I’m currently reading a book by one of my favorite authors – Nick Russell. At the present time Nick has two long-running series: Big Lake series and John Lee Quarrels series. Both would fall into the police procedurals category but – based on the reviews – most of his readers not only like to solve the crimes along with the main character, they’re fascinated by Nick’s characters, good and bad. Nick has a unique gift of capturing the local speech patterns, something I appreciate. There’s always a mystery to be solved and we often don’t know ‘whodunnit’ until the very end.
In this book – DEAD ROMEOS – one of the characters mentions ordering fried alligator in a scene that takes place in a restaurant. I’ve never heard of eating alligator so I sent Nick a message asking if this was commonplace in Florida. He replied saying that alligator tail is usually made into strips or chunks like Chicken McNuggets and fried. He adds that it’s delicious. He also pointed out that the hides are valuable.
I suppose I can be forgiven for not knowing this. After all, up here in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia the closest thing we have to an alligator is Ogopogo, and that’s a mythical creature.
So there you have it – I’m being entertained with a terrific story, plus I’m learning something at the same time. Winner winner, alligator dinner!!