What a great novel. I really enjoyed it. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and appreciated getting to know a new location in the Caribbean. I liked the characters. Goodwin has done a good job of creating characters I cared about and wanted to see succeed. And the mystery was good with systematic gathering of clues and plenty of red herrings.

But the best part was the Dutch influence. Being of Dutch descent myself, I loved that aspect of the novel. And to read one of the characters say a phrase I've heard so often, every time an odd couple would walk by: there's not a pot so crooked there's not a lid to fit it. What fun. I will certainly be looking for more from this author.

I recommend this novel to mystery lovers who enjoy a great setting, well developed characters, a mystery well plotted, and a good dose of suspense near the end.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Diver's Paradise ended up being a pleasant surprise. I read this book in one sitting. I was sucked right in from the beginning of the mystery. The opening was a shocking scene and made me want to keep reading. I don't want to talk plot too much. I think it's a book you are better off going in knowing very little. I was sure I knew what was going on, but I was completely wrong. That is my favorite type of mystery.

Aside from the mystery, the characters and the setting really made the book. "R" is the type of detective that I can really get behind. I'm not sure if this is a stand alone, but I wold love to see him as well as his girlfriend, Arabella in future books. I also loved the SOuth Caribbean setting. Especially now as we are all in quarantine and can't go anywhere. It was a great escape for a while. This is a great debut novel. I look forward to reading more from this author. Give this one a try..

When an ex-cop's retirement is interrupted by a series of murders he can't keep himself from getting involved in the investigation.

Diver's Paradise by Davin Goodwin falls into the category of what I refer to as a "pleasant time waster". A generic kind of mystery that doesn't take much effort to follow. It's okay but nothing special.

The plot is a bit weak with at least one plot twist that really struggles to be believable. The former detective who has retired to a small island paradise has possibilities but the character seems almost willfully dull-witted at times.

There is some brief descriptions of violent death and a handful of 4-letter words.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Detective Roscoe (call me R) Conklin is living on Bonaire after retiring from the Rockford P.D. Life is good with his girlfriend Arabella who is an officer with the local police department. He is stunned when he receives word that former detective Bill Ryberg and his wife Marybeth were murdered in their home. For someone to get to Bill, it had to be someone that he knew. Strange incidents begin to happen on his island paradise. When he is attacked, could his disagreement with a local laborer be involved? After his girlfriend is injured while driving his Jeep, he is sure that he is the target with no idea who is after him…and why. A little confusing towards the end when all is revealed. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

I tried to read this, and was on the blog tour but I couldn’t finish it! I really struggled with the writing style and to stay engaged with the story. Sorry!

The writing is good, and the dialogue and the characters are great, but the plot is weak because there's too much stupidity and a few strange things.

As someone who loves to SCUBA dive any time I try to read anything with SCUBA as a plot point. I also try to support authors from my home state of Wisconsin. So when I saw Diver’s Paradise by Wisconsin writer Davin Goodwin I just had to read it.


Diver’s Paradise
Diver’s Paradise is set on the island of Bonaire. Retired officer Roscoe Conklin has moved to the island to run a hotel. His life is a perfect retirement. Sun, beer and beautiful ocean dives.

That idea retirement is shattered when he finds out his old partner was murdered. To coincide with the murder news Conklin is playing host to an old friend visiting. His life is complicated trying to balance entraining his friend and calling his old PD to find out about his partner’s murder.

The situation gets worse when Roscoe’s girlfriend, an island police officer, has an accident. Followed by a murder on the island. The local police don’t seem equipped to handle the investigation and the evidence in the case does not line up. Then Roscoe figures out maybe he was the target.

This is author Davin Goodwin’s first novel. I sure hope it is the start of a series. Roscoe could be an interesting character to read over many more books. Also, Bonaire and his owning a hotel would make a great backdrop for more misadventures.

Anyone looking to start reading a new series should make sure to check out Diver’s Paradise. It has some solid police procedural aspects mixed with the smaller town cozy feel from being on an island. The mystery of the story is solid and the ending was solid.

Pick up your copy of Diver’s Paradise when it comes out on April 7, 2020.

A free review copy of this book was provided via NetGalley for this unbiased review.

Diver’s Paradise is a debut novel by author Davin Goodwin.

Roscoe Conklin is a retired police detective enjoying the life on the island of Bonaire, on which he has bought and manages a ten rooms hotel. Bonaire is in the south Carribean, and is a little paradise the former detective makes the most of.

At the beginning of the novel, he’s informed of the death of his former partner, and of his wife back in the States. It’s a shock for Conklin, but there isn’t much he can do about it. That is, until trouble finds him on the island. First in the form of the new assholy boyfriend of his friend Tiffany, whom he met on a case some years prior, and then in the form of violence, seemingly having found its way to him from the US.

For a debut novel, the writing is quite impressive. Words are flowing and the book is an easy read. The author knows the island of Bonaire on which he practices diving, flying, and banjo, traits inherited by his character. The depiction of the island and its locales both over and underwater is quite relaxing, as it must be for our hero.

Pleasant as it is to read, the book is unfortunately often frustrating. We don’t know how good Roscoe Conklin was as a detective, but he points out his partner was the better one. Retirement seems to have mellowed him a bit, too, as he misses a lot of clues and connections the reader manages to easily make. Conklin also fails to take appropriate actions at several points. His apathy at the manner Tiffany’s boyfriend is treating her being the first of such frustrations. Maybe that’s a cultural difference between Americans and French, so I won’t hold that against the author.

For the notable exception of Conklin’s cop girlfriend Arabella, the police on the island also often comes as incompetent, not doing due diligence on several pretty serious incidents.

As a consequence, many tragedies happen that could have been averted and, if this book was to become a series, I hope Conklin will get back some of his edge as a detective.

Nonetheless, this was a quick and still entertaining read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

This is a nice, comfortable book if you wanted to spend a lazy afternoon reading a crime novel. The descriptions about the Carribean are in-depth and makes me want to visit the place. It would be a relaxing read and not much active thinking would be required as the story unfolds. There are some unexpected plot twists in this which surprised me, but I did not like how half of the characters were killed before I got to know them better.
#DiversParadise #NetGalley

The best thing about this otherwise unmemorable mystery is the locale, the diver's paradise not just of the title but of an under appreciated island in the Dutch Antilles, Bonaire. A retired cop living the dream running a down-scale motel near the beach learns that his best friend from home and his wife have been brutally murdered, and it looks like someone else has been followed to Bonaire by the killer - is our hero next? He's too one-dimensional as a character to work up much of an interest, but the descriptions of the underwater scenery that makes Bonaire heaven for scuba divers almost makes up for the book's flaws.