ops agent for the US government.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: For a [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower given definition of the term]] Agent Foxtrot has this problem. Foxtrot is probably the most well trained hand to hand combatant in the series and could easily resolve numerous physical confrontations, but not without revealing that [[spoiler: Martha Davenport]] used to be a highly trained special ops agent for the US government.
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* CoverBlowingSuperpower: For a [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower given definition of the term]] Agent Foxtrot has this problem. Foxtrot is probably the most well trained hand to hand combatant in the series and could easily resolve numerous physical confrontations, but not without revealing that [[spoiler: Martha Davenport]] used to be a highly trained special ops agent for the US government.
to:
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: For a [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower given definition of the term]] Agent Foxtrot has this problem. Foxtrot is probably the most well trained hand to hand combatant CrimeOfSelfDefense: A nonfatal version occurs in the series and could easily resolve numerous physical confrontations, but not backstory of ''Naked Came the Florida Man.'' College football player Lamar Calhoun reflexively punched an abusive coach while trying to get free after about a minute of being strangled by the man. Calhoun was promptly arrested for battery (although he was let out of jail without revealing that [[spoiler: Martha Davenport]] used to be a highly trained special ops agent serving any time in exchange for his silence), kicked off the US government.team, and blackballed from the NFL and a career in P.E. (until he eventually lied on a job application) to cover up the coach's actions.
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''The Stingray Shuffle'', Sam, Rebecca, and their friends meet in a dorm for single mothers at the University of Florida and have a CommonalityConnection that they give the LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain treatment. A later scene mentions that [[spoiler:Preston moved halfway across the country to attend the University of Nevada several months after getting a classmate named Becky pregnant. Becky is a common nickname for Rebecca, Florida is across the country from Nevada, and sure enough, everyone in Sam's group of friends is someone who Preston got pregnant with a BedTrick]].
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* HollywoodAutism: In ''The Riptide Ultra-Glide'' a pair of special needs teachers (who thus really should know better) refer to one of their young female students who is [[AvertedTrope explicitly not]] [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged inspirationally disadvantaged]], cries so hard that she gives herself nosebleeds and requires intervention from said teachers to fall asleep as having "one of the mildest forms of autism."
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* AwesomeByAnalysis:
** In ''Coconut Cowboy'', colege student Matt Pugliese finds a website Serge sets up that convinces him that Serge and his endless flow of trivia will be a boon for Matt's thesis about the decline of the American Dream. He looks at Serge's posts, calculates the next place Serge will likely go to talk about his current subject, and is waiting when Serge gets there. As a wanted fugitive (unknown to Matt), Serge is shocked that [[AchievementsInIgnorance a civilian was able to predict his movements that way when the authorities couldn't]].
** Data-mining firm analyst Benmont Pinch from ''No Sunscreen for the Dead'' identifies a criminal who stole several [=DVD=]s (among other things) by checking rentals of the sequels to any of the stolen films. Benmont also notices how other clients seeking to find out Social Security information are up to no good based on the content of the information they want and compares the Social Security numbers those people are seeking with those of recent murder victims to confirm that the data is being used for some kind of target list.
** In ''Coconut Cowboy'', colege student Matt Pugliese finds a website Serge sets up that convinces him that Serge and his endless flow of trivia will be a boon for Matt's thesis about the decline of the American Dream. He looks at Serge's posts, calculates the next place Serge will likely go to talk about his current subject, and is waiting when Serge gets there. As a wanted fugitive (unknown to Matt), Serge is shocked that [[AchievementsInIgnorance a civilian was able to predict his movements that way when the authorities couldn't]].
** Data-mining firm analyst Benmont Pinch from ''No Sunscreen for the Dead'' identifies a criminal who stole several [=DVD=]s (among other things) by checking rentals of the sequels to any of the stolen films. Benmont also notices how other clients seeking to find out Social Security information are up to no good based on the content of the information they want and compares the Social Security numbers those people are seeking with those of recent murder victims to confirm that the data is being used for some kind of target list.
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** In ''Hammerhead Ranch Motel'', City and Country happily dance to "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" by Music/TheHollies, a rock and pop band from the same era as many of Serge’s favorite artists, but one that doesn't have an overlapping fanbase with many of them. This may reference how they can mingle with Serge without the same kind of hostility he had with his previous girlfriend, Sharon, but still have personality conflicts with him.
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** As part of BunnyEarsLawyer stoner Ziggy Blades' EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Shark Skin Suite'', his radio is blaring "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," a loud, angry song about living on the edge.
** Kyle Lovitt from ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is a Type I {{Eagleland}} kind of guy who proudly plays "This Land is Your Land" in the face of a PoliticallyIncorrectVillain.
** Maggie Crenshaw, who is briefly neighbors with Serge in ''Mermaid Confidential'', fondly listens to jazz music by [[Music/HerbAlpert the Tijuana Brass]] and has a mellow, easygoing attitude that is reminiscent of their music.
** Kyle Lovitt from ''Naked Came the Florida Man'' is a Type I {{Eagleland}} kind of guy who proudly plays "This Land is Your Land" in the face of a PoliticallyIncorrectVillain.
** Maggie Crenshaw, who is briefly neighbors with Serge in ''Mermaid Confidential'', fondly listens to jazz music by [[Music/HerbAlpert the Tijuana Brass]] and has a mellow, easygoing attitude that is reminiscent of their music.
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* SeriesContinuityError: In ''Triggerfish Twist'', Serge realizes that Mahoney is an undercover cop when Mahoney makes a mistake about the geography of the area that Serge grew up in. Later on however in ''Electric Barracuda'', we find out that Serge and Mahoney were born in the same hospital and grew up roughly two blocks apart, so Mahoney would need to have been mistaken about what part of Florida his own home town was in to make this error.
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--> '''Rachael''' from ''Atomic Lobster'': Yes!...Yes!...Faster!...Faster! Hurt me with your hot cock!
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--> '''Rachael''' from ''Atomic Lobster'': Yes!...Yes!...Faster!...Faster! Hurt me with your hot cock!'''Sharon''' in ''Triggerfish Twist'': Oh, my pussy! My [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Wet. Hot. Snapping. Pussy]]! Yip-yip-yip-yip, Eeeeee-hawwwww!
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* ItWillNeverCatchOn: In ''Mermaid Confidential'', Serge hears about a man taking part in a study of how long it is possible for him to survive without ever leaving his apartment and instead simply using the internet and various apps to have all his food and other necessities delivered to his door. Serge instantly questions what practical use such a study could have. The joke is made yet more explicit at the tail end of the novel when it is directly states that the book takes place in [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic December 2019]]
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* ItWillNeverCatchOn: In ''Mermaid Confidential'', Serge hears about a man taking part in a study of how long it is possible for him to survive without ever leaving his apartment and instead simply using the internet and various apps to have all his food and other necessities delivered to his door. Serge instantly questions what practical use such a study could have. The joke is made yet more explicit at the tail end of the novel when it is directly states stated that the book takes place in [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic December 2019]]
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* FunTShirt: In the tenth book, recurring MotorMouth suburbanite Gladys wears a pink t-shirt that says "Diva in Training".
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Moving tropes put in ymmv by mistake.
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* Mermaid Confidential (2022)
* The Maltese Iguana (2023)
* The Maltese Iguana (2023)
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* CringeComedy: A frequent hallmark of any plot featuring [[RecurringCharacter the Davenports]], something bad will happen to Jim who will [[ExtremeDoormat fail to assert himself]] in response to it, and fairly frequently Martha's [[FieryRedhead spitfire personality]] will only end up making it worse.
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* VagueAge: Serge is a subtle victim of this due to the series [[LongRunner extended nature]]. He was born in the sixties and the series started in 1999. By the time of ''Hurricane Punch'' (2007) he was in his mid forties. Each book in the series tends to take place roughly a year or two before its real life publishing date. This means that Serge should be effectively in late fifties/early sixties by the time of ''Maltese Iguana'' (which we can tell takes place in 2021 because Serge gets a freshly available COVID-19 vaccine) but if that's the case there's nothing in the books (other than the date of his birth) to suggest it.
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There's a series length version in ''Maltese Iguana'' as despite recurring character Reevis Tome get his own B-plot, no reference of any kind is made to fellow recurring character Brook Campanella who was dating Reevis when we last saw him in ''Clownfish Blues''.
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* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In ''Shark Skin Suite'', Serge paralyzes a conman (who tricks parents into thinking that their teenaged children have been horribly injured in car accidents and that he won't call an ambulance in time to save their lives unless they wire him $10,000) and lets him get EatenAlive by a python, but real-life pythons are known for constricting their prey to death before swallowing.
* AutoErotica: In ''Atomic Lobster'', Serge and Rachael have sex in the backseat of his car at least twice within a day of meeting each other and then proceed to argue about whether to follow this up with doing drugs or driving to a nearby tourist definition.
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* BavarianFireDrill: In ''The Triggerfish Twist'', Serge shows up at a college, gives an invigorating and detailed lecture about the history of Florida, and is invited to be the next commencement speaker before the Dean figures out that he doesn't work there.
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* BavarianFireDrill: BareMidriffsAreFeminine: Stripper and amateur porn star Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'' is more sensual than Serge's usual HotLibrarian GirlOfTheWeek and her wardrobe includes a lot of tops that show off her stomach, including baby tee shirt, a skimpy halter top, and a sports bra.
* BavarianFireDrill:
** In ''The Triggerfish Twist'', Serge shows up at a college, gives an invigorating and detailed lecture about the history of Florida, and is invited to be the next commencement speaker before the Dean figures out that he doesn't work there.
* BavarianFireDrill:
** In ''The Triggerfish Twist'', Serge shows up at a college, gives an invigorating and detailed lecture about the history of Florida, and is invited to be the next commencement speaker before the Dean figures out that he doesn't work there.
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* CookedToDeath: In ''The Stingray Shuffle'', a pair of frat boys who like to beat up bums suffer perhaps the most horrifying deaths in the series when Serge ties them across ultareflective sun blankets on top of a roof during the middle of a sunny summer and then sprinkles salt over them. Their bodies have shriveled down to seventy pounds apiece by the time the cops find them, with the medical examiner describing them as having been turned into human pieces of jerky.
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----b
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* ThickerThanWater: [[spoiler: This trope finally ends Mahoney's career of chasing Serge. When the two turn out to be half brothers, Mahoney doesn't have the heart to arrest Serge. Future novels show he completely quit the force and now works as a private investigator who helps Serge finds victims to help/villains to punish.]]
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* MercyLead: Mahoney has Serge more or less dead to rights at the end of ''Triggerfish Twist'' but given that Serge just helped him rescue an entire party full of people from the [=McGraw=] brothers, Mahoney settles for asking Serge for some more advice on where to grab his next meal. Though he promises that he'll [[IShallReturn arrest Serge properly in the future.]]
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* StrongFamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:Sharon from the first and third books and Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'']] turn out to be sisters and are described almost exactly the same way. [[spoiler:Both are six feet tall and have large breasts, long blonde curls, full lips, shapely legs, and freckles]]. Furthermore, there is a ten-year age gap between them and Serge and Coleman meet them ten years apart, causing them to comment on the resemblance (and the two women's similar temperaments and circumstances in life) long before the relationship is revealed.
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* StrongFamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:Sharon from the first and third fourth books and Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'']] turn out to be sisters and are described almost exactly the same way. [[spoiler:Both are six feet tall and have large breasts, long blonde curls, full lips, shapely legs, and freckles]]. Furthermore, there is a ten-year age gap between them and Serge and Coleman meet them ten years apart, causing them to comment on the resemblance (and the two women's similar temperaments and circumstances in life) long before the relationship is revealed.
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* StrongFamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:Sharon from the first and third books and Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'']] turn out to be sisters and are described almost exactly the same way. [[spoiler:Both are six feet tall and have large breasts, long blonde curls, full lips, shapely legs, and freckles]]. Furthermore, there is a ten-year age gap between them and Serge and Coleman meet them ten years apart, causing them to comment on the resemblance (and the two women's similar temperaments and circumstances in life) long before the relationship is revealed.
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In ''Shark Skin Suite'', [[spoiler:two law firms involved in a lawsuit against crooked bankers are secretly both business partners with the bank, and the plaintiffs' firm tries to throw the case by doing things like leaking information, assigning inexperienced or eccentric lawyers to try the case, keeping good witnesses off the stand and having bad witnesses testify. To their exasperation, the trial still goes in the plaintiffs' favor because their lawyers are far better than anyone realized (and eventually have VigilanteMan Serge providing behind-the-scenes help) and the defense lawyers are complete morons who make one mistake after another.]]
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* KillerOutfit: In ''Florida Roadkill'', a man is murdered by fashion. His girlfriend drugs him, slips a pair of tight jeans onto him, and then carefully soaks and dries out the pants until the fabric shrinks to the point where it cuts off all blood circulation below his waist.
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* KillerOutfit: In ''Florida Roadkill'', a man is murdered by fashion. His girlfriend Sharon drugs him, slips a pair of tight jeans onto him, and then carefully soaks and dries out the pants until the fabric shrinks to the point where it cuts off all blood circulation below his waist.
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* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Serge is ''not'' a good person, but the people he goes after are usually worse than he is -- or at least, less likable, so the audience can root for him anyway. If the choice is between an eccentric, amusing SerialKiller and a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's a complete {{jerkass}} to boot, the serial killer wins, every time.
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* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Serge is ''not'' a good person, but the people he goes after are usually worse than he is -- or at least, less likable, so the audience can root for him anyway. If the choice is between an eccentric, amusing SerialKiller and someone whose a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's and/or a complete {{jerkass}} to boot, the serial killer wins, every time.tends to win.
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* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness: A more grounded example of this happens in Atomic Lobster, where Serge's GirlOfTheWeek is Rachel, a FemmeFatale coke fiend who oozes sexual energy but whose entire personality seems to revolve around drug use, as opposed to [[HotLibrarian Serge's normal taste in women by this point in the series]]. In short, a perfect recreation of Sharon Rhodes from earlier in the series. [[spoiler: It turns out the similarities are no coincidence as Rachel is Sharon's sister]]
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* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness: A more grounded example of this happens in Atomic Lobster, ''Atomic Lobster'', where Serge's GirlOfTheWeek is Rachel, Rachael, a FemmeFatale coke fiend who oozes sexual energy but whose entire personality seems to revolve around drug use, as opposed to [[HotLibrarian Serge's normal taste in women by this point in the series]]. In short, a perfect recreation of Sharon Rhodes from earlier in the series. [[spoiler: It turns out the similarities are no coincidence as Rachel Rachael is Sharon's sister]]
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** In ''The Stingray Shuffle'', outgoing, assertive, and (generally) rational and logical Jamaican criminal Zigzag finds reggae artists like Music/JimmyCliff relaxing while his more high-strung Russian associate can't quite get into it.
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* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: In ''Shark Skin Suite'', Judge Kennesaw Montgomery Boone is introduced as a rabidly pro-corporate judge and the last person {{Crusading Lawyer}}s Brook and Shelby want presiding over their case against corrupt bankers. However, their brilliance, the blatant stupidity and criminality of the other side, and some of Serge's trivia gradually win Boone over into an extremely ReasonableAuthorityFigure who enjoys watching the collapse of the corrupt defense team.
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In ''Shark Skin Suite'', [[spoiler:two law firms involved in a lawsuit against crooked bankers are secretly both business partners with the bank, and the plaintiffs' firm tries to throw the case by doing things like leaking information, assigning inexperienced or eccentric lawyers to try the case, keeping good witnesses off the stand and having bad witnesses testify. To their exasperation, the trial still goes in the plaintiffs' favor because their lawyers are far better than anyone realized (and eventually have VigilanteMan Serge providing behind-the-scenes help) and the defense lawyers are complete morons who make one mistake after another.]]
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* TaughtByExperience: After nearly having been tracked down and attacked by someone his consulting company was brought onboard to fire in ''Triggerfish Twist'' Jim Davenport uses a fake name while firing people in ''When Elves Attack''.
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* ButtMonkey: Johnny Vegas suffers improbable misfortunes every time he appears.
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* ButtMonkey: Johnny Vegas suffers improbable cock-blocking misfortunes every time he appears.
