Diver's Paradise
Former detective Roscoe “R” Conklin lives on Bonaire, a tropical island in the southern Caribbean. Now the owner of the YellowRock hotel resort, Conklin’s closest contact with law enforcement should be his police officer girlfriend, Arabella, but after his former partner, Bill Ryberg, and his wife Marybeth are found murdered in their home back in Rockford, IL, Conklin can’t help but let his investigative instincts take over.
In Davin Goodwin’s mystery, Diver’s Paradise (Oceanview), Conklin must use his experience and expertise as a detective to make sense of the series of tragedies that befall his community following the untimely deaths of his friends.
Conklin is retired, yet he can’t seem to stop living in the past — or at least, he can’t seem to quit playing detective. Sure, his partner and friend of 25 years has been murdered — any concerned loved one would want answers — but his unsolicited investigation keeps getting active police officers into trouble, including Arabella. He has been told repeatedly to stay out of it, but Conklin insists on being kept in the loop and offering his own theories.
DISTRACTION QUICKLY BECOMES FATAL
Meanwhile, Bonaire has just welcomed Conklin’s long-time friend Tiffany and her new boyfriend Lester onto the island. With the tragic news of the Rybergs’ demise still fresh, Tiffany’s arrival is a welcome distraction. An experienced scuba diver, Conklin plans to take his friend out to explore the beautiful waters, but he notices something is amiss between the couple — namely, Lester’s obsession with a mysterious guest at the YellowRock. Shouldn’t he be spending more time with his girlfriend and less with this Mandy person?
Tiffany’s visit begins to take a turn when a car accident lands Arabella in the hospital. Conklin soon realizes that the crash wasn’t an accident. Someone tampered with his car. Arabella wasn’t supposed to get hurt — he was.
Just when it looks like the worse is over, someone else is murdered. As Conklin shifts his investigation from Rockford to Bonaire, the people closest to him are at risk, and now the Bonaire police have turned their investigation on Conklin, the retiree who just can’t seem to act like it. Then again, “patience during an investigation had never been one of [his] virtues.”
Perhaps, Conklin’s unshakable need to work the case is less about protecting his loved ones and more about protecting himself. Afterall, he’s been trained to “do the job while investing as little feeling as possible,” and what person wants to feel the loss of several close friends?
But Conklin will have to dig up the ugly pieces of his past if he’s going to put this puzzle together and prevent the murderer from killing again.
AUTHORIAL EXPERIENCE CREATES STUNNING BACKDROP
Goodwin, a trained scuba diver familiar with Bonaire, offers his readers an intimate look at the island’s landscape. His personal experience lends the novel an authentically strong sense of place that anyone suffering from wanderlust will appreciate. But Goodwin’s familiarity with Bonaire and scuba diving aren’t the only bits of his experience he contributes to Diver’s Paradise. His background as an aerial photographer and flight instructor also add to the novel’s clear setting.
And for those readers who enjoy detail of procedure, Goodwin funnels his expertise through the narrative, taking time to explain the process of scuba diving, piloting an airplane and investigative thinking. When you’ve finished the book, you’ll have mastered all three yourself — or at least, you’ll be able to impress friends with some very specific small talk at your next social gathering.
For more on Davin Goodwin, visit his BookTrib author profile page.
