A former rock idol inexplicably dies in the Bahamas. An inconsolable young widow arranges a presentation of her album at the funeral. Reporter Jack Tugger, who has displeased his superiors and is wiping his pants in the obituary department of a run-of-the-mill newspaper, dreams of returning to the front page. An article that sheds light on the suspicious circumstances of the musician's death will restore justice for all three.

Jack is obsessed with the deaths of others. His informant is a girl who makes money as an online striptease. His colleague is the daughter of his former mistress, a young veteran of club life. His editor is scared to death of him. The former owner of his native newspaper is a sarcastic old man who has not been able to die for 17 years. In Jack's refrigerator, a former beer alcoholic sleeps eternally - a frozen dead monitor lizard, which, if necessary, can become a deadly weapon.

In "Clinical Case" by Carl Hiaasen, show business and journalism, as well as writing obituaries and life itself turn into high art.