Title: Paradise Cove (Roscoe Conklin Mystery #2)
Author: Davin Goodwin
Published on: 5 April 2022
Genre: Mystery and Thrillers
On the laid-back island of Bonaire, every day is a paradise until a seaweed-entangled human leg washes ashore. Roscoe Conklin is lazing on the beach after a swim when he hears a commotion. He examines the scene and determines the leg belongs to Rulio, nephew of Erika.
Arabella De Groot, detective and Roscoe’s girlfriend arrives at the scene of crime. She and Roscoe have to give Erika the bad news. She’s heart-broken on hearing the news – she looked after Rulio as her own after the death of his parents.
Meanwhile, Inspector Schleper, Arabella’s boss, asks Roscoe to follow his wife. He believes she’s cheating on him and wants Roscoe to find out the truth. Roscoe is not a licensed PI but it doesn’t matter to the inspector. In return, the inspector is ready to provide Roscoe with files pertaining to Rulio’s murder investigation.
Though the clues are hardly sufficient to investigate, Roscoe wants to find Rulio’s killer and bring them to justice.
Paradise Cove is the second book in Davin Goodwin’s Roscoe Conklin Mystery series. Roscoe is a retired law enforcement officer associated with the Violent Crimes Division of Rockford, Illinois PD. He moved to Bonaire a couple of years ago and invested his retirement money in YellowRock resort. He is in a steady relationship with a local detective named Arabella De Groot.
The story begins with the killer chopping up a body – they have taken all the precautions necessary to make sure the blood doesn’t seep from the tarpaulin and onto the boat. They have attached each piece of the body with heavy weights so that none of the body parts wash ashore. But no killer is perfect. A few days later, a leg washes ashore and Roscoe identifies it as that of Rulio’s.
Rulio was working as a diver before getting fired for a diving incident that left an American diver dead. Rulio was not at fault but nobody wanted to hire him anymore. His girlfriend Sandra managed to get him a job as a dishwasher at Paradise Cove.
Paradise Cove is a new resort at Bonaire. Though the resort is still under construction, the restaurant attached to it is open to public. An American couple are the owners of Paradise Cove. Roscoe meets the couple during a diving expedition and ends up getting an invitation at the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Inspector Schleper wants Roscoe to follow his wife. He doubts she’s cheating on him. Chuck, an American who’s now settled in Bonaire, is known to be a ladies man. He wants Roscoe and Arabelle to meet his latest girlfriend. Well, I have given enough hints so let’s move ahead with the murder mystery.
The mystery behind Rulio’s murder has a lot more to do than just revenge. Roscoe has to keep secrets from Arabella but at what cost? Is it worth risking his relationship with her in exchange of an evidence or two? Roscoe starts to investigate Rulio’s murder as well as continue his PI duties (following the inspector’s wife) but hardly finds any sufficient evidence. Then, things change for good. Or worse, whichever way you want to take it.
Someone is arrested for a murder. Roscoe believes they are innocent but Arabella doesn’t. Soon, certain things become clear – and Roscoe must play the game carefully. Otherwise, he might end up at the receiving end of something bad.
The mystery behind the murder kept me guessing till the end. I have read the first book of this series, Diver’s Paradise, and was eagerly waiting to learn of Roscoe’s future sleuthing adventures. Consider me impressed because I absolutely enjoyed reading Paradise Cove. Be it the setting or the character development or the mystery itself, this book is absolutely fantastic!
The second half is where things get really interesting. By chance, Roscoe stumbles across something sinister. Shady people and their shady dealings. Uff! People are getting hurt – especially those who are somehow related to the murder case. Hmm, the plot thickens.
The storytelling is simply superb and the mystery keeps one guessing till the end. Identity of the killer was a huge shocker. They seemed so nice and sweet, but turns out, it was just a mask waiting to fall…
If you love murder mysteries set in paradise/exotic locations, you might want to give Paradise Cove by Davin Goodwin a try.
I received an ARC from OceanView Publishing and Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
The Book Decoder 
Sounds a good mystery but with all that chop chop, may be not one for me.
😂😂
Sounds like a good book Rekha