Margins
Holly Barker book cover 1
Holly Barker book cover 2
Holly Barker book cover 3
Holly Barker
Series · 6 books · 1998-2009

Books in series

Orchid Beach book cover
#1

Orchid Beach

1998

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods delivers a riveting thriller that introduces his first female protagonist, Deputy Chief of Police Holly Barker. Forced into early retirement at thirty-seven, smart, attractive, and fiercely independent Major Holly Barker trades in her bars as a military cop with the army for the badge of deputy chief of police in Orchid Beach, Florida. But below the sunny surface of this sleepy, well-to-do island town lies an evil that escalates into the cold-blooded murder of one of Holly's new colleagues. An outsider, Holly has little to go on for answers and no one to help her—except Daisy, a Doberman of exceptional intelligence and loyalty. The dog becomes her companion and protector. The closer Holly gets to the truth in Orchid Beach, the more she knows that it'll take one smart dog with guts to sniff out this killer—before he can catch her first.
Orchid Blues book cover
#2

Orchid Blues

2001

Stuart Woods brings back small-town police chief Holly Barker—and her extraordinary Doberman, Daisy—for another exhilarating adventure in this New York Times bestseller. When Holly Barker’s wedding festivities are shattered by a brutal robbery, she vows to find the culprits. With nothing to go on but the inexplicable killing of an innocent bystander, Holly discovers evidence that leads her into the midst of a clan whose members are as mysterious as they are zealous. Holly’s father, Ham, a retired army master sergeant, is her ticket into their strange world. What he finds there boggles the mind and sucks them all—Holly, Ham, and Daisy—into a whirlpool of crazed criminality from which even the FBI can’t save them...
Blood Orchid book cover
#3

Blood Orchid

2002

Blood Orchid: the name of Ed Shine's favorite flower —- and his latest real-estate venture. New to town, the dapper developer makes the acquaintance of Holly, her father, Ham, and her wily Doberman, Daisy, just as Holly is trying to get her life back together after the shattering loss of someone very close to her. But before she can settle back into her routine, bullets crash into the home of a friend and a floater is found bobbing in the Intercoastal Waterway. Joining forces with a handsome FBI agent, Holly tracks the clues straight back to their source, only to find a scam more lucrative and more dangerous than any this idyllic town —- and Holly —- has ever seen ...
Reckless Abandon book cover
#4

Reckless Abandon

2004

It's double the pleasure and double the fun as Stuart Woods brings series character Holly Barker of 'Orchid Blues,' she's chief of Florida's Orchid Beach Police Department, onstage to co-star with lawyer and PI Stone Barrington in the latest of Stone's adventures. Holly has come to New York hot on the trail of Trini Rodriguez, a bad guy she thought she'd stabbed to death in an earlier adventure. He's currently wanted for (among other things) blowing up a dozen people by hiding bombs in the caskets of two of his earlier victims and detonating them at the funeral! But finding him won't be so simple: he's been placed in the FBI Witness Protection Program and is working with the Feds and the CIA to catch an Arab terrorist group trying to employ the Mafia in a money-laundering scheme. Will readers find this one riveting? Of course!
Iron Orchid book cover
#5

Iron Orchid

2005

Now working for the CIA, ex-chief-of-police Holly Barker joins the elite task force tracking Teddy Fay-a man who kills his political targets for sport. As he begins to pick off America's enemies one by one, Holly unexpectedly finds herself face-to-face with the killer, kick-starting a high-speed chase through the streets of Manhattan.
Hothouse Orchid book cover
#6

Hothouse Orchid

2009

Taking a sabbatical in the Florida town where she was once a police chief, Special Agent Holly Barker remembers her unsuccessful charges against a commanding officer who attempted to rape her and considers leaving the CIA to challenge the corrupt man for control of the police department. By the best-selling author of Iron Orchid.

Author

Stuart Woods
Stuart Woods
Author · 102 books
Stuart Woods was the author the New York Times-bestselling Stone Barrington series and Holly Barker series. He was an avid private pilot, flying his own jet on book tours.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved