The Purple Sink
Ronald F.X. Roman
This is the first novel from Ronald F.X. Roman. Written in 1995, but only recently published on Amazon. The story takes place in the Tampa Bay area.
Conrad, a commercial photographer, attempts to save the life of a mugging victim he spots on his way home from work. Little does he know that he’ll be identified as a witness when the muggers see him in a news story.
The victim, who dies, is an out-of-state tourist, and a homicide investigation begins. The muggers become paranoid and dump the victim's car in a water-filled sinkhole.
The victim’s wife hires a private detective to locate a quarter of a million dollars that her husband stole from their joint account. She suspects that the money is in the car, a vintage Pontiac GTO.
The muggers, who are now killers, plan a drug deal to raise money for their flight from justice. They also make a couple of attempts on Conrad’s life that creates very suspicious circumstances for him and put him at odds with the police. All the while, the homicide detectives are one step behind the killers and Conrad.
In the end, all the parties converge at the Purple Sink, a mythical Florida sinkhole of unknown depths.
