I thought I had written a review of Paradise Cove by Davin Goodwin, but if I did, I don't know where I wrote it. I read it more than a year ago, so I don't remember the details. I remember I enjoyed it and hoped I could read more by this author with this protagonist.

The formatting did make it quite a difficult and frustrating read but, overlooking that, I did really enjoy the book. I haven't yet read the first book but I feel this read well as a stand alone. I thought the characters were interesting and I quite like the idea of living on an island so the setting was great.

Brief Synopsis: When a human leg washes ashore, retired cop Roscoe Conklin quickly finds himself submerged into another case.

Thoughts: Though this is book two of the Roscoe Conklin Mystery series, it can be read as a standalone novel. The narrative contains a diverse cast of realistic characters. The writing style is linear and easy to read. In addition, the descriptive writing helped bring this small island town to life in my mind. And right from the beginning the suspense factor is unleashed. I do think there was some unneeded “mansplaining” going on at times. The ending was ok, not overly thrilling but ok. I think I wanted a bigger bang like how the beginning pages started out.

Thank you to Davin Goodwin, Oceanview Publishing, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. If you enjoy a detective murder mystery, you will enjoy this one.

I read and liked the first book in this series. It was mainly because of the new location, culture and relationships represented in the book.
Our lead protagonist is a retired man running a hotel in Bonaire. This book does not venture too much into the history of the first instalment to give us a background of who does what. If the plot happens to involve another person, what they do is shown as an action instead of being narrated to us separately. I appreciated this method of giving information since most series' tend to lose a point when they give me a whole flashback during the current story. I know that people new to a series might appreciate it, but it feels disruptive.
In this case, we first meet the villain cutting someone up. This is followed by the discovery of a body part. Roscoe gets involved almost against his wishes. To add to that issue, he is further tasked with finding out if a woman is cheating on her husband. Both of these have to be kept hidden from his girlfriend, which puts a strain on their relationship.
Although the story was a little choppy at times, I liked the town and the people and their interactions. I was not as enamoured by the central mystery. It seemed quite obvious the route the story was going to take, and I was not as invested in it as I had hoped to be.

I liked the first better than this and would still recommend this series to those who like mysteries set in tropical islands. I would also pick up the next book in the series if I had the chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I loved the setting and the characters!! I guessed the mystery pretty quickly and then the rest seemed a little repetitive. I still think it would be a fun summer read!!

I enjoyed the story, it is well put together. Unusually for me, I guessed the murderer pretty quickly!

Roscoe Conklin, known as R, is a retired policeman, he moved to the Caribbean and now runs a small hotel in Bonaire. He is on the beach when a human leg is washed to shore, and from the tattoo he knows it belongs to Rulio, his friend and workmate Erika’s nephew, who has been missing for a few days. Erika asks him to find out what happened, which is difficult for him as his girlfriend Arabella is a leading policeman. Nevertheless he does start investigating, and the bodies start to pile up or vanish - and they are all people he has spoken to about the case. I do think he was a bit slow in recognising that connection!

I was concerned throughout the book the he might be a high-functioning alcoholic, a bit too much time in the book is taken up with him drinking bottles of Amstel Bright lager, he seems to down them one after the other on a regular basis! The only time he avoids drinking is when he is planning to fly to Curaçao, a neighbouring island.

It is a decent read for a sunny afternoon.

I love novels set in paradise-like settings so this mystery definitely fit the bill. Great procedural details, plenty of twists and turns, and very likeable characters. I look forward to the next instalment.

Paradise Cove is a very soothing mystery, if that’s even a thing LOL. The beachy setting and vibes were so chill, and throwing a mystery into the mix made this a winner of a book! It’s definitely a police procedural style mystery, but I liked the detective and thought this was a solid, albeit beachy, mystery novel.

A great book by a new author to me. I love finding new authors and supporting them! I can’t wait to read more by this one and recommend them to others.

Paradise Cove was the first book I’d read by Davin Goodwin, the second in his Roscoe Conklin Mystery series. The publisher called it to my attention, and the blurb enticed me to dive in. Many times, when I’m asked, I accept most any book I’m offered as long as it falls roughly within the crime fiction spectrum. As a result, I read many books that aren’t exactly what I might choose to read for pleasure alone. Not to say I don’t enjoy many of them. But once in a great while, I accept a book like this one which turns out to be right in my wheelhouse. I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately headed to the bookstore and bought Diver’s Paradise, the first book in the series. So, as I write this review, I’ve now read two of Goodwin’s books and can’t wait for the next one in this entertaining series.

It didn’t really matter that I read the second book in the series first since Goodwin recaps most everything we want to know from the first book. So, both this book and the other work well as a standalone.

I really like the Roscoe Conklin character, a former police detective from a suburb of Chicago who is living out his retirement years on Bonaire, an island in the Leeward Antilles in the Dutch Caribbean. I’ve known for a long while that Bonaire boasts some of the best diving in the world, but it’s one island in the Caribbean I’ve never visited it. And Goodwin makes it come alive so effectively that it left me wanting to plan a visit to Bonaire soon.

While retired, Conklin does a little unofficial private investigative work. Since he has no license for it, despite his police experience, he’s more of an amateur sleuth. And he doesn’t go looking for cases, but friends and acquaintances persuade him to do investigations from time to time. That’s how he becomes involved in a murder investigation the story centers on after the severed leg of someone he knew washes up on the beach. Conklin is unabashedly lazy and drinks beer almost continuously, which provides just enough flaws to make him interesting and believable, but not so flawed that he’s unlikable.

Besides Conklin, Goodwin offers an array of other interesting, well-drawn characters. There’s Conklin’s love interest, Arabella De Groot, a Bonaire police officer, and Erika, a Bonaire woman who works for Conklin and helps run his 10-unit hotel. Both are delightful strong women characters who do their best to keep Conklin in line in their own unique ways.

Interestingly, given his background as a cop and professional investigator, Conklin misses a lot of clues and is far from perfect. He’s also not the Harry Bosch type and frequently comes out on the losing end of confrontations with the bad guys. But with Arabella’s help, he solves the case. Conklin’s failure to connect the dots at time aside, this is a nice twisty whodunit and the author effectively keeps us guessing through the liberal use of red herrings until he reveals the murderer’s identity.

I enjoyed this book a lot, especially Goodwin’s conversational writing style, and I’m already looking forward to the third book in the series.

Oceanview Publishing Sarasota, Florida published Paradise Cove by Davin Goodwin on April 5, 2022. I received an advanced copy from the publisher via NetGalley used for this review which represents my honest opinions.

A totally enjoyable read of mystery, retirement and life on an island. Has interesting characters, marvelous travelogues and an amazing mystery.

Looking forward to reading more of his novels.

Every day is paradise on Bonaire—until something unexpected washes ashore
On the laid-back island of Bonaire, every day is paradise until a seaweed-entangled human leg washes ashore. Combing the beach, retired cop Roscoe Conklin examines the scene and quickly determines that the leg belongs to the nephew of a close friend.
The island police launch an investigation, but with little evidence and no suspects, their progress comes to a frustrating halt. Then, thanks to a unique barter with the lead detective, Conklin finds himself in possession of the case file. He can now aggressively probe for his own answers.
Sifting through the scant clues, eager to bring the killer to justice, Conklin struggles to maintain forward momentum. He has all the pieces. He can feel it. But he’d better get them snapped together soon.
Otherwise, the body count will continue to rise. I would highly recommend this book to… anyone and everyone! This book will stay with you long after you've finished it,

Well written mystery. R and Arabella work well together. Have been to Bonaire and enjoyed the revisit. Even in paradise there's crazy and evil. Will eagerly await the next in the series.

Paradise Cove is the sequel to Diver's Paradise featuring Roscoe "R" Conklin. This time around, a severed leg has washed up on the shore of a beach on Bonaire. Roscoe recognizes the tattoo and has to tell his friend that her nephew has been murdered. Roscoe finds himself investigating what happened.

I really enjoyed this one as much as the first one. The author did a great job of layout the clues to the mystery in a way that kept me guessing. I didn't call the ending. What I am loving the most about the series is Roscoe. He is such a great character. He just wants to enjoy the island, his girlfriend and live a peaceful retirement. But he keeps getting pulled into mysteries. I love his relationship with Arabella and how it is progressing. I really got a kick out of the t-shirts that she wears. I found myself looking forward to what the shirt said in each new scene. I hope this series continues. I highly recommend this one.

I loved the island setting, the mystery of body parts and a story to keep you guessing and wondering is always enjoyable. The storyline was good, somewhat slow but held together by following the main character Conklin as he works to solve a murder.
Conklin, or R as he’s known, takes you on an investigative journey, all readers will be interested in solving the mystery.
This book is an easy read, somewhat long winded at times, but worth getting to know Conklin and his cast of many!

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I could not even get into this story with all the missing letters on words made it impossible. I know this is an ARC but please, missing letters so much that I have to keep re-reading a sentence to figure out the word? I did NOT finish this book due to extremely poor editing.

I have read a previous book by Davin Goodwin called Diver’s Paradise. Goodwin had me hooked on his character in the first few pages of that one. This book is no different. Roscoe Conklin or “R” as he likes to be called, is once again the main character and “character” is a pretty good description of him too. This is another excellent mystery and the setting in the Caribbean made me think I was holding some beautiful fruit drink in my hand:)

Basically what I’m saying is that I think the author is good at descriptive writing. Oddly enough, I don’t think I noticed it until I got further into the book. All of a sudden, I was on the beach, watching the ocean. I was even watching the iguanas and lizards. Goodwin puts it all together. He also throws in a dead body or at least part of one to make it a good cop or ex-cop mystery. Roscoe or “R” is that perfect ex-cop character. He’s a private investigator, but not really since he has no license. He’s tough and yet soft and swimmingly handsome. At least I think he must be from Goodwin’s description. Wow, I got carried away, didn’t I?

I said previously that the style or character reminded me a little of the Travis McGee mysteries I read long ago. I hope Mr. Goodwin will take this as the complement it is meant to be, and I hope he’ll keep writing mysteries for “R” to solve.

This is a mystery where the setting makes the plot work. The island off Venezuela with the Dutch influence is the most interesting aspect of the novel. The plot is also interesting with many curves and plenty of suspects.

I was a bit disappointed by the action of the hero, Conklin. He's a retired policeman but sure does not act like one. Rather than a methodical investigation, he bumbles along. Some of his actions seem meaningless or counter productive. He often makes rash acts out of anger, antagonizing others rather than getting them to help. And he fails to tell his detective girlfriend important information in a timely manner.

I feel Conklin was a more engaging hero in the first novel in this series. Goodwin plans to write more featuring him and I hope the next will see the hero as a more controlled and effective (retired policeman) amateur sleuth.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

On the small Dutch island of Bonaire, a leg washes to shore.
As Roscoe Conklin is a retired cop, his need to know is deeply engrained. He recognizes the leg from a tattoo; it is Rulio.
Arabella De Groot, local Sergeant and R’s girlfriend is sent to investigate.

A mystery detective novel involving many characters on this small Caribbean island.
This unusual story kept me page turning to its intriguing end.

Slow, Relaxed Burn..
The second in the Roscoe Conklin mystery series set in the paradise island of Bonaire. Sun, sea, sand and…human remains. Unfortunately. When the leg washes up an investigation is launched with little success. Until Roscoe gets his hands on the case file. Can he solve the case before the body counts rises further? An enjoyable mystery with a good sense of place and well drawn characters. A slow, relaxed burn giving a easy going reading vibe.