Smart, attractive, and fiercely independent, Major Holly Barker, the army-brat daughter of a master sergeant, has been forced into early retirement at thirty-seven as the result of a scandalous sexual harassment case. With the help of her father, she makes the move to civilian life, becoming deputy chief of police in Orchid Beach, Florida, a small beach town.But below the calm, sunny surface of this sleepy, well-to-do coastal island city lies a web of evil and deceit that escalates when a colleague and another associate are brutally gunned down. Holly is alone, a green outsider with no clues to go on, and finding killers won’t be easy for her. Surrounded by a staff of officers she neither knows or trusts, Holly finds help from a most unexpected source – Daisy, a Doberman Pinscher of exceptional intelligence and loyalty who quickly becomes her inseparable companion and protector. But the closer she comes to unraveling the mystery of Orchid Beach, the more dangerous Holly’s life becomes.Orchid Beach ranks as one of Stuart Woods’ most inventive and brilliantly drawn works – an entertaining, nonstop tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats as it races from the first page to its exhilarating conclusion.