Diver’s Paradise by Davin Goodwin

Diver’s Paradise is the first book in Davin Goodwin’s Roscoe Conklin Mysteries.

After 25 years on the job, Detective Roscoe Conklin (also known as R) retires to Bonaire, a small island nestled in the Southern Caribbean. He is now the owner of a resort – more of a hotel than a ‘resort’. He’s well-settled; his resort is going pretty well. He has Erika to help him with the bookings and Arabella, a local cop, as his girlfriend.

Roscoe is eagerly waiting for his friend Tiffany and her boyfriend to arrive. R receives a phone call from the States, saying his best friend and partner Bill and his wife Marybeth are dead. They were murdered. R is devastated to hear this. Tiffany arrives soon after but her boyfriend Lester seems a little sketchy.

Arabella lands in the hospital after a mishap involving R’s car. R learns his car was sabotaged with. Was he the intended target?

Diver’s Paradise is Davin Goodwin’s debut novel. The story is a tad inclined towards psychological thriller. We have a certain somebody who is hell-bent on revenge. But why? Roscoe is informed of his friend’s death but when he pesters the department (at States) for more information, they cut him off. The local police (at Bonaire) warn him to stay away from an ongoing investigation – Roscoe feels they haven’t been doing enough to catch the murderer.

As the story proceeds, we see Bill and Marybeth’s death is not the only one Roscoe has to deal with. Someone in Bonaire gets killed too and that is when Roscoe knows the two cases are connected.

Red herrings are plenty. As the story began, I thought I knew who the killer was – most of the clues pointed out to them. Also, their edgy behaviour was a giveaway. But don’t let this fool you into thinking this is an inverted mystery. Halfway through the story,  we see a small twist in the story.

If the first half was a little slow, the second half definitely makes up for it. The reader is not made aware of a few secrets until the end. These secrets are the missing pieces of the puzzle, or in this case, the mystery behind the murders.

As a debut, this book is certainly very impressive. I wouldn’t say all the characters were likeable. But that is what makes this story interesting. If you are mystery and suspense lover, I recommend you to read Diver’s Paradise by Davin Goodwin.

Second Opinion: Anjana @Superfluous Reading

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I received an ARC from Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.