Black Orchid

When an actress turns up in the morgue, an ex-cop and a private investigator must hunt a vicious killer across Los Angeles, in "this hard-hitting crime novel" (Publishers Weekly).

Two months after leaving the comforts of her New Hampshire family estate, aspiring actress Melinda Hollis vanishes in the hills of Hollywood. Her sister hires PI Ed Traynor to find Melinda and bring her home. Teaming up with Traynor is Jack McMahon, a former LA cop who works for the Hollis family business. But a sordid trail leads them straight to the morgue, where they find the gruesome remains of the missing girl.

Now on the hunt for a deranged killer, Traynor and McMahon sink further into the city's underbelly, where every desire, no matter how depraved, is up for sale—or has at least one director willing to film it. Each clue the duo finds adds to the growing cast of degenerates, all of whom want a piece of the action . . .

"In this hard-hitting crime novel . . . Hardacker keeps the action flowing all the way to the violent climax." —Publishers Weekly