The last thing Port Stirling Chief of Police Matt Horning needed on day one of his new job was for the mayor's daughter to turn up dead in a mysterious tunnel on the Oregon beach. Horning, escaping professional troubles in Texas, accepts the vacant job in Port Stirling, Oregon, looking for a fresh start in what he thought would be a peaceful coastal town. Nothing much ever happens here...or does it?

With only a ragtag county crime team to assist him, Horning must match wits with a diabolical killer, the likes of which this quiet village has never seen. An aggressive district attorney, who doesn't fancy relinquishing the limelight to the new chief, makes his job even more difficult.

For one week in wild and stormy January, Horning calls on all of his detective skills to investigate the unlikely murder. As soon as he starts asking questions, Port Stirling begins to unveil its dark underbelly amid stunning revelations.

From the 300-foot bluffs ringing the white-sand pristine beach, to the posh golf resort at odds with the blue-collar town, Horning and his new team work at break-neck speed to uncover the facts. But will they find the killer before he - or she - strikes again? Will a psychopath ruin Matt Horning's new life before he can even start it?