Publication Day Review: Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg

Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg is the latest in the very enjoyable Sharpe & Walker series that began in Malibu Burning. If you have not read that book, you really need to as a major character from that book is resurrected here. In fact, as the author note at the start of this read explains, the ending of that book is addressed here on page one.

 

Danny Cole is alive and well in Japan, though he might be a tad bored. After several surgeries, he has a different face and has various names to go by as he moves about. The 35-year-old thief and grifter is retired and is, per doctor’s orders, trying to find inner peace and tranquility as he sits in the bathhouse. Any hope of that is gone when Los Angeles County Sheriff Department Arson Investigator Andrew Walker lumbers into the water next to him.

 

Walker isn’t there to arrest him. In fact, Walker wants Danny Cole to finish the job he started. If he does and gets even for what happened, he will help Walker as a certain drug price will come way down. A drug that Walker’s young son desperately needs to control his seizures.

 

For Danny, it is a chance to once again, experience the thrill of his old life. It will take months to pull off this heist. Doing so is one of the two main storylines in the book.

 

The other is dealing with the aftermath of a string of fires across Los Angeles. A number of fires has been set and caused damage at car ports in West Hollywood. The car ports had apartment buildings above them which provided fuel for the car port fire. Fire after fire happened and Walker and Waller and Sharpe are working the case when a catastrophic freeway fire pulls them onto another case.

 

A portion of I-10 in downtown Los Angeles burns and the freeway is severely damaged. Various materials were stored under the multilane overpass as the area was subleased to a business which also leased the area out to others. That resulted in folks running their small businesses under it. There was also a homeless encampment nearby and underneath the bridge.

 

With such a mix of fuels, it isn’t surprising a horrific multi alarm fire erupted. It burned so hot that the freeway in that section is severely damaged and will have to be repaired to the cost of millions and considerable time.

 

It has resulted in massive gridlock and a city wide and beyond traffic nightmare for residents. LA County Sheriff Richard Lansing reassigns Walker and Sharpe to the case as he sees a chance to score points with the public after they are tasked with determining what happened. He wants the fire investigated fast and, as he wants to be Mayor, is using, Walker and Sharpe to restore his scandal filled reputation. It’s complicated and Sharpe is sure that no matter what they find and do, they are going to get burned.

 

Not to mention, they have a case already that they have put a lot of legwork in on and have identified the suspect. Not that it matters as Lansing wants the best on the case, and Walker and Sharpe are the best. Seeing that other case to the finish line is not an option, so they get to work on the freeway fire, and find far more than expected.

 

Hidden in Smoke is another complicated and fast moving solidly good read. There are many moving parts here and they slowly come together as Danny works on his heist and Walker and Sharpe work their cases.

 

Not only is the book an enjoyable read, it makes you think as you drive under the overpasses in your city what could, potentially, happen. That fact alone is more than enough to creep you out.

For another perspective on the book, be sure to read Lesa's review at Lesa's Book Critiques.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3W5FH7p 

 

My reading copy came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, by way of NetGalley, with no expectation of a review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Lesa's Book Critiques: Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg

Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer, 2023) finally drifted up my TBR stack and I tackled it over the weekend. I didn’t know anything about the book and I was delighted to see that the primary characters are arson investigators. I have wondered for years why arson investigators are not considered interesting enough to feature as leads in crime fiction. Homicide detectives, private eyes, department store detectives, insurance investigators, even food inspectors and railroad detectives, but I don’t remember seeing arson investigators as anything but incidental characters. Much of what they do is based on science, and I can understand that analyzing burn patterns and checking for accelerants does not make a scintillating read but I always thought it was fascinating.

Walter Sharpe is an old hand in the arson shop. He draws Andrew Walker as his new partner. Walker is a former U.S. Marshal, a bit of a cowboy, but his pregnant wife pressured him to find a job that would bring him home at night and arson seemed to be a likely alternative. With the wildfires in southern California never-ending and the winds whipping the smallest spark into an inferno that consumes acres of forest and millions of dollars in real estate, the arson department did not lack for work.

Danny Cole is a likable and talented thief, aided in his chosen profession by a significant degree of intelligence and creativity. His attention is drawn to the mega mansions in Malibu. These over-the-top residences (20 bedrooms! 40 bathrooms!) are full of valuable collectibles, art, jewelry, and cash. He decides that a well-placed wildfire would force the residents to flee, leaving the contents of their homes open to plunder.

The narrative moves back and forth between the investigators and the thieves. Along the way it draws attention to the political maneuvering that directs scarce fire protection resources to the wealthy and away from those who need them more. An informative thread describes the California convict firefighting program in which prisoners have the option to join a firefighting unit instead of living in a cell. A quick internet search says at least 14 states have programs that use inmates as firefighting resources and that they are considered essential in rural areas.

With over 50 books and multiple popular television series to his credit Goldberg is a master at character development, consistent pacing, and inventive plotting. I liked it!

The second adventure of Sharpe and Walker was released in September 2024 and the third is scheduled for April 2025. A promising new series. Starred review from Library Journal.

·         Publisher: ‎Thomas & Mercer (September 1, 2023)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎304 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎166250067X

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1662500671

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/3Csm2qW

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Review: Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg

Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg picks up about a year after the events of Malibu Burning. This second book in the series also works in Eve Ronin, and her partner, Duncan Pavone. It is also a really good read.

 

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson detectives Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker have pretty much finished at one fire scene where the fire crew is pulled off to go fight a house fire in the nearby Twin Lakes housing development. The house is unoccupied. There is also plenty of ground fuel, thanks to the weather. If firefighters don’t stop the fire now, it could go through the housing development, get into the bordering Santa Susanna Pass State Park and then take off for nearby Calabasas and the Santa Monica Mountains. The last time the fire roared through the Santa Monica Mountains, Sharpe and Wlaker barely escaped with their lives.

 

Sharpe, as senior investigator and still teaching Walker, insists they have to check out the house fire. Walker doesn’t see much point, as they have not been called in to investigate, but Sharpe wants to see it because fire guys flush away evidence and won’t know if it is arson or not.

 

When they arrive, they find firefighters hard at work fighting a fire that has fully engulfed the two-story home. The house is completely empty and yet is burning like crazy. Power had only been turned on that morning and there were no workman inside or around it. In fact, nobody had been working on it. The weather was fine as it was dry and clear. So, the questions are—What caused the fire and what caused it to spread so fast and burn so hot?

 

While the crew works, Sharpe and Walker look at a nearby home that is identical to the one that is burning. Sharpe has some questions after the house tour, questions that are reinforced when Captain Guyette tells him it must have been an electrical as there were multiple ignition points also over the house next to the electric sockets, light switches, and lighting. Sharpe isn’t buying it.

 

Not that he can investigate much right now, as he and Walker are suddenly pulled off to go to a house fire in Calabasas where there is a body.

 

LASD Homicide Detective Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone are also there and waiting for them. The four gear up and go into the house. It is believed that Patrick Lopresti was home alone and is the dead person in the fire. The question Eve wants to know is where he got murdered, killed himself, or was committing arson and screwed up?

 

That question is soon answered in an unexpected way and becomes one of two complicated storylines in the book. The first being the house fire scene they were working before being pulled here.

 

Ashes Never Lie is the second book in the Sharpe and Walker series and a very good read. Complicated and fast moving it roars along at a rapid pace to a satisfying and explosive conclusion. In short, a fun read, and very much well worth your time. 

Make sure you check out Lesa Holstine’s review here. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gjCcm5

 

My reading copy was a digital ARC from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, by way of NetGalley.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Review: Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg

While I told you about this book before back in February, tomorrow is publication day, so I am running my review again. Make sure you read Lesa Holstine's review here. 

 

If you have read Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg, you know that a part of that book involves a wildfire on the rampage through the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. That book, part of the Eve Ronin series, is from the perspective of law enforcement. Malibu Burning is that same fire from the perspective of arson investigator, Walter Sharpe, and his new partner, Andrew Walker.

Walker is a former United States Marshal who has taken what he thinks will be a quieter job as an arson investigator tied into the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Mentally he is having a hard time with it as he left the service and changed jobs to ally his wife’s fears as she is pregnant and had a lot of concern over his safety and the way he did the job. Bad knees and other issues means he can’t be as physical as he would like and has to slow it down a little bit. He prefers to work alone, as does his new partner, Walter Sharpe.

The fact that both are loners by nature means nothing to the powers that be who have chosen to put them together. From the start, they do not exactly mesh well, but Walker needs Sharpe to teach him what he does not know about fire investigation. And Walker can teach him a few things about man hunting as they have arsonists to chase.

One of which is somebody known to Walker. A former prisoner by the name of Danny Cole. He is a superb con man and a very good thief. He should have gotten away on the last job, but made a choice to help someone. That choice cost him his freedom. Now he is out and looking for a big payday and to settle a score. He is planning to do it with a team pf highly motivated folks, some of whom he has worked with before, and a wildfire.

Not that Walker and Sharpe knows this from the start. The reader knows far more than the investigators do as numerous flashbacks are sprinkled liberally through the read all the way up to present day. That is intermixed with Sharpe teaching Walker, and by extension the reader, basics surrounding fire and the dynamics of a wildfire through a couple of other cases and the early stages of this fire.

The first of what clearly is intended to be a series, Malibu Burning, is an enjoyable read. While it comes across as a vehicle for a tv series more than anything, there is enough complexity and action to hold the reader’s interest. This reader much prefers the Eve Ronin series. However, this was a good book in its own right and I will be looking for the next one.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3ZjzK9j

 

My reading copy was an ARC by way of NetGalley. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg

 

If you have read Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg, you know that a part of that book involves a wildfire on the rampage through the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. That book, part of the Eve Ronin series, is from the perspective of law enforcement. Malibu Burning is that same fire from the perspective of arson investigator, Walter Sharpe, and his new partner, Andrew Walker.

Walker is a former United States Marshal who has taken what he thinks will be a quieter job as an arson investigator tied into the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Mentally he is having a hard time with it as he left the service and changed jobs to ally his wife’s fears as she is pregnant and had a lot of concern over his safety and the way he did the job. Bad knees and other issues means he can’t be as physical as he would like and has to slow it down a little bit. He prefers to work alone, as does his new partner, Walter Sharpe.

The fact that both are loners by nature means nothing to the powers that be who have chosen to put them together. From the start, they do not exactly mesh well, but Walker needs Sharpe to teach him what he does not know about fire investigation. And Walker can teach him a few things about man hunting as they have arsonists to chase.

One of which is somebody known to Walker. A former prisoner by the name of Danny Cole. He is a superb con man and a very good thief. He should have gotten away on the last job, but made a choice to help someone. That choice cost him his freedom. Now he is out and looking for a big payday and to settle a score. He is planning to do it with a team pf highly motivated folks, some of whom he has worked with before, and a wildfire.

Not that Walker and Sharpe knows this from the start. The reader knows far more than the investigators do as numerous flashbacks are sprinkled liberally through the read all the way up to present day. That is intermixed with Sharpe teaching Walker, and by extension the reader, basics surrounding fire and the dynamics of a wildfire through a couple of other cases and the early stages of this fire.

The first of what clearly is intended to be a series, Malibu Burning, is an enjoyable read. While it comes across as a vehicle for a tv series more than anything, there is enough complexity and action to hold the reader’s interest. This reader much prefers the Eve Ronin series. However, this was a good book in its own right and I will be looking for the next one.

 

My reading copy was an ARC by way of NetGalley. The book is now  scheduled to be released on September 1st. 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Tahoe Blowup by Todd Borg

Tahoe Blowup by Todd Borg (Thriller Press, 2001) is the second of his series about private investigator Owen McKenna. The local fire department hires Owen to find the arsonist who is setting fires in the tinder-dry forests around Lake Tahoe. Anonymous letters are arriving that describe the scope and size of each fire, claiming they are being set because of crimes against the environment. The first one comes far too close to Owen’s cabin and he is understandably taking a great deal of personal interest in finding the firebug. He uses his huge harlequin Great Dane and a trained search-and-rescue dog to look for traces of the person who set the fires. They find instead a body, which may be the arsonist caught in his own fire. Identifying the victim took some time, and in the meanwhile, more fires are set.

I am always intrigued with books that teach me something along with giving me a good story to read. In this volume discussions with the fire department chief and the Forest Service staff give Borg the opportunity to trot out some facts about forest fires. I did not know that forest fires travel up a mountain, not down.  Crown fires that involve the tops of trees are more dangerous than fires on the ground. The use of fire suppression as opposed to controlled burns is a long-running point of contention among environmentalists, the Fire Service, and others who have a vested interest in forests. Both sides of the argument are thoroughly aired here.

I like this animal-loving private investigator whom I discovered last year, when I read that Borg is this year’s toastmaster at Left Coast Crime. I find authors who like a city or area so much they create a fictional universe in it appealing. Think of Les Roberts and Cleveland, Kathleen George and Pittsburgh, Philip R. Craig and Martha’s Vineyard. Borg makes the mountains and the forests around Lake Tahoe sound immensely attractive as a year-round residential site, not just a vacation resort.

It’s always good news to find another series, and it looks like there are a dozen or so more in this one that I have yet to read. These books have won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year, made Library Journal's Top 5 Mysteries of the Year list, and found their way onto Amazon's Mystery/Thriller and Private Investigator Bestseller Lists multiple times. Strong recommendations!

·         Paperback: 320 pages
·         Publisher: Thriller Press (September 1, 2001)
·         Language: English
·         ISBN-10: 193129612X
·         ISBN-13: 978-1931296120

Aubrey Hamilton © 2018

  

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Should Have Wiped Down The Potato First!

DNA Left On A Potato Helps State Police Solve An Arson They Saw Was Set By An Angry Stripper

Reviewing: Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva

This debut novel by Bruce DeSilva is getting a lot of attention and rightfully so. Not just because, as has been done in several recent novels, the ongoing demise of the newspaper industry plays a central role. The main theme of the book, chasing an arsonist burning buildings and killing people, is a good one with plenty of twists and turns.

Liam Mulligan is your classic newspaper reporter. He knows everybody on all sides of his beat and when he isn't working or fielding abusive calls from his someday ex-wife, he hangs out at the local bars and with his bookie and smokes cigars every chance he gets. He finds time to chase stories such as the one about an arsonist who is burning down one building at a time the small neighborhood known as Mount Hope located in Providence, Rhode Island. The latest fire took five-year old twins to an early death the hard way and he wants to work the story.

Instead, his editor would rather Mulligan work on a story about a dog who supposedly followed his owners from the west coast all the way to Rhode Island. The dog’s family is hungry for media attention and is threatening to give the story to one of the local TV stations and Mulligan’s editor does not want that. The editor wants good news fluff stories to try and keep circulation numbers up and he wants Mulligan to get the dog story done and done now.

Beside the fact that the dog story is implausible at best, Mulligan wants to see an end to the fires and the deaths. He grew up in the neighborhood, an old friend is on the front lines as a fire fighter, and people are dying. The stupid dog story can wait.

Chasing the arson story soon makes him a target for his angry bosses at the paper, a fire bug that won't quit, and local fire investigators who holds a grudge and decide he is a suspect. As buildings burn and bodies pile up, Mulligan works hard to stay alive and identify those behind the fires before the carnage takes everybody he loves.

This debut novel is a bit dark at times which is not surprising considering the illustrious list of authors acknowledged in the back of the book. Either by inspiration or direct involvement, those mentioned are some of the best in the business and they don’t write light fluff featuring feel good stories where everything is perfect in the end.

One hopes that this novel full of colorful detailed characters, plenty of action, love of baseball and the Red Sox, as well as a mighty good mystery tale is the start of a series. It would be hard to imagine all this potential being used for used for just one stand-alone novel as the reservoir is deep with these characters. No mention is made on the jacket copy of another book, either as a sequel or something else, and one hopes that there is more to come from Mr. DeSilvia. Good stuff and well worth your time.


Rogue Island
http://www.brucedesilva.com/
A Tom Doherty Associates Book
http://www.tor-forge.com/
October 2010
Hardback
303 Pages
$24.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System. Times are hard for libraries these days so please do your part to support public libraries any way you can.



Kevin R. Tipple © 2010