Thursday, November 9, 2017

Death on Paradise Island

National rugby hero Josefa Horseman returns home to Fiji from one year rehabbing his knee in the United States. When he returns home, he discovers he has been promoted Detective Inspector at his day job on the Fiji Police Force. In Death on Paradise Island by B.M. Allsopp, Joe is thrown right into the case of a drowned woman.

Without so much as a chance to sleep after his 24-hour plane ride, Joe is sent to a luxury resort called Paradise Island to investigate the drowning of one of the maids. Most everyone thinks Nisi accidentally drowned, and her family has already prepared her for burial, clearly destroying any exterior evidence. But the postmortem reveals, Nisi did not drown and she had had either a miscarriage or an abortion in the previous week.

There are plenty of suspects including her uncle Jona, an angry man tasked with keeping an eye on his niece; Dr. Vijay Chakra, who has disappeared from the scene; Maika, Nisi's boyfriend; and Bill Burgermeister, a scientist
leading the marine reserve project. Joe and his team including Sergeant Susila Singh fan out on the island to look for a motive.

Even in Paradise there are secrets, lies and hidden jealousies that lead Joe and his team on a strange path to solve the crime.

In the back of Joe's mind is his rugby career. He is positive he will be recovered enough to play again after resting this season, but nearly everyone he meets comments on his retirement from the game and his promotion in the police department.

This is an interesting mystery that shows even Paradise can be a place where bad things happen, and there are people who seem to have a perfect life wishing for more. I enjoyed Death on Paradise Island and hope there are more books in this series.


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