Who killed Patrice in Death in Paradise? The killer, the motive, and how it unfolded
Death in Paradise has never been shy about killing off its own, but few exits hit like Patrice Campbell's.
DS Florence Cassell's fiancé is murdered mid-investigation, and the case is a proper tangle — a wrongful arrest, a hidden family secret and a killer hiding in plain sight. Here's who did it, why, and how the team pieced it together. Spoilers ahead.
Who killed Patrice?
Patrice was killed by Frances Compton (Saskia Reeves), the on-site psychiatrist for a wealthy investment company on Saint Marie. It happened in the series 8 two-parter "Beyond the Shining Sea," which aired in February 2019. Patrice — Florence's newly engaged partner — got pulled into the case when his best friend, Harrison Green, was arrested for murdering his girlfriend, Tiana Palmer. Patrice refused to believe Harrison was guilty and started digging.
The night it happened
Florence overheard Patrice arrange a meeting over the phone and, worried, followed him to an abandoned building. There she was shot by an unseen figure and left for dead. Minutes later, DI Jack Mooney and the team found her alive — but discovered Patrice in another room, shot dead. Florence survived. Her fiancé didn't.
The motive
The whole thing traced back to money and a buried secret. Ewan Boyd, the dying owner of the investment firm, had a long-lost daughter — Tiana. Frances Compton stood to inherit half his estate and a controlling share of the business when he died, and she feared he'd leave everything to Tiana instead. Here's how it slotted together:
- Tiana's murder — Frances used her skills as a psychiatrist to manipulate Harrison, exploiting his gambling debts, into killing Tiana on her behalf.
- The wrong man — Harrison was arrested for it, and Patrice's refusal to accept his guilt is what put Patrice in danger.
- Patrice's murder — When Patrice rang the villa for help, Frances answered, lured him to the meeting, and killed him to stop him uncovering her role.
How she was caught
Frances thought she'd covered her tracks by hiding under a tarpaulin to slip back to the villa — but her DNA was found on it. Confronted, she confessed. In a fitting final beat, Florence was allowed to handcuff her own fiancé's killer.
The loss was too much to stay with.
Florence left Saint Marie soon after, telling her colleagues there was nowhere here that doesn't have a memory of Patrice in it."
For the record: it wasn't a permanent goodbye. Two years on, Joséphine Jobert's Florence returned to the island in series 10 — though Patrice's death still haunted her.