Who is SunsetChaser in Death in Paradise?

Neville (Ralf Little) sits at a table on his verandah with his laptop closed in front of him. He looks perturbed.

(Image credit: BBC)

Death in Paradise's DI Neville Parker's secret admirer SunsetChaser, aka Chloe, was finally revealed to be his ex girlfriend, Zoe ((Taj Atwal). We will no doubt learn more about Zoe in episode 6.

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The background to this is that Neville started a blog and being Neville it appears to be the most boring blog on the net.

Halfway through episode three of Death in Paradise season 13, Neville complains to his mum that not one person has commented on it, "even with the photo!". Come on Saint Marie, Neville is a dashing chap for all his quirks!

His blog on conchology (the study of shells) read: "Fellow shell enthusiasts, you're in for a treat today! If you're a sucker for a scallop or go coco or conus or perhaps you're mystified for mitridae, then read on as I dive — get it dive?! — head first into the fascinating world…"

Just as he hovered over the delete this blog button, a message came through that SunsetChaser had liked and commented on his post!

We got some more clues in episode four. SunsetChaser clearly rather likes Neville and writes that he paints pictures in her mind! Neville is rather chuffed with this and writes back: "I try to be as evocative as I can". Unfortunately, autocorrect changes it to "I try to be as erotic as I can" and he manages to send that message just as a power cut hits the island!" D'oh!

So who is SunsetChaser in Death in Paradise?

Zoe

Zoe (Taj Atwal) stands on the beach with her jacket hanging over her arm, talking to Neville (Ralf Little), who has his back to the camera — Zoe arrived in episode 5 and revealed herself to be Sunset Chaser! (Image credit: BBC/Red Planet Pictures)

At the end of episode five, Darlene asks Neville if there's been any word from Chloe, and Neville says there has not — maybe she was hiding something after all. At that moment a taxi pulls up at the bar and a woman gets out — Neville's ex-girlfriend, Zoe (Hullraisers star Taj Atwal). According to Neville, they broke up shortly before he came to Saint Marie and haven't spoken since. Neville goes over to see her and asks what she's doing there, and Zoe admits to being Chloe, aka Sunset_Chaser.

Our theories before Sunsunset Chaser was unmasked

So for fun here's the theories we had before Sunset Chaser was revealed...

Florence

Now, Florence is obviously the person Neville hopes is SunsetChaser. Neville has never quite gotten over being in love with Florence, but she unfortunately expressed no interest in a relationship. However, it's noticeable that Florence's name has cropped up several times in this series and Neville also lovingly looked at a photo of Florence in the opening episode. She was also seen in another photo in episode 2, with Neville commenting "The old gang" as he examined it fondly.

Florence is currently in witness protection, so it would make sense that she contacted Neville online as she obviously can't currently see him in person. If it is Florence could that set up a way for Neville to depart the show? Perhaps to join her in witness protection to start a new life?

Sophie

Yes, the dreaded Sophie (real name Rebecca). Not content with trying to kill him in the previous series, might Sophie be SunsetChaser? She's certainly got plenty of time on her hands languishing in jail for murder, so she might well be tempted to play with Neville’s mind. This is something Ralf Little has addressed. Talking about SunsetChaser he said: "The tone is flirty, and they are implied female, so Neville starts having a little bit of an online flirt. Marlon of course, thinks he's being catfished by a guy. And Neville even starts to worry that maybe it could be Sophie who's messing with his mind…"

But in episode 4 The Commissioner tells Neville that Sophie doesn't have unsupervised internet access in prison which means it's unlikely to be her.

The Commissioner

Selwyn (Don Warrington) stands outside a building, wearing a casual t-shirt and trousers and leaning on a walking stick, looking unusually frail — (Image credit: BBC)

Far-fetched? Well after being shot The Commissioner has been having to rest up and to pass the hours he might be tempted to wind Neville up! While the pair respect each other to a point, they’ve never got on and The Commissioner does have a mischievous side! But this would be seriously cruel, especially after their heart-to-heart in episode 4.

A genuine mystery admirer

Our final theory is that it could be a completely new character and this seems the most likely explanation. Getting Florence back in the show is complicated because she's in witness protection. So why not a new love interest for Neville? We could see him meet a new woman during the series and then head off into the sunset with her for a perfect ending to his character's story arc.

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough.

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!