Firewatching

Product Information

Theres fires being set all over Sheffield and when the body has been discovered, Adam is asked to help investigate. Thomas pulls the reader in and creates empathy for his protagonist by laying bare the bigotry that Tyler faces regularly. From slightly odd Sally Ann and hard on the exterior DI Jim Doggett, to the apparently eccentric elderly pair of ladies Edna and Lily.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Tyler’s grudging but eventual ties with his Detective Inspector Jim Doggett along with a determined young Constable Amina Rabbani, promises the potential for the Detective Sergeant to forge stronger working connections—but Russ Thomas leaves that up in the air for readers as a nice lead-in to the next book in the series. Alongside Tyler, we also have DI Jim Doggett, a no-nonsense, seemingly stereotypical bigoted cop from the old-school, and Constable Amina Rabbani, a uniformed cop trying hard to get into CID despite the hurdles in front of her. There are the elderly neighbours, the cancer ridden ex-headteacher, Edna Burnside, living with the dementia suffering Lily Bainbridge, they looked after Oscar when he was a child.

Tales of crazed arsonists are generally irresistible, and there haven’t been a lot of them published lately. Firewatching is the first in the Adam Tyler detective series, and also the first novel written by Russ Thomas. I’m hopeful that this is the start of a new crime series staring DS Tyler as I’d love to read more of him! He’s flawed and although that’s common with this genre what isn’t is the fact he’s gay and this really shone a light on the homophobia that is rife in the police force often disguised as banter. Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens – an oasis of peace in a world filled with sorrow, confusion and pain.

As the reader learns a little more about him, we come to realise that his barriers are a form of self-preservation. When you think you have worked out who the killer is, there is that twist that shows you how wrong you are. There's a delightful ambiguity about their reliability that must have been a nightmare to work with.Tyler’s first suspect just happens to be the victim’s son Oscar, and by coincidence is also the man Tyler had a one-night stand with the night before. The mention of fire always intrigues me as it’s so dangerous and unpredictable so the blurb instantly appealed to me. This is an excellent debut thriller with a few twists, that will leave you breathless and impressed. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time. If you love a good mystery and procedural with plenty of twists, turns, and intrigue, Firewatching is a sure bet.

So much so that I could almost smell the fire from the bombings in London and feel the biting cold too. Several more interesting characters here: DCI Jordan - - Adam's godmother who is protecting him on the job, DI Jim Doggett - - the veteran homicide detective who strangely seems to want Adam's help, and Constable Amina Rabbani, young Muslim officer who desperately wants to make it to a homicide job. They soon discover that the body was bricked up behind a basement wall while still alive – some six months before the fire that damaged the dwelling. Backstory plays a major factor in the book, shifting from past to present, and Thomas excels at keeping his readers engaged with vivid imagery and a fluid narrative. He’s smart and very intuitive and even though he’s not the lead on the case you know damn well he’s going to be the one to solve it.

Tyler cannot workout if Oscar purposefully made a play for him, but he does trust his friend Sally-Ann. The thing that makes this a great first novel is the fact that it doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, a relatively straightforward whodunnit. 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.

He is still working on his family issues, but for now he feels more comfortable working and living alone. A body is found bricked up in the cellar of a derelict house and the evidence seems to link the macabre find to a missing persons case from years before. The chapters with the old ladies were really well done, leaving the reader in more than a little doubt as to what was or has been going on.

But while working the case, DS Adams discovers the skeletal remains of the man’s body buried inside the wall of the old burned-out mansion. Despite being compromised, Adam stays on the case which turns out to be a messy, tangled affair with numerous threads. The pacing is slow, with too much given to Tyler worrying about his sexual history with the suspect.