The Summer Place — Faye Westlake Newman

Ex-cop Diana Parrish, running in terror from a homicidal spouse, stops long enough to testify in Grand Jury against him. Disdaining Witsec, she runs instead into the depths of an Oregon rainforest. There, she stays in a tiny community accessible only by boat, with few amenities, and food grown or brought in by the mail boat.

With a new identity, her old off -duty weapon, and the dog mailed to her by her godfather, Quinn moves into a long abandoned house, aft er removing the briars that buried it, with the help of Potsy, who runs the mail boat. It doesnt take long to learn that nearly all the residents, including Potsy, have secrets of their own.

Has Diana, now Quinn Summer, fled a snake den in Arizona, to take refuge in nest of alligators in Oregon?