Top notch plot twists. The characters were a little two dimensional. I didn't for a second believe the big reveal. It just didn't make sense. I think that now that the characters have been developed a little, the second book should be better. I loved Rabbani and feel she should get her own series.

The only thing that really kept me going with this one was needing to know what happened in the very end. The actual story telling and character development was extremely lackluster. I will say, I was genuinely satisfied with the ending, and think that was this book's strength.

A police procedural introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand . . .

I love a good police procedural and this book did not disappoint. The story starts off slow, but eventually picks up and becomes pretty intense. There are a lot of twists in this story and it's definitely the start of a series I'm interested in continuing.

Synopsis:

A police procedural introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand . . .

When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he'd gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright's burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.

As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright's son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.

Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who's receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can't remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn . . .
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I loved this introduction to DS Adam Tyler, I’m very excited that this is the beginning of a series. I will definitely be there for the next one! The author has done a great job writing a group of characters who are not perfect, some being morally grey. I enjoyed the wit and humor between DS Tyler and the other characters.
I am admittedly the worst at figuring out who did it, but I really didn’t have a clue on this one. •
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Firewatching is the first in the Adam Tyler detective series, and also the first novel written by Russ Thomas. It’s been praised by Lee Child, and published by Putnam Penguin, an auspicious sign. Thanks go to the publisher and Net Galley for the review copy.

All of the right elements are here for a rip roaringly great tale, but the execution fell short. When I found myself drifting off while reading the digital review copy, I went to Seattle Bibliocommons and checked out the audio book. Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to all of it, either. I kept with it to the 45 percent mark; skipped to 75 percent in hopes there would be something tantalizing that would reel me back in; and when that didn’t work out, I listened to snippets from there to the end.

Here’s what I liked. Conceptually, it sounded promising. Tales of crazed arsonists are generally irresistible, and there haven’t been a lot of them published lately. Fiction writing is as prone to fad and whim as is anything else, as any reviewer can see. This story steers clear of dead, sick, or disabled siblings; Paris; alternate past and present narratives, and struggling alcoholic detectives. Detective Tyler resists his boss’s impulse toward stereotypes. There are two elderly women side characters, one of whom struggles with dementia, and Tyler is told that old women in small towns always love gossip; he refers to them often as “the old dears.” I know I am not the only Boomer that wants to smack that obnoxious character, and so Tyler endears himself to me by not going there. And actually, I like the two older women in this story a great deal. I also like the brief—maybe too brief—passages where we are inside the head of the firebug.

But alas, the story’s protagonist isn’t the arsonist, and it isn’t either of the elderly women. It’s Tyler, and Tyler just bores the snot out of me. I want him to just do something. I don’t need to know what he is wearing, what he is thinking, what he is feeling, wearing, feeling some more, thinking….

During my teaching career, I recall one impatient girl that was sent home for a few days because of her tendency to walk up to a teacher that was standing in her way—tutoring, or speaking to another student—and barking at him, “MOVE!” And I found myself channeling this student as I read and/or listened to this story. I don’t care about your damn wardrobe, Tyler, just move! Move it! Do something, for the love of…

Fine. Whatever.

A possible silver lining occurs to me, and that is that with this first in a series, all of the personal details of wardrobe and emotion may be emphasized in order to introduce the protagonist, and perhaps with the second in the series, the pace will pick up and we’ll be on our way. I surely hope so.

But for now, I can only write about what I know, and I know it would be wrong of me to urge you to purchase this book at full jacket price. 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.

Think back on a time when you met a new literary fav. Were your palms sweaty? Did your heart beat pickup? Did you rush to tell all of your friends about the newest person in your life? Ladies and gents! Be prepared. You will think that Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not this man. You will be wrong. As a cold case detective, Adam believes that sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes on a case to get results and get results he does. Disliked by many of his colleagues and finding his footing in a hetero-dominant police world, Adam quickly became an instant favorite of mine. When he gets called upon to investigate the death of Gerald Cartwright only to discover that Gerald is the father of the man he slept with the night before, Adam tries to recuse himself from the case, but only gets pulled deeper into the mystery. The best advice for this book: you don’t need to know anything else. Go with Alex on this refreshing debut police procedural.

Detective Sargeant Adam Tyler, a cold case investigator, is reluctantly partnered with newly promoted Amina Rabbani. Each takes occasional grief from their colleagues because of being gay and Muslim, respectively. 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. This police procedural involves both old and new murders, arson and pedophilia. I assume that this is the start of a series that will feature Tyler and Rabbani, but some of the most interesting characters were the elderly Lily and Edna. Edna is dying from cancer and Lily has memory problems and sometimes jumbles the past and present.

The book has too much backstory about Tyler for me and was about 50 pages too long. I also hope the next book doesn’t have half the characters lusting after Tyler. However, I thought that the plot was above average for police procedurals and I would read another book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

"A taut and ambitious police procedural debut introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand...

When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he'd gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright's burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.

As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright's son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.

Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who's receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can't remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn..."

My friend Johnnie Cakes has made it his business to make sure EVERYONE knows about this new book. Therefore it is my business to make sure EVERYONE knows about Firewatching!

The first novel in a series introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand.
When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he'd gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright's burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright's son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.
Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who's receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can't remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn

This is one of the best first books in what I hope will be a long series that I've read in quite some time. Both Adam and Amina are very complicated characters with a lot to learn about themselves and how to deal with the world. I truly appreciated that the guilty party was not easily identifiable. Well written. Recommended.

I'm typically not a huge fan of police procedurals, but I've enjoyed some lately and thought I'd ride the wave and try this one. Perhaps because I loved another one so recently, this just fell a bit flat for me. I wasn't blown away, but still enjoyable and we will get for our library!

Firewatching will interest fans of police investigation mysteries but features a more diverse and realistic cast of characters than many traditional procedurals. Good twists and turns; some parts dragged a bit for me but it really picked up at the end.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wonder if this is going to be a series and we'll finally get the story behind Adam's scar. As a debut, it feels as though some of it assumes we've read earlier books (like the Tyler/Jordan connection) and at others it's clear that we're at the start of something. Mystery-wise, there was too much reliance on the website/blog that the Firewatch wrote (and omg those digressions into historical fires! too long, imvho) when more detecting could have been helpful. As for the fire motif, it was decent but just a little overdone towards the end.

eARC provided by publisher.

A body is found bricked up behind a basement wall when workers begin renovations to the Old Vicarage in Castledene. It turns out to be Gerald Cartwright, a bon vivant, who had been missing for six years. His son Oscar was practically raised by a pair of doting neighbor ladies, Edna and Lily. They’ve been receiving threatening letters - “I know what you did” and “If you don’t tell, I will.” The case falls under the purview of the Sheffield Police. DS Adam Tyler, 29, is a handsome and capable police officer. He works the cold cases. He’s not very well liked by his fellow police officers.
This is a police procedural murder mystery. The entire story takes place in less than a week. One of the characters has flashbacks that help to flesh out the plot. DS Adam Tyler is the lead character, and he’s a good one. He’s conflicted, brave and adept at his job. There are a number of suspects, yet the clever plotting keeps you guessing right up to the end. It surprised me, but thinking back there were some subtle clues. A very good immersive and gripping novel. 5 stars.

Nope. As soon as I read the excerpt (which wasn't available in the NetGalley listing verbiage) and discovered the main character is gay and then gets partnered with a Muslim, I decided I didn't really care what happened to either of them. Just not my cup of tea.