Book Review: BLOOD ORCHIDS (Paradise Crime Mysteries, Book 1) by Toby Neal

I took a side trip to "paradise" with this one. Readers beware - the backdrop to the story is rape and abuse. Not cozy.

About the Book

This paradise world has a dark side: a multi-racial female cop can’t stop thinking about a drowned girl’s face... because it reminds her of her own. 

Overcoming a past filled with scars, Lei makes a life for herself and her dog, Keiki, as a Hawaii cop in the sleepy Big Island town of Hilo. When a routine patrol turns up two murdered teens, Lei’s world is rocked. She knows one of the girls, and she can’t rest until she finds answers—not only about the victims, but about her own shadowed past as well. 

She’ll look so beautiful...once she’s dead. 

He knows he’s twisted. He knows he’s wrong. He just doesn’t care. But now there’s a female cop on his trail that won’t give up, and she’s gonna be next. 

AMAZON

REVIEW

Leilani Texeira or Lei is the protagonist and multi-racial female cop fighting crime in Hawaii. When two women's body's are found on a routine patrol, the story begins. Lei recognizes one of the young women and starts to make connections. She asks the lead detective, Michael Stevens, to be involved. They clash in some ways because of Lei's tendency to act before asking, often leading her into trouble. Lei's also dealing with her own history and psychological baggage and now the killer is after her. 

A little gritty at times, I like Lei's determination to do right by these young women and it's both interesting and predictable that her relationship with Detective Stevens, finally calling him by his first name. The identity of the killer is not obvious but also not a total surprise. It's well written and the characters of Lei and Stevens are well-developed. This is the first in the series and good start. The full series, as of now at least, is 17 books. If you like crime mysteries, want a taste of Hawaii, and want a spunky female cop protagonist, you'll like this one.

Books by Toby Neal

Neal's Paradise Crime Mysteries, starring multicultural detective Lei Texeira, explore the crimes and issues of Hawaii from the bottom of the ocean to the top of volcanoes. Spinoff Paradise Crime Thrillers, with Lei's friend Sophie, features a tech sleuth with a mean left hook on an ongoing vigilante justice manhunt.  

Toby Neal also writes romances under the name Toby Jane and memoirs as T. W. Neal. You can get TWO FREE award-winning, full-length books by signing up for her email newsletter on her website!