Ross Greenwood, Death at Paradise Park

 I’m conscious that much of my reading in recent months has been of a light and fluffy nature – I haven’t felt much able to engage with grittiness recently, daily life has been demanding enough. So Death at Paradise Park was slightly more of a challenge than it might have been. Having said that, by most people’s standards, it’s probably not particularly gritty. The central police team of Ashley, Hector and Barry are all likeable and, in their different ways, efficient investigators, although the case they have to deal with is convoluted enough to leave them all searching for connections between a string of murders in and near a caravan park.

The high-end holiday homes at one end of the park have become the playground of a group of retirees and the comfortably off, all content to spend 11 months of the year in the pursuit of leisure. But then Jasmine is found dead in her hot tub – an accident, or murder? If an accident, why was the pool cover on? It’s rather odd, too, that a builder’s delivery driver was killed just outside the park. And another resident has recently killed herself. The coincidences pile up.

I feel a little ambivalent about the book. I found the writing style was occasionally slightly confusing. Nothing that going back and re-reading a paragraph or three wouldn’t sort out, but I did find myself doing that several times, which is unusual. I think it was a matter of pronouns, and characters being not always being identified clearly – this is in the interests of being cryptic about who’s doing what, but it wasn’t necessarily helpful to the reader. However, it might have been at least in part my fault, in that I really didn’t like any of the non-police characters and found it hard to engage with them. Which takes me back to my preference at present for the light and fluffy.

Considering that the police team seem to enjoy unprecedented support from their superior officers, with Armed Response Vehicles regularly at the ready, the deaths really pile up. I’d have expected a better clear-up rate, quite honestly. No wonder new detective Hector is wobbling a bit. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the team gets another outing at some point. I see that Greenwood has written another series of linked crime novels, as well as thrillers, and I imagine that this one will get a positive reception from his existing readership, as well as a new audience who, like me, prefer the slightly more rose-tinted view of life and death.

I’m giving this one 3 stars. For my own purposes it would be three-and-a-half, but it doesn’t quite make it to four. I’m very grateful to NetGalley and publisher, Boldwood Books, for the review copy. Death at Paradise Park is published on 6 November.