Book Review: Death in Paradise Park, DS Knight Book 2, Ross Greenwood
Mystery: Death in Paradise Park, DS Knight Book 2, Ross Greenwood
Ah, the joys of being in a Ross Greenwood first chapter. The beautiful setting, a parking lot overlooking a beautiful view. The smell and taste of fresh fish and chips. The exploration of the character and recent past of one Alfie Hook. The violent, brutal, and abrupt end to Alfie’s life. First chapters really get the blood flowing, even if it’s flowing out of a body.
DS Ashley Knight leads the investigation into Alfie’s death. His killer left no clues, so police start canvassing a nearby caravan park. (I’m not 100% certain we have a US equivalent, though after reading about Paradise Park I am not entirely sure we want one.) During their canvas they find an awful smell that might be coming from the nearby wetlands. It isn’t. One of the residents is found dead in her hot tub, along with a nice fish she had likely intended for her dinner.
Knight’s investigation continues as bodies and suspects pile up. Alfie’s wife had just been released from prison. She had worked for a gangster, and although the gangster had retired and married into wealth, was it possible that she was still involved in criminality and wanted to send a message? A lothario within the caravan park, the caravan park manager, and the gangster’s husband all receive scrutiny. Not to mention a mysterious “cowboy” who seems to enter and leave the park without being detected.
Greenwood pulls the reader along with DS Knight and her team as they search for clues, eliminate suspects, or find the killer(s) have eliminated the suspects for them. All along he brings the setting to life through smells and sounds in the area. British police procedures have much in common with those in the US, but some of the differences can be startling to American readers who have a hard time imagining a police force that is not armed with guns. This story actually has a fair amount of gunfire for a story set in Britain–not that I would have missed it were it not there.
I started this series with the second book. I liked it enough that I got my (digital) hands on the first book. DS Knight and her team are characters I look forward to reading about more as the story continues.
Our thanks to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for our copy of Death in Paradise Park, provided so we could give an honest review as part of a blog tour. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives, check out the other bloggers on this tour.
Book Review: Death in Paradise Park, DS Knight Book 2, Ross Greenwood