FLASHBACK

Between visits to the hospital where his wife is in the process of delivering their first child, Murphy's Harbor police chief Reid Bennett (Dead in the Water, etc.) and his super-sleuth dog Sam must grapple with continued gang vandalism; the disappearance of Moira Waites and her alleged lover Stu Jeffries; and the murder of Stu's wife, Carolyn, found dead in the trunk of Moira's husband's car, and identified by him. Who drove Waites's car into the lake? To get at the answer, Reid lets an Indian sidekick roust a yuppie-turned-thug; uncovers a wife-killing scenario that ties lawyer Waites to an escaped con who hates Reid; breaks up a kidnap attempt; finds more bodies; and puts another name to that body in the trunk. At the root of it all: drugs and revenge, leading to new father Reid's reevaluation of which is most important to him, his family or his job. Despite a few too obvious red herrings and a hero who's queasier at the thought of putting his childbirth training in action than in facing both barrels of a shotgun: a fairly sturdy, small-town tale, with quiet appeal.