I’ve been a fan of Ann Cleeves’ series for years. Now, Russ Thomas’ debut, Firewatching, introduces a police procedural with characters that are as tortured as hers, and complex plots that remind me of Cleeves’ books. I’m already a fan of Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler.

Tyler often wondered if the one-man South Yorkshire Cold Case Review Unit was actually expected to solve cases, or if it was just a PR stunt. However, he had solved a few of those cases, so he pushed his way into one that could be high-profile. When builders knocked down a wall in an old house, they found a skeleton behind the wall. Until DNA results came in, they could only assume it was Gerald Cartwright, a prominent businessman who disappeared six years earlier. Detective Inspector Doggett already has a suspect in mind. Unfortunately, it’s Tyler’s one-night stand from the night before, Cartwright’s son.

Tyler knows he’ll be off the case if he reveals he knows the suspect. And, he desperately wants to work this case. So, he doesn’t reveal his secret, although it won’t take long for a smart detective to figure it out. But, Adam Tyler isn’t the only one with secrets. Two elderly women, Edna and Lily, with connections to the Cartwrights, have secrets. Lily is even receiving blackmail notes saying “I know what you did.” But, Lily herself doesn’t remember what she might have done.

While the investigating team’s interest is in the murder, a fire investigator brings multiple local fires to Tyler’s attention. He’s convinced those fires are connected to a fire six years earlier at the Old Vicarage, the house where the victim’s body was found. But, what none of them know is the person setting the fires is building up to a dramatic conclusion while writing about each blaze and the history of fires on a blog. By the time they figure that out, their crime scene, suspects, and Adam Tyler may all go up in flames.

Firewatching is a dramatic story combining tortured characters, murder, and arson. Tyler himself is one of those troubled figures, tortured by his father’s death and mother’s disappearance. Those incidents are eerily similar to ones in the present investigation. But, he’s a fascinating figure, another one of those detectives who lacks social skills while possessing keen investigative instincts.

If you appreciate Ann Cleeves’ intricately plotted stories with complicated protagonists, you’ll welcome another British series into that collection. Tortured characters and the fires ignite a dramatic debut in Firewatching.






Firewatching by Russ Thomas. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020. ISBN 9780525542025 (hardcover), 368p.


*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.