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 

Outback by Patricia Wolf

 

First Line: Rita is watching the temperature gauge creep towards the red.

 

Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker is on compassionate leave to take care of his dying grandmother in the small Australian outback town of Caloodie when he's asked to help out on a case involving two missing German backpackers.

 

Walker can't figure out why he's been asked to work the case because chances are excellent that the two young people decided to opt out of hard farm work to head back to the Queensland coast where they can enjoy the sand and surf.

 

Walker is soon joined by the older sister of one of the backpackers, who is a detective herself on the Berlin police force. She's flown to Australia and is desperate to find her sister before it's too late.

 

Having worked in the organized crime unit of the Australian Federal Police, Walker soon becomes convinced that there's more going on than meets the eye in this missing persons case, but the presence of the German police officer can often be a hindrance as she becomes impatient and goes her own way, knowing little of the people or her surroundings. 

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Author Patricia Wolf gives readers an excellent sense of the vast distances and the landscape of the Australian outback. She's also created a very interesting main character in Lucas Walker. As a child, he was raised by his grandmother until his mother decided she was ready for parental responsibility which is when he moved to the United States for ten years. He came back to Australia and joined the Federal Police, spending several years as an undercover cop. 

His sidekick in Outback is Detective Sergeant Barbara Guerra, a member of the Berlin police force and the daughter of parents who escaped the Pinochet regime in Chile. Her missing sister has always had the tendency to get into trouble, and Barbara has always had the tendency to bail her out of it. Her primary objective, once she arrives in Australia, is to convince the police-- including Walker-- that her sister, Rita, is really missing and in danger. The local law enforcement has seen too many instances of young people changing their travel plans and then not getting in touch with friends and family because the cell phone reception is extremely poor there.

 

The interplay between Walker and Guerra kept the story moving along, and I enjoyed watching the German trying to cope with the unforgiving climate. There is a lot more going on than merely a missing persons case, too. All in all, Outback is a compelling story, and I'm hoping to see more of Lucas Walker in the future.

Outback by Patricia Wolf

eISBN: 9781471411700

Embla Books © 2022

eBook, 349 pages

 

Police Procedural, #1 DS Lucas Walker

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley