Trial by Fire

Jance's latest mystery features Ali Reynolds, a former L.A. anchorwoman who has returned to Arizona after the death of her husband. As temporary press liaison for the police, she becomes involved in a house fire that leaves a woman badly burned and an internal scandal in the department itself. Narrator Karen Ziemba keeps the story moving, delineating the characters more by what they're feeling than by age, sex, or ethnicity. She brings out Ali's resourcefulness as well as her vulnerability. A police dispatcher who's lost her job, a nun who works as a patient advocate, and Ali's devoted butler (yes, butler) stand out, as do the thoughts of a woman trapped in the fire that opens this engrossing mystery. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine