A taut and ambitious police procedural debut introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand . . .
When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he’d gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright’s burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright’s son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.
Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who’s receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can’t remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn . . .
About the Author
Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. He spent five years trying to master the Electronic Organ and another five learning Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realize he’d be better off sticking to the writing.
After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer. optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-center telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors. Firewatching is his first novel.
My thoughts: Adam Tyler is not an easy person to get to know, he keeps a lot to himself and he isn’t easy to work with either – as the only member of the Cold Case Review Unit (CCRU) he works alone, except that he has to work with other officers, like this case.
After a man’s remains are found in the wall of a house a firebug has set alight, the cold case of the man’s death and the current case of an arsonist at work collide, forcing Tyler to have to work with his colleagues instead of going off alone. Or does it? His boss can’t get him to work well with others.
The case is more complicated, more twisted and requires a lot more digging than it might first appear. The case kept me hooked from the very start and didn’t let up. Tyler is a complex man with a difficult past that keeps getting in the way of his present.
I really liked PC Mina Rabbani, who becomes his sidekick, her instincts are great and she works out how to handle Tyler pretty quickly. Tyler’s past impacts a lot on how he is and his contentious relationship with his bosses, his dad’s career and death cast a long shadow.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 