Orchid Beach (Holly Barker Series #1) »

With several successful mystery series going at once -- the most popular featuring jet-setting cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington -- Stuart Woods more than manages to keep focused on a bestselling streak that shows no signs of slowing down.

There's no denying the power of Stuart Woods's Stone Barrington series, which has included knockout recent entries like Swimming To Catalina and Dead In The Water. But longtime Woods fans know that some of his best work can be in his nonseries novels, such as the masterful Chiefs and his new one, Orchid Beach. Army sergeant Holly Barker, fresh from an unsuccessful sexual-harrassment case, tries to make good in a new town, peaceful Orchid Beach, Florida. Peaceful, at least, until the day before she arrives, when the town's chief of police is brutally murdered.

School Library Journal

YA-An entertaining suspense story. After losing a sexual-harassment lawsuit, Major Holly Barker, 37, retires from the military and accepts a job as assistant police chief in Orchid Beach, FL. Even before she gets her trailer unhitched and her uniform on, police chief Chet Marley and his friend Hank Doherty are brutally murdered. She doesn't know whom she can trust in her department, and the murders seem to be tied to the heavily secured and gated community of Palmetto Gardens. Holly adopts a Doberman pinscher (who comes to her rescue more than once) and becomes romantically involved with a local lawyer. The main characters are well drawn and expressive. Holly Barker is tough when she needs to be, and clever and persistent in following her hunches. With a little assistance, she finds the leak in her department and solves the murders.-Patricia White-Williams, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA