Mary Trueblood is the great-granddaughter of Matthew Kriegel, finance director for the defunct Florida East Coast Railway. Kriegel held this position when Henry Flagler built his railroad through the Florida Keys. It took Henry six years to build it, but it took a 1935 hurricane about 60 seconds to destroy it. Kriegel never made it out of the Keys with the 10 boxes of gold he was trying to move to Miami before the hurricane hit. Recently, Mary found information that makes her believe the gold is still buried somewhere in Islamarada.

After hiring one pair of private investigators who disappeared with her information and money, Mary has now hired James Lessor and Skip Moore of More or Less Investigations. James and Skip are charming young con men who do private investigating on the side. Neither have jobs worthy of their college degrees because they did more partying than studying in school, and they aren't very qualified to do anything.

As James and Skip begin their investigation, they find themselves in one predicament after another. Sometimes their answer to one problem just causes more problems for them. James is taken to the police station for questing on suspicion of a murder. And someone seems to be tracking their every move. One of their nighttime antics leads them to discover people with suitcases getting off a boat and checking into a motel at 3:30 AM, then checking out of the motel at 11:00 PM that evening. Strange happenings indeed!

When Skip gets his girlfriend involved in the investigation and a local real estate saleswoman discovers their real purpose for being in the Keys, things get pretty whacky. Add some wisdom from a 100-year-old native and you have a riotous tale of mystery and intrigue. Will this investigation ever turn up the missing boxes of gold?

TOO MUCH STUFF is the fifth book in Don Bruns' Stuff series. His characters are charming but zany and the action is nonstop. This is a delightful story filled with mysterious adventures that are probably not too far from being the norm for the Florida Keys. Not only will you get enjoyment from reading this story, but a good history lesson as well. This one is worth your time!

Book Summary

A 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys destroyed the East Coast Railway, killed 500 people and blew away the town of Islamorada. Lost in that storm was Mathew Kriegel, a finance director for the railroad, and one and a quarter million dollars in gold.

Now newly minted private investigators Skip More and James Lessor, of More Or Less Investigations have been hired to find that lost treasure. Fighting off competitors, scuba diving, digging in a spooky cemetery and almost getting killed is only part of their job. Skip and James have stumbled onto the biggest most dangerous adventure of their lives.