As the tourists come and go, a battle rages in Key West over the fate of Houseboat Row, the last remaining floating community on the eastern seaboard. In courtrooms, city meetings, and on the editorial page of the Citizen, the Row has become a galvanizing symbol of changing times on the island, the last vestige of old Key West and its seedy allure. An improvised neighborhood of artists, fishermen, exotic dancers, and indigents, living in illegal boats on the seawall, band together to take a stand against the big money interests and real estate developers who would drive them from their homes.   Mercy Kaine and her two young children are newcomers to the island and to Houseboat Row. When a murdered woman is found floating in the channel off her boat, Mercy will embark on a quest to find justice for the unwanted and dispossessed that will lead her from the mangrove hovels off North Roosevelt Boulevard to the halls of power in Tallahassee. But even those closest to her have something to hide, and will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. Mercy will have more than the Row to save from the murderous forces converging on it as she gets closer to the truth - her children and herself. REVIEWS   "Susan Whalen is a gutsy storyteller. In Murder on Houseboat Row, she sustains a taut story line, wrestles with real issues, and leads the reader through unforgettable twists and turns. A must read. " Randy F. Weinstein, author of Against the Tide   "A people book. Loss, grief and triumph. Embrace it." Marsha Manley Snyder, author of Speedwell.