Both added extra dimensions, Jim with his old school banter and Amina with her ambitious drive and determination to succeed. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time.

His attractiveness comes up more than once, as if this has any bearing on his competence as a detective. 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. There is plenty to get your teeth into in this dark, tense and suspenseful read, with its gripping central character, I just could not put the book down until I finished. Adam's a bit of a loner, reluctant to forge relationships and he's a dogged investigator who perhaps needs a little bit of training (or a large bit) on his inter-personal skills.Sadly, the author diminishes Tyler's role by relying on the many stereotypes found in police procedurals. 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. He’s the hard-boiled detective whose past informs who he is today, how he performs and reacts, and his flaws as well as his instincts are among the things that make him so good at what he does. Thomas really gets to grips with his dementia character and I really felt for her, having seen my own mu go through the various stages of dementia. I was delighted to host a panel recently at Hull Noir 2021, where Russ was one of the authors I interviewed.

Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens – an oasis of peace in a world filled with sorrow, confusion and pain.Told from the perspectives of Adam, Rabbani, Lily and a mysterious, anonymous blogger known only as the Fire Watcher, this story scorches with a tangle of threads that I challenge even the most seasoned of thriller readers to tie together before the incredible, unpredictable ending. She knows she should be able to remember something important, but the memories have escaped into the ether of her illness. Now quite feeble, they know something that could help Tyler and his team, yet are unable or unwilling to do so. This is a fantastic debut from author Russ Thomas, with a structure that will be more than a little familiar to any seasoned crime reader.

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! Who that person is, whether the murderer and a blogger known only as the Firewatcher are one and the same, and how two elderly women play into it all—amongst the various other residents who each could be culpable—is plotted out to a pitch-perfect ending which kept me on my toes and then left me both stunned and pained by the big reveal.Nighthawking and Cold Reckoning, the second and third books in the series, followed in 2021 and 2022. If you love a good mystery and procedural with plenty of twists, turns, and intrigue, Firewatching is a sure bet. She has a grudging respect for Tyler, especially when he remembers they are supposed to be working as a team. The body of a man is discovered in a derelict house that's being demolished after a devastating fire.