Bad things start happening right after private investigator Titan McCannigan invites a scruffy stranger into his lighthouse home on the Gulf of Mexico. Before long, Titan – ex-beach bum and disgraced former naval officer – emerges as a murder suspect. Then he becomes an unhappy accomplice in the complicated relationship between a sneaky sheriff and a crooked politician. It’s mid-summer at the beach, and his lighthouse snack bar is jumping. Titan and business partner Rich Sawyer operate the popular hamburger hangout but are determined to discover who committed the murder and why. The investigation is hampered by roadblocks both legal and illegal. Titan believes the obstacles are no coincidence. Fortunately, he has a stable of helpers: his fat dachshund who attends to the rising and setting of the sun each day; a gloomy lawyer who wants to buy his Jeep; his old navy shipmate Rich; and Rich’s new girlfriend who insists on being a player in what is turning out to be a dangerous investigation. Then an old adversary returns after being gone for months. He has a surprising demand. All of them think they know what’s going on in this little Florida beach town. All of them are wrong. A Poor Excuse for Murder , the second book in the Titan McCannigan mystery series, can be read as a standalone or as a follow-on to The Little Matter of a Murder .