Detective Inspector Neville Parker and his team solve a series of murders on the island of Saint Marie.
BBC
Series 12 of Death in Paradise was commissioned in January 2021 (together with series 11) and first aired from 26 December 2022 to 24 February 2023 on BBC One.
When a true crime writer comes to work on a missing child case that was one of the commissioner's first assignments as a police officer, she is found dead in the swamp where the child vanished, and a recording suggests that she was killed by the missing boy's ghost. Meanwhile, Neville faces a lonely Christmas when his sister gives birth and their mother goes to her rather than coming to the island. Due to their luggage being mixed up, Neville meets Sophie Chambers, an English tourist to the island.
As a group of astronomers witness a rare stellar event on a cliff, one of the group falls to his death while they're watching the moment through their telescopes. The evidence suggests suicide, as the investigation reveals that the man was being accused of plagiarism of his most famous theory, but the discovery of a half-finished crossword puzzle in the dead man's pocket contradicts the idea that he planned to kill himself, leaving the detectives questioning how someone could have pushed the man over the cliff without anyone else hearing it.
A member of a local preppers commune, Kit Martin, is poisoned in a locked bunker. No one else knew Martin was going to the bunker, and the camera did not show anyone entering until the team arrived, so suicide was a prevailing theory. The team find Raya West digging the grave of Luna Jones whom she had accidentally shot and killed. DI Neville Parker continues dating Sophie, including causing a jet ski accident. The murderer is revealed to be Charlie Banks, who passed a cup of coffee with cyanide down to Martin in a blind spot of the camera Banks installed. West is charged with manslaughter. The commissioner discourages Marlon Pryce from entering for the Sergeants exam as premature, but Pryce plans to proceed anyway because DS Naomi Thomas called him a wild card. Parker says goodbye to Sophie, while Justin West watches.
Estate Agent Cheryl Horner is found dead on a boat after the other passengers had gone to land. The team quickly discover that Cheryl was a con artist with ties to each of the other passengers, however they all have air tight alibis. Neville misses Sophie, who has left the island, going on an obsessive cleaning spree. Marlon attempts to impress the Commissioner, so he won't have to study for exams, by stopping a cigarette smuggling ring. Neville seeks help from his old friend, detective Andy, who is struggling back in the UK. At the end of the episode, it's revealed he has arrived at Saint Marie with important news.
Naomi returns to her home island of St Barnabas for her best friend's wedding, when the father of the bride wanders into the afterparty with a knife in his chest, accusing his ex-wife and mother of the bride. However, she is caught on video when the murder happened. The team goes to St Barnabas and teams up with the police force there to discover who in the wedding party is the killer. Meanwhile, back on Saint Marie, Catherine tries to help the Commissioner reconnect with his daughter.
A celebration of a local children's home ends in tragedy when one of its most famous former residents is found dead. One of the staff claims responsibility, but the investigation soon reveals that the matter is not that simple. Meanwhile, the Commissioner's attempts to connect with his daughter prove complicated. Neville and Sophie resume their romance when she returns to the island to live with him for a month, but when they arrive at the Shack they find there has been an intruder.
When Jake Dalton, a water taxi driver, is murdered just moments after Neville receives a letter warning him a murder is about to take place, evidence points towards criminologist David Cartwright, albeit circumstantial. As his emotions begin to get the better of him, Neville becomes frustrated and storms round to confront him, and just moments later, Cartwright is subsequently found stabbed to death. With only one clear explanation for how the murder was committed, the team have no choice but to arrest Neville - but does the beloved detective really have it in him to commit murder?
DI Karen Flitcroft is brought in to investigate Neville's involvement in the murder of David Cartwright, but the team are convinced of his innocence. Selwyn leads an investigation to find who the real killer might be, and uncovers a web of misdeeds, including the discovery of Justin West being the one who broke into Neville's home, and DC Andrew Buckley trying to escape investigation from the DPS by hiding out on Saint Marie. At the eleventh hour, incarcerated and facing trial, both Neville and the team finally work out the killer's identity.
A murder is committed, apparently right under DI Parker's nose. Neville undergoes a crisis of confidence, built upon his previous failure to recognise Sophie's duplicity, and tells the commissioner he intends to leave. Neville visits Sophie in prison, where he asks if any of their relationship had been "real"; she says she never had romantic feelings for him but had come to like the character she pretended to be when she was with him and in that sense he'd made her happy; this allows him enough closure to enable him to concentrate on the current case. Ultimately, Neville realises how the murder was carried out, and the team arrest the guilty party. Satisfied, Neville agrees to stay on Saint Marie.
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