Orchid Beach (Holly Barker Series #1) Book

Orchid Beach starts out with Holly Barker, a 38 year old female Army MP Major, charging the Provost Marshal with attempted rape. There is a quick overview of the case, and just as quickly, the Colonel is acquitted. Immediately following this story is a meeting with Holly Barker, her father, Hamilton Barker and a Vietnam army buddy of Ham's, Chet Marley. At first glance, I thought this was going to be a book about the Army and a continuous stream of attempted rape cases or rape itself. When it was detoured to Holly resigning from the Army and accepting a job offer from Chet Marley in Orchid Beach Florida, it confused me at first. What was the purpose of the court martial and attempted rape story if it wasn't going to continue. I moved on.

Holly arrives at Orchid Beach several weeks later, parks her trailer, which is now her new home and begins to look forward to her new career as the deputy chief of Orchid Beach. Little does she know that the Chief, Chet Marley has been shot in the head. I was not surprised to see Holly take charge the following morning when she hears her Chief and boss has been shot. I instantly liked Holly Barker. She became a no-nonsense, take charge, orderly and competent lead character. As she discovers another body, that of Hank, Chet's comrade-in-arms and friend dead in his home, the mystery expands. Hank was disabled veteran and dog trainer, shot in the head with Chief Marley's very own police issued shot gun. Holly finds Daisy, Hank's dog and realizes this isn't just your ordinary dog. When she takes Daisy home with her, Daisy instantly becomes another one of my favorites.

I was relieved to see that this wasn't your typical 'damaged' cop(s) type novel. It truly focused on the mystery of the crimes and did not elaborate on police officers that were alcoholics, angry about their divorces, never seeing their kids, or corrupt. It was strictly centered on solving the crimes - Holly Barker had it all under control, with the help of Chief Marley's assistant, Jane Grey, a Defense Attorney she falls for, an FBI agent, Daisy the wonder dog and her father, Ham Barker.

I really enjoyed this book. It had some twists and turns in a few chapters but was not overwhelmingly crowded with them. I loved the location and it's description. I liked the type of villains incorporated into the story and the ending was fast paced. I would have liked to have read more about Daisy but that is a personal preference, being that I am a service dog handler and trainer.

I would recommend this book as a crime mystery with limited suspense and a lot of dog hair.