Firewatching

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Thomas’s writing is taut and compulsive, hitting the right balance of plot and visceral descriptions. As the reader learns a little more about him, we come to realise that his barriers are a form of self-preservation.

Consequently, the twists and turns that do crop up in the narrative are all the more surprising because in hindsight they’re so blatantly obvious. Both added extra dimensions, Jim with his old school banter and Amina with her ambitious drive and determination to succeed.Some of these cases benefit from the new technologies available to the police nowadays, but mostly, in Adam's opinion, it is about a fresh pair of eyes looking through the notes and the evidence, looking and asking uncomfortable questions. The pacing was nigh on perfect with the interruption of the narrative caused only by the insertion of blog posts by the 'Firestarter' - and these were essential to the plot. 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’. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I was delighted to host a panel recently at Hull Noir 2021, where Russ was one of the authors I interviewed.

His highly acclaimed debut novel, Firewatching, is the first in the DS Adam Tyler series and published in February 2020. This story steers clear of dead, sick, or disabled siblings; Paris; alternate past and present narratives, and struggling alcoholic detectives. Added to this is Lily’s confusion over the events of the past, apparently a result of her being an Alzheimer’s patient, though through the occasional lucid flash of memory the reader is given a little more of the story to work with. When you think you have worked out who the killer is, there is that twist that shows you how wrong you are. Firewatching is his debut novel and the first book in a new series of crime thrillers set in Sheffield.Thomas pulls the reader in and creates empathy for his protagonist by laying bare the bigotry that Tyler faces regularly. He’s flawed and although that’s common with this genre what isn’t is the fact he’s gay and this really shone a light on the homophobia that is rife in the police force often disguised as banter. His son Oscar inherits at age 21 and builders knock down the walls in the cellar of Gerald's old burned out mansion. From slightly odd Sally Ann and hard on the exterior DI Jim Doggett, to the apparently eccentric elderly pair of ladies Edna and Lily.

With an arsonist and a murderer on the loose, Tyler has no time to lose, except on his nights off, when by chance he ends up in the bed of Oscar, the murder victims son. Meanwhile, a pyromaniac is burning things in Castledene, and Tyler feels that these fires have some connection to his case – he is just not sure what. Tales of crazed arsonists are generally irresistible, and there haven’t been a lot of them published lately. A man who went missing years ago is found walked up in his empty house and the son of the victim turns out to have been Tyler’s one night stand. He's often the victim of ridicule, and bullying and, as the scar on his face proves, he often has to protect himself from himself.If you’re going to read it, get it cheap or free, because most of the joy I see here is in potential, and future maybe-joy makes a thin soup indeed.