Firewatching (Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, #1)

by Russ Thomas

'Clever and compulsive' LOUISE CANDLISH 
'I loved it' LEE CHILD
‘Devoured in three days’ SARAH HILARY
'Totally absorbed me’ CASS GREEN
'A bold and brilliant new voice in crime fiction' KATE RHODES
'A fantastic read' JAMES DELARGY


ONE WRONG MOVE
A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear the dead man was buried alive. Soon, the victim is linked to an old missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.

WILL IGNITE
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.

THE CITY
And then Tyler discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him. He makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he and only he can solve the crime. But now Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.

Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire . . .

A taut investigative thriller bursting with character and tension, introducing an enigmatic, fresh lead detective unlike any you have met before – Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler – for fans of Adrian McKinty, Tana French, Steve Cavanagh and Sharon Bolton. 

***PRAISE FOR FIREWATCHING***

'In the clever and compulsive Firewatching, DS Adam Tyler navigates a complex cast of villains and victims in a cold case that suddenly turns very, very hot' LOUISE CANDLISH  

'A pitch-perfect blend of the best of the old and the best of the new . . . I loved it' LEE CHILD

‘Devoured in three days. A cracking read with a terrific new detective lead. Red hot debut for 2020’ SARAH HILARY

‘I loved Firewatching. Russ Thomas is a bold and brilliant new voice in crime fiction, his talent blazes as fiercely as the flames that rage through his book. Really wonderful, imaginative writing’ KATE RHODES

'A fantastic read with a plot that left me guessing and a cast of very real and well imagined characters' JAMES DELARGY 

'A great read. Totally absorbed me’ CASS GREEN

'Intelligent, pacy and compelling, it's everything you could want from a crime novel' SARAH WARD, author of the DC Childs mysteries 

• ISBN10: 1471180921
• ISBN13: 9781471180927
• Publish Date: 20 February 2020
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 23 May 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

This was an absolutely fabulous novel. Having seen it recommended on Twitter by The Portal Bookshop, I treated myself to a copy. I started reading it and wasn't sure I would stick with it, as I'm having a hard time reading at the moment, but I actually finished this in less than a week. Three days if you dont count the breaks in between.

This is a fab new series featuring DS Adam Tyler, the black sheep of his department, for numerous reasons; some his fault, some nothing to do with him, who gets the chance to investigate a cold case when a businessman who went missing years ago turns up dead in his house. It's actually a lot more complicated than that, with about three or four separate stories coming together to culminate in one fantastic, explosive ending. (Literally and figuratively)

This was a fantastic introduction into what I hope will be a many-book series. I like Adam Tyler, you can root for him and he's genuinely not a bad bloke, he's thoroughly human and makes mistakes and poor choices, but he's damn good at his job. I also liked the team around it, Doggett is fascinating, especially that last chapter which hints at a decent back story to come in future books. Sergeant Rabbani was another likeable character and I'm interested to see her career progression as the books follow on.

Firewatching was a fantastic novel. Every time I picked it up, it was with reluctance that i had to put it back down, and i devoured a good 75% of it in one day, Russ Thomas is fantastic at telling a story; the pacing was perfect and I loved all the little strands, seeing them come together to form a pretty incredible conclusion. I cant wait for the next DI Adam Tyler book, I'll be pre-ordering it as soon as it's physically possible.