3.5 stars

This was a nice detective mystery! It wasnt mind blowing by any means but it was entertaining. The beginning was a little slow and I don't think it helped that I haven't read the first book. I think it would have helped to have a little more information on this duos background but I wouldn't say it was NEEDED to read the first one.

I liked the fun references that I knew and recognized. It was definitely a multi faceted case. It started with one thing and then turned into something completely different. Overall not a bad story line! Just felt slightly predictable and monotone in my opinion

I enjoy this series, but prefer the Eve Ronin series, so I was pleasantly surprised when Eve was in this Walker & Sharpe series! The characters were great, besides the usual, but some of the very unusual "bad guys". I thought this was a bit more intriguing than some. I liked getting to know Walker's wife. She definitely adds to the series, great character. highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg. This is the 2nd book in the Sharpe and Walker series. Lee Goldberg has done it again! I couldn't put this book down! Walker and Sharpe are two characters that I hope have many more stories to come in the future. Well done!

Holy Cow this was good! Three amazing story lines woven into a fast-paced story that I could not put down. Not to mention Eve & Dunkin get to investigate with Sharpe & Walker. Loved everything about this story. Great writing, great characters, and interesting stories. One of the villains is so unexpected (which is so good). Cannot wait for the next one!

Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg is the second book about two investigators Sharpe and Walker series.
What a great book! It's a fast-paced, enjoyable read, i could not put it down.
It's a must-read for everyone who enjoys thrillers.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Lee Goldberg novel and I must say, this was not one of my favorites. Every time I though it was going to ‘get there’, it didn’t. It doesn’t stop me from looking for more of Lee’s books to read. Could it be because he is a mainstream author I have high expectations?

The dialogue seemed forced. The back and forth banter seemed mean spirited, by the tone of the writing. I know it wasn’t meant that way.

We seemed to be all over the place and there was more than one bad guy doing bad things.

We have the politics of different police forces trying to run things, and that read true.

Gotta remember this is an ARC and there may be changes made, writing tightened up. The characters and mystery were fleshed out but it had an amateur feel to it, maybe a rushed feeling that I sure don’t expect from a mainstream author. That being said, I’ll still have my eye out for more of his work.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg.

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Ronin and Pavone Join Sharpe and Walker

Sharpe and Walker arrive at the scene of a car fire in the Chatsworth Nature Preserve. Sharpe goes to inspect a burnt Camry. Walker and the fire captain joke about the protected species that will require reports to numerous environmental and endangered species agencies. The fire chief gives Walker the license plate, who runs it. Sharpe looks around. He says that it is arson. Gas was splashed around the inside and lit with a road flare. The gas can is right over there. Sharpe tells Walker that there are only three reasons that a car is set on fire: revenge, profit, or involvement in a crime. Walker tells him that it was reported stolen this morning by the owner. It was used a short time later in a bank robbery. Sharpe states that this is an FBI case now. They see smoke in the distance and decide to investigate.

This novel has three interwoven threads. The first is the Twin Lakes arsons, in which finished homes become fully engulfed in flames shortly after the power is turned on. A second arson crime spree is discovered during the Twin Lakes arsons. The last thread involves a strange arson suicide. The significant positive of this novel was the joining of Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone in the investigation of the strange arson death. Their participation was not limited to this thread. This thread trips across National Security, and the FBI takes over the investigation. Walker does not understand the meaning of no in pursuing this investigation, which leads to much interagency conflict. Twin Lakes investigation is complex, and every advancement seems like finding a jigsaw puzzle piece that does not seem to fit anywhere. All these elements grabbed and held my attention until the end.

Walker and Ronin are like two peas in a pod. Their interactions form a B-storyline. As Walker transitioned to being an arson investigator from being a US Marshall, in his heart, he enjoys interviewing people and chasing criminals. He bonds with Ronin, and the two start to work together. At the arson scenes, Walker takes on the role of teacher to Ronin to explain what the scene is telling them. The reader will see that Shape does more than investigate arsons and argue with a fire captain. When Ronin and Pavone were introduced, it made me smile. The smile stayed until I finished the novel.

This novel has a few aspects that can cause some readers to stop reading. Intimate scenes are nonexistent. Vulgar and rude language is present but at a low level. Some scenes could erupt in violence, but none of them do so. This is the second novel in this series, and the Ronin and Pavone series has five novels, so all these characters come with much background. I have read them all but found nothing to stop someone from reading this novel first.

The most significant reason I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel was the addition of Eve Ronin and Dunkin Pavone to the storyline. I could not stop reading. The next novel in this series is already listed on Amazon, and I am going to have a hard time waiting. I highly recommend reading it. I rate this novel with five stars.

I received this novel's free prepublication e-book version through NetGalley from Thomas and Mercer. My review is based solely on my own reading experience. Thank you, Thomas and Mercer, for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

"What I'm saying is, there is no escaping risk."

Mr. Goldberg is one of my very favorite authors, as in "I'll bet even his grocery lists are interesting and funny to read!" I was so, so happy when I read that Malibu Burning was going to become the first in a new series!! Ashes Never Lie is a fantastic sophomore follow-up!

This time out, newly built vacant homes are mysteriously bursting into flames, challenging detective partners Sharpe and Walker. Then another home miles away burns to the ground, with a dead man found in the ashes, sitting in his recliner. Can they be related? THEN they stumble upon an arson-related swindle! Not to worry. All of the storylines were fascinating as well as easy to keep track of. I did my happy dance when Ronin made her appearance. She and Walker made the perfect comedic/detective team!

The amount of research into arson the author had to have made in order to write Ashes Never Lie must have been staggering!!

HUGE thanks to both #ThomasAndMercer and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of #AshesNeverLie. This is the second book in the #SharpeAndWalker​ series, with the expected publication date of September 24, 2024.

#LeeGoldberg #WalterSharpe #AndrewWalker #EveRonin #Arson

Ashes Never Lie was a perfect, high speed procedural based novel. This is the second book in the Sharpe and Walker series. It worked well as a stand alone but after reading this I purchased a copy of the first book in the series, Malibu Burning. I have read some of Goldberg's Eve Ronin books and I was happy to see the character crossovers. Overall this book was fun and there was lots of action and several cases that were solved. I am excited to both go back and read book 1 in the series and also any later additions.

I requested this book, knowing it was the second book in a series that I hadn’t read. I read the first book and prepared to read and review the second book, but there was nothing in the blurb or description on NG to indicate that it’s a crossover book with his other series that currently has 5 books out. I am not reading five more books to be able to review this book. I’m really tired of publishers/blurb writers not being transparent when books are connected. It’s not a standalone. It’s book 2 for S&W but book 6 for Eve Ronin. Michael Connelly’s team does a great job making sure that everything in the Harry Bosch universe is marked for where it fits in the universe. Other publishers should look to him for how it’s best done.

We begin with arson detectives Walker Sharpe and Andrew Walker showing up on scene of a Toyota Camry burnt in the middle of an old sacred Indian ceremonial ground.

In Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg, we are once again following Walker Sharpe and Andrew Walker. We start out with a burnt Toyota Camry, but that's just the beginning. Before long, Sharpe and Walker find themselves in the middle of several fire investigations. One home finds a man's body within the ashes.

Are all of these fires related?
Will Sharpe and Walker find the arsonist turned murderer?

Ashes Never Lie is packed with sarcastic humor, as well as twists and turns at every corner.

Lee Goldberg did an excellent job with this second installment of Sharpe and Walker. This book would make a great TV series.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg.

This was an excellent follow up to Malibu Burning. Sharpe and Walker are back, this time dealing with multiple cases. They are joined by Eve Ronin, star of her own series by Lee Goldberg, and her partner. Even Walker's wife gets to participate, giving her a chance to understand the work her husband loves.

There is plenty of action, villains, and humor here. A terrific read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Not family friendly due to adult themes and violence.

This second book in his new Sharpe and Walker series is a winner. As always, Lee Goldberg has written a page turner with wonderful characters you want to root for.

Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are arson investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Walker used to be a US Marshal but now, due to work-related injuries and a baby at home, he is determined to pursue what he figured would be a safer line of police work. Sharpe is an experienced arson investigator and has taught Walker a lot in the year or so that they’ve been partners.

In this book, Goldberg has Sharpe and Walker team up with Eve Ronin and her partner Duncan (the main characters in his also-wonderful Eve Ronin series), to figure out a series of arsons, some of which have been ruled accidental, and at least one of which includes a death. Walker and Ronin seem to really understand each other! We also get more with Walker’s wife, Carly, a psychologist. I’m hoping she continues to be included in future books.

I’ve learned quite a bit about fires and about arson in these two books, but Goldberg makes the learning easy - he avoids the dreaded “info dump.”

There are a number of twists and turns as they try to figure out who is responsible for the seemingly unrelated acts of arson. Note: If you’re a Star Wars fan, you will appreciate quite a few references to the Star Wars “universe”, especially The Mandalorian.

Another note: You can definitely read this as a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This author’s stories are ALWAYS fascinating and complicated while the characters are determined, sarcastic, and often laugh out loud funny. Arson investigators Walter Sharpe and his partner ex-US Marshal Andrew Walker are investigating a fire in a new home development, while knowing that some of the evidence may have already been washed away. The firefighters believe the fire was electrical, but Sharpe has a different opinion. They are then called to a fire where there is a dead body. Walker misses the action of hunting for criminals, but marriage and a baby have changed his priorities. Homicide Detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone (from the amazing Eve Ronin series – a must read!) are called in to investigate the man’s death. Walker and Eve are soon chasing a murderer with serious mental issues, investigating a massive insurance scam and a firebug who planted incendiary devices in new homes. The camaraderie and dialog between the characters makes this a fast paced and truly entertaining mystery! Expect the unexpected! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Lee Goldberg has written a winner with this fantastic novel combining his two most recent series in a fun crossover. In 2020 He wrote the first Eve Ronin novel. Last year, with Malibu Burning, he introduced fire investigators Sharpe and Walker. Both teams have a young rouge partnered with an older heavyset mentor with a nickname. In this novel Ronin and Walker team up for a great mystery thriller. Goldberg always has a fast paced thriller, full of action and witty dialogue. This novel has fires in vacant homes, then one with a body, and soon the duo is being warned off the case by the FBI. But Goldberg fans know that a problem with jurisdiction never stops one of his characters. I received an advanced copy from the publisher. But I can honestly say that this novel lived up to my expectations and will delight anyone who loves a good thriller.

Arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are dealing with a puzzling fire that destroys a just constructed house in a new housing development. Homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone find a corpse in another burnt home. The four detectives team up to solve these seemingly unrelated cases, stop a determined arsonist & save innocent lives from a potentially fatal release of a deadly agent.

The public’s interest in crime solving and detection has been around since the 1800s, but for much of that time, professional police played, at best, a minor role. However, since World War II, police procedurals have caught up with tales of unofficial investigators and, on television at least, have far surpassed them. There are so many detective cops that authors strain to find a new twist. Lee Goldberg provides just such a fresh spin on a familiar genre with his novels featuring Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker. In the second series novel, “Ashes Never Lie,” the author takes what could be wonky technical subject matter and turns it into a highly entertaining thriller.

Sharpe and Walker are the prototypical mismatched cop partners. The author made an indelible impression on me when he described Walter Sharpe as a Walter Matthau lookalike (in films like “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three”). Sharpe is an unquestioned expert in the scientific analysis of potential arson scenes. He can look at what’s left of the scene after the fire department has extinguished a blaze, washed away, or moved vital evidence, and determine how and why the fire started. Sharpe also does not focus much on interpersonal relationships, rubbing the fire personnel the wrong way by dismissing their often incorrect case theories. Sharpe’s partner, Andrew Walker, is the team’s novice arson investigator, but he’s no green rookie. Walker is a former U.S. Marshal who tracked down fugitives for years before his wife insisted he change careers to something less stressful. (Of course, the cases he takes on now are both stressful and dangerous.) And if Sharpe invites comparisons to Walter Matthau, the Stetson-hat-wearing Walker brings to mind Chuck Norris’s “Walker Texas Ranger.” While arson investigators are supposed to turn cases over to regular detectives once they determine a suspicious fire is a case of arson, Walker still wants to pursue and catch the arsonists.

“Ashes Never Lie” follows Sharpe and Walker through a typical workday that turns out to be far from typical. A house in the final stages of construction explodes in a new housing subdivision. Sharpe and Walker determine the explosion was caused by a bomb hidden inside the drywall and that other houses in the same subdivision also have bombs ready to go off when the power is turned on. The second fire is clearly a case of arson. A man sets fire to his house and then shoots himself before his body and the house are consumed by flames. The mystery isn’t how he died, but why he would commit suicide in such a bizarre manner. Since the victim was a scientist involved in some top-secret government research, the FBI gets involved in the case as well.

Although Sharpe is content to remain in the background doing his forensic thing for most of “Ashes Never Lie,” Walker gains an unofficial new partner as he goes after the arsonists in his various cases. She’s Eve Ronin, and Lee Goldberg fans will immediately recognize her as the protagonist of the author’s other series featuring the LA County Sheriff’s Department. While Sharpe and Walker could form the basis for a TV series, Eve Ronin goes them one better. She’s the main character in an ongoing series about her high-profile cases and a genuine celebrity. She gets assigned to investigate one of Walker’s cases and winds up teaming with him to go after the bad guys.

The author has extensively researched arson investigation, and the technical aspects of “Ashes Don’t Lie” seem accurate to this lay reviewer. Moreover, Sharpe’s explanations were simple to follow and, more importantly, did not bog the book down in lengthy information dumps. Goldberg impressed me even more with the vivid descriptions of the book’s villains. The arsonists weren’t just shadowy figures pouring gasoline into empty houses. Instead, they came to life as three different criminal types, with unique motivations for their actions, linked by an abnormal fascination with fire. They weren’t likable, but they were understandable.

The author has written many teleplays and TV novelizations for mystery series, and he understands the need for humor in books of this type. So, the various investigators are quick with quips, sarcastic comments, effective disses, and assorted one-liners. About half of them are funny, but the fast pace of “Ashes Don’t Lie” ensures readers don’t dwell on the groaners too often. This rapid-fire patter is also the book’s primary weakness. I had difficulty buying into some of the far-fetched scenarios, even by action thriller standards. Worse, the dialogue sometimes sounds like a group of comedy writers trying to turn random improv into a cohesive script for a scene. When an entire page comprises one-liners in response to other characters’ one-liners, the jokes get tiresome.

The most bizarre sequence occurs when Walker and Ronin go undercover to San Diego’s famous Comic Con to catch one of the book’s villains, a diehard Star Wars fan. Walker dresses as a Mandalorian, while Ronin is appropriately garbed as Wonder Woman. I could easily visualize this scene on a TV episode. Surprisingly, even though it may have been the least credible moment in the book, the set-up (accompanied by some great description by the author) was effective. This was one of the most enjoyable sequences in “Ashes Don’t Lie.”

With his Eve Ronin and, now, Sharpe and Walker series, Lee Goldberg has breathed new life into the police procedural. Beneath the quips, banter, and Star Wars memorabilia, “Ashes Don’t Lie” is an entertaining story with several good mysteries within the novel. Andrew Walker, who juggles these cases with the pressures of being a new father, is a likable hero who could anchor a lengthy series (I’d like to see more of Walter Sharpe in future books. You can never get enough Walter Matthau.) I’m not lying; “Ashes Don’t Lie” is a lot of fun for crime fiction fans.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

Great book!

This is a new-to-me author, so I hadn't read the first book in the series. I feel like the author did a great job pulling the reader in without the backstory.

The story was very fast-moving, a few various plot lines that eventually intersect as the story moves forward. It kept me engaged throughout the story. I loved the relationship between Walker and his wife Carly. The work partner relationship that exists between Sharpe and Walker is sometimes sarcastic, which I tend to love. Eve seems to have a storied past of her own, maybe covered in previous books, I'll have to go find those books. If you enjoy police procedural mysteries, this is a great book for you.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

“Ashes Never Lie” is a thoroughly satisfying second installment in the Sharpe and Walker series by Lee Goldberg. The duo, comprised of LA County Deputy Sheriff fire investigators, with one being a former US Marshal, dive into another gripping set of cases.

The story kicks off with high energy as Sharpe and Walker respond to three seemingly unrelated fires: one in a park, another that appears to be an electrical fire in a housing development, and an apparent arson at a house under construction in a gated community.

As they investigate the latter, Detective Eve Ronin and her partner, characters from another of Goldberg's series, make a welcomed appearance. Their inclusion adds an extra layer of enjoyment for fans of both series.

Of the two mysteries woven into the plot, the more sinister one is resolved in a way that would typically signal the climax in most novels. However, Goldberg's talent shines here as he uses this resolution to further heighten the tension, propelling the story to a new and unexpected level.

Lee Goldberg consistently delivers. His ability to immerse readers into his characters’ world ensures that even newcomers to the series can jump in without missing a beat. That said, if you start with “Ashes Never Lie,”be prepared—you’ll likely want to dive into the entire series.

I received an advanced review copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I’ve provided here.

Ashes Never Lie is book two in the Sharpe & Walker series by Lee Goldberg.
I have not read book one Malibu Burning but after reading this one it is definitely on my list now.
This is a super-quick read, tightly plotted and paced and there is never a dull moment.
A tension-filled story that moves at a brisk pace.