Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Paradise by Patricia Wolf

 
First Lines: She wakes with a start. Her bedroom is dark, too dark, and her heart is thumping hard in her chest. She can hear something.
 
Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker of the Australian Federal Police has been sent to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast to conduct some seminars while he recuperates from an injury he sustained in his last investigation. It's not a bad gig, since his father's friend set him up in a very nice apartment right on the beach. 
 
His recovery is going so well that he's feeling restless and asks the local police if he can help in any way. He's asked to take a look at the execution-style murder of a small-time drug dealer, but while he's working that case, he finds himself drawn into the big case that has everyone's attention. A young mother was brutally murdered and her little daughter was left in a coma in a house invasion gone tragically wrong.
 
As Walker lends a hand, a case from his own past resurfaces, yet it's the plight of little Gabby that has his attention. Walker is determined to find her mother's killer before that person returns to get rid of the only witness: Gabby herself.
 
~
 
After reading Patricia Wolf's first Lucas Walker mystery, Outback, I looked forward to reading this second installment. For the most part, I was happy with Paradise-- happy to learn a bit about another part of Australia, and happy to tag along with Lucas Walker for a while. 
 
Lucas Walker is a very likable character, and in Paradise, he's grieving over the death of his beloved grandmother, the woman who raised him.  He's also recuperating from injuries sustained in Outback-- something that I will be referring to again. This man is intelligent, persistent, compassionate, and empathetic. Now, you see those first two characteristics a lot, but you seldom see the last two used to describe a male police officer, and it's refreshing.

Since Walker is not supposed to be working on the case involving the little girl, Gabby, he has to fly beneath the radar in his attempts to gather crucial information. One of his sources is Barbara, the German police officer in Berlin whom he met in Outback. I liked the interactions between the two even though Walker was risking a lot bringing Barbara into the investigation in any size, shape, or form. 

There are two mysteries to solve in Paradise. One involving drugs and people Walker dealt with in the previous book and the investigation concerning the murder of Gabby's mother. Both suffered from an initial glacial pace. I don't always have a good track record concerning drugs, and I have to admit that I was tired of it all and hoped there could be a bit of deus ex machina so these prime examples of pond scum would all just disappear. I know. No such luck. As for the second mystery, I found the killer's identity extremely easy to deduce; all that was left was learning how the person did it.

Although I did have problems with the pacing and the drugs, overall I did like the book and am looking forward to book three. And as for that third book, I'm hoping Walker can have a nice injury-free vacation in Germany. I don't think his body can take much more abuse.
 
Paradise by Patricia Wolf
eISBN: 9781471411717
Embla Books © 2023
eBook, 370 pages
 
Police Procedural, #2 Lucas Walker mystery
Rating: B
Source: Net Galley 

6 comments:



  1. Omigosh, no wrestling with Google. I'm glad to see you liked this book, despite the pacing and drug problems. I have found most books set in Australia are pretty good. Now I am reading Barbara Kingsolver's Pulitzer Prize-winning biij Demon Copperhead, The opioid epidemic is in it, but the writer's aim is to expose Big Pharma, while showing the culture in which it exists and factors that contribute to it.

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    1. Don't mind me, but I think I'm going to give Demon Copperhead a pass. Big Pharma has its tentacles in all facets of our lives and has had for years. One night while one of our English nieces was visiting, we were watching TV, and I happened to think about what we were watching from her perspective. I said, "From our commercials, you probably think Americans believe they can solve all their problems with a pill and white teeth." She nodded. That was several years ago. Today, I'd keep the pill and white teeth, but I'd add that now the Eyes on Our Wallets want Americans to believe that all women have leaky bladders, too.

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  2. I'm glad you found a lot to like in this one, Cathy, even if there was too much about the drugs, and even though the pacing was a bit off. The atmosphere sounds well done, and I do like the setting!

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    1. Yes, there is a lot to like about this one, Margot.

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  3. Mysteries around drugs and drug dealing are never my favorite. The Australian setting is nice though.

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    1. I think we share quite a bit of reading DNA, Lark.

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