On a sweltering summer day, reporter Olivia Kerr and her husband Jerry invite Olivia's colleague Dale Colby and his family to the beach. Accompanying them is a very pregnant Maggie Ryan, Jerry's sister, and her family. Dale's last-minute decision to remain at home to follow up on an important story results in a tragic discovery when the beach-goers return: Dale’s body in a pool of blood inside his locked office. Vietnam veteran turned police officer Holly Schreiner leads the investigation, battling Maggie—and demons of her own.

This Mystery Company edition restores to print the sixth novel in the Maggie Ryan series, a 1992 Edgar Award nominee.

“An ingeniously plotted, fair-play, locked-room mystery, one of the best we’ve encountered.” – Tom & Enid Schantz in The Denver Post