Firewatching

Starred review from December 2, 2019
When the remains of Gerald Cartwright, a wealthy, reviled businessman in Sheffield, England, are found bricked up in a wall of the Old Vicarage, Cartwright’s home until his disappearance six years earlier, ambitious Det. Sgt. Adam Tyler, the principal investigator in Thomas’s excellent debut, is grateful to be assigned the high-profile cold case. The night of the discovery, Tyler is picked up in a gay bar by an attractive young man, Oscar, who happens to be Cartwright’s son and only heir. Meanwhile, arson fires are set around Sheffield, disturbing residents and confounding police. They spark memories for Lilly and her companion, Edna, who were volunteer firewatchers in London during WWII. The pair played a big hand in raising Oscar, who soon becomes the lead suspect in his father’s death, after his mother vanished when he was a child. Distinctive characters include feisty Det. Constable Amina Rabbani and fire captain Paul Enfield, who are often at odds with each other. Red herrings and uncovered family secrets abound. This stunning police procedural marks Thomas as an author to watch. Agent: Sarah Hornsley, Bent Agency.

December 15, 2019
A Yorkshire detective untangles an old murder and new arsons. DS Adam Tyler, a cold-case investigator for the South Yorkshire Police, is a bit of a loner, but his boss wants him to network more so he lets Sally-Ann, one of his civilian colleagues, talk him into joining a pub evening with the South Yorkshire Police LGBT Support Network. He doesn't plan to stay long, and when he meets a handsome man at the bar--"Sweetheart, he was everyone's type. Even mine," Sally-Ann says--he abandons the group to go home with him. The next morning, when he gets to work, Sally-Ann tells him there's big news: The body of Gerald Cartwright, a local tycoon and shady character who disappeared years ago, has been found in the basement of his own house during a renovation ordered by his 21-year-old son, who'd just inherited it. Tyler manages to get himself assigned to the investigation though the detective who's been working on it since Cartwright's disappearance doesn't want to hand it over to cold cases; he soon discovers the identity of his one-night stand: Oscar Cartwright, son of the deceased and potential suspect, which further complicates his position. Meanwhile, Edna and Lily, elderly Cartwright retainers of various duties, have begun receiving unsettling anonymous letters, and the whole community is rattled by a series of arsons that seem more and more likely to be related to the discovery of Cartwright's body. As Tyler's investigation slowly uncovers a sordid history of manipulation and abuse, the violence increases and he is assaulted several times. The repetitive nature of these assaults is a weakness in the book, but the richness of Tyler's character and the vividness of his negotiation of his own sexuality and the casual bigotry in his community are effective. The subsidiary characters are lively and believable, the arsons are particularly well described, and though the plot sometimes seems gratuitously complex, this is a rewarding entertainment. A good detective in an incendiary procedural.

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Starred review from February 1, 2020

DS Adam Tyler always wondered whether the South Yorkshire Cold Case Review Unit was meant to get results or whether his one-man unit was a PR stunt. He also thought he could be paraded out as the department's token gay detective. Then he fights for what's going to be a high-profile case. Builders discover a body when they knock down a wall in an old house, and it's probably Gerald Cartwright, a prominent businessman who disappeared six years earlier. Tyler needs to hide the problem that could throw him off the case. He had a one-night stand with a primary suspect, Cartwright's son. Then a fire investigator convinces Tyler that an old fire at the house could be linked to a series of blazes now occurring in the vicinity. It takes time, but the team finds a blogger who's writing about the fires--someone who may know the secrets about Cartwright's disappearance. VERDICT Tortured characters and the story's fires ignite a dramatic, riveting debut about fathers, sons, and secrets. Readers who appreciate Ann Cleeves's intricately plotted stories with complicated protagonists will welcome another British series into that fold. [See Prepub Alert, 7/21/19.]--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
Thomas' gritty first novel centers on a murder investigation in Yorkshire, England. Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is languishing in the Cold Case Review Unit when the discovery of the skeleton of a financier who has been missing for six years offers him the opportunity to prove himself. Except for this one thing: the most likely suspect happens to be someone with whom Tyler recently had a fling. It also doesn't help that his relationship with his fellow officers is strained, at best. Working with another outsider looking for acceptance, Muslim constable Amina Rabbani, Tyler must deal with additional complications, including a mysterious woman with dementia who is apparently being threatened and someone in the shadows who wants the world to burn. Tyler and Rabbani make an intriguing team, and Thomas shows a flair for vivid imagery in this twisty, very dark procedural that one hopes is the launch of a series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)