Firewatching by Russ Thomas

 Welcome to Day 2 of the Blogtour for Russ' Thomas's debut Firewatching.

DS Adam Tyler is the sole member of the Cold Case team in Sheffield and only there because it keeps him out of the way after 'an incident' that could have ended his career. When a body is found bricked up behind a wall in a mid-renovation house it is soon found to be that of dodgy businessman Gerald Cartwright. The prime suspect is his son Oscar which leads to a massive problem - unknowingly Oscar is the man Adam Tyler had slept with the night before! Does Tyler say something or keep it quiet?

Soon enough the case entwines with an arson case happening right now so Tyler is brought 'in from the cold' to help out.

There is plenty to keep the reader puzzling along to the end. Several times I was sure I knew what was going on, who was responsible but when the reveal came, I'll be honest, it was not who I expected.

As was hinted at earlier the lead character Tyler is gay and this is put across really well in the narrative. It all feels natural and that is just how it should be. Obviously there are snide comments and wind-ups from his colleagues but that is what you would expect.

I feel I ought to say at this point that I do know Russ from his time as a Bookseller at my local Waterstones but that does not cloud my judgement on this book. As a crime thriller this is top notch stuff but as a debut it's easy to see why the author was snapped up quickly. I was eager to get hold of Firewatching as soon as I heard of it and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed.

5/5 * Highly recommended

Thanks, as always, to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the tour and please, if you get a chance, have a look at the other blogger reviews on the tour