Ron Chepesiuk conducted interviews and mined a ton of written sources to create this broad overview of crime and criminals in Miami’s past and present. From gambling and murder, to drug dealing and murder, Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, Griselda Blanco, and others. One lesson taken away is that some people never learn:

“The Miami of the 1920’s was a time of rampant materialism in which people really believed they could become wealthy simply by investing their money. Obtaining credit was easy, and the regulation of the Miami real estate market, especially of the realtors who fueled the speculation, was nonexistent.

Sound familiar? An entertaining book, despite the occasional typo and some loose ends. ( )