The Body In Blackwater Bay by Paula Gosling

Paradise Island, home to nine cottages mostly owned by generations of the same families soon becomes more of a hell for the residents when a dead body appears. Before the reader learns of that crime, even more sinister ones are described in the prologue. Red herrings abound in this tale of spoiled vacations, incorrect assumptions, tangled relationships, some outright bigotry and various modern day crimes such as spousal abuse and smuggling of one kind or another.

Every character in this book is interesting in some way and many have motives to protect their summer island retreat.  Jack Stryker, hero of another Gosling series, shows up to help local sheriff solve the crime of murder.  Swamps, storms, bug, and heat all add to the authenticity of a summer island retreat.  The description of a town meeting going terribly wrong and prying media being held off are spot on.  Most of the dynamic characters were women, some strong, some not so strong, one pretty evil although we don’t find that out until the end.  The women definitely drive the story forward and most everyone has known someone like at least one of them.

The action was possible, the emotions and actions were reasonable and the murderer a complete surprise.  I have decided to catch up with quite a few more of Goslings books as this one was thoroughly enjoyable.

Gosling, who was born in Michigan, has resided in the U.K. since the 1960s. She has received the Gold Dagger Award, the John Creasey Award for Crime Fiction. One of her works, A Running Duck, was later made into a movie starring Sylvester Stallone. Her books are available in public libraries, on Amazon, and many are available for e-readers.