Trouble in Paradise — Larry Darter

TROUBLE IS HIS BUSINESS However, private investigator Rick Bishop isn't as hard-boiled as he likes to think he is. Since he's no Philip Marlowe, his close friends and associates think of him more as half-boiled. Bishop may be irresponsible, unreliable, and unable or unwilling to meet basic adult responsibilities on his own, but he's actually a competent detective and generally manages to solve the case. Honolulu P.I. Rick Bishop, a defective detective, likes nothing better than getting the goods on a cheating spouse and then collecting his fees in short-order, all with as little effort as possible. Divorce work is his métier. But when a smoking hot woman, Gemma Nelson, claiming to be the former mistress of a dead man, asks Bishop to prove her lover's jealous wife murdered him, desperate for a payday, Rick takes the job. It seems simple enough. But it isn't. Bishop thinks he knows what he's dealing with, but doesn't. Soon, the case plunges him into more trouble in paradise than he can handle—trouble with shady characters that want to scare him off the case, woman trouble, money trouble, trouble with the law, and even car trouble. First, Nelson isn't who she claims. And then she skips town, stiffing Rick for his fee. If Bishop can't find her and solve the case, an innocent woman could get framed for murder, and Rick's cash flow problems will explode into financial ruin. Trouble in Paradise is perfect for those who enjoy suspenseful private detective novels with a generous helping of humor. It's the third book in the Rick Bishop Private Investigator series, but you may enjoy reading these stand-alone novels in any order.