She Treads Softly: Death at Paradise Park

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Death at Paradise Park

Death at Paradise Park by Ross Greenwood
10/30/23; 469 pages
Boldwood Books
DS Ashley Knight #2

Death at Paradise Park by Ross Greenwood is a very highly recommended police procedural. If you enjoy detailed procedurals that closely follow the investigation, you are going to love Death at Paradise Park. Although this is the second book featuring DS Ashley Knight, it works well as a stand alone novel, however then you will want to get the first in the series, Death on Cromer Beach.

The first victim was Alfie Hook, who was killed while eating his fish and chips by the Hunstanton seaside. When DS Ashley Knight, her rookie partner Hector Fade, and her Major Investigation Team from the Norfolk Police are called to investigate, they realize that this isn't going to be a simple case once they discover who Alfie is married to. Then a second body is discovered at the nearby Paradise Caravan Park. There are seemingly no clues tying the two murders to each other and then the body count rises.

The writing is exceptional in this fast paced, detailed investigative procedural. If you love following clues and trying to piece complicated details together as they are discovered, this will be an un-put-downable novel. As the death count rises, it becomes a breath-taking mad dash against time as the team tries to figure out what is going on and why before someone else becomes a victim. There are surprises and twist along the way during the investigation.

The narrative unfolds through Ashley's point-of-view. She is a reliable, intelligent, insightful investigator and narrator. Time is also spent developing the characters so they feel like real, unique individuals. Dialogue between characters occurs naturally and is sometimes humorous. If needed, a helpful list of characters is found at the beginning of the novel to help keep track of who is who.

Death at Paradise Park is an excellent police procedural with a strong plot and fully realized characters that will keep you guessing right up to the surprising ending.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Boldwood Books via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.