Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg
(Sharpe & Walker #3)

This is the third book in the Sharpe and Walker series. This series overlaps with the Eve Ronin series, which I also follow, and my favorite character interactions are when Walker and Ronin are together. Walker is very happily married so they aren't together in a hanky panky way but in a work related way. Except that Walker has burned all his bridges with Ronin so not only are they not best friends, for now they aren't even friends at all. But she'll get over it.

Sharpe and Walker investigate fires. Sharpe is the fire expert and he's bringing Walker along, showing him the ropes, letting him know what a dunce he is at his job. Walker was good as a man hunter but that job was too dangerous, according to his wife, so now he's supposed to be doing safer work. But in reality, Walker is still throwing his body into the middle of all kinds of dangerous action and then sneaking home to hide his bruises and body dings, hoping to get up and out the next morning before his wife sees the latest trouble he's gotten into.

This time Sharpe and Walker are investigating garage/apartment fires until they get pulled off those for a freeway fire. Then everything gets tangled up and they have to call in Ronin and her partner, Duncan Pavone. There is lots of action here, as usual, and lots of food talk since Duncan is in attendance. There is also a criminal from the past who is back with some of his cronies. There are a lot of things in this story that remind me of present day happenings in the news and that's kind of scary. Looking forward to the next book in either the Sharpe and Walker series or the Ronin series.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC.

Lee Goldberg is hands down my favorite cop drama writer. I compulsively look for new titles from him every few months because he's so prolific. Writing so many books doesn't drain the creative well though and this story compares to the best of his books.

I love love LOVE Eve Ronin and I will never say no to reading a book where she appears. Although this series is a little bit of an offshoot and Eve isn't a primary character, she does make a guest appearance.

I like the character of Walker too and readers got a little peek into what makes him tick and what he's willing to do to protect those he loves. Although not on the up and up, I think this flaw makes him more attractive to readers.

When's the next book???!!!

It's like Christmas every time I have a book by Mr. Goldberg on my TBR list and Hidden in Smoke was no exception! Someone is setting cars in carports on fire in Hollywood and Walker and Sharpe are called in to investigate. Just as they are starting to make a small dent into solving that crime, someone sets a huge fire under the overpass of one of the major freeways in Los Angeles undermining the safety of the overpass and causing it to be shut down.

I enjoyed it tremendously when Eve and Duncan joined the investigation. (I'm still happy-dancing that Duncan chose not to retire, yet.) If that weren't enough, there was a side story that made me feel as though I had been plopped into a James Bond movie!

Hidden in Smoke is a great read that explores dealing with life-threatening situations and the gray areas between good and bad. The characters are complex and interesting, plus there are many laughs, preventing the book from becoming too dark. I loved it and recommend it!

One of my absolute favorite authors, and he does not disappoint with this third entry in the Sharpe and Walker series, though you could probably read as a stand alone, I would recommend the others as they are very good as well. A number of car port/garages are being set on fire in Los Angeles, and Sharpe and Walker are tasked with investigating, not long after they start a large fire has been set under a freeway and shutdown a major highway through LA. Sharpe and Walker had already figured out who was setting the car port fires, they just had to catch the person, they were pulled off and reassigned to the freeway fire, much more important to get it solved and get traffic moving, this also allowed them to use a helicopter to access different areas of LA instead of spending hours in traffic. In a separate arc a bad guy from a previous book is tasked with stealing a watch worth 40 Mil from a seemingly impenetrable museum where it is being displayed, there is a reason for this request tied to another person from that same book, the details are provided so you reading the previous book isn't necessary. Sharpe and Walker also obtain assistance from Eve Ronin and her sidekick Duncan Pavone two detectives from the Lost Hills police station, always fun times when they appear. Another great read which I would highly recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

In this third installment of the series, Sharpe and Walker investigate a series of fires set overnight all around Hollywood. Sharpe has years of expertise in arson investigation, and Walker contributes his exceptional ability to track people down. When a much larger fire brings city traffic to a standstill, suddenly the political stakes introduce a whole new level of complexity, and Walker brings in none other than Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone, our favorite police detectives from the author’s other series. Who doesn’t love a crossover episode? The pace of the novel is fast, and there’s satisfying balance of action and deduction. Meanwhile, there’s an entertaining secondary plot involving a Thomas Crown-worthy caper. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for a digital advance review copy.

Hidden in Smoke is the third book in the “Sharpe and Walker” series, which follow two arson investigators in LA. In this edition, the investigators are searching for a serial arsonist responsible for setting dozens of simultaneous fires near apartment buildings. But when a huge fire damages a busy freeway, bringing traffic in LA to a standstill, Sharpe and Walker add that case to their list. When a homicide is discovered during the investigation, superstar detective Eve Ronin is called in to assist, adding to the mix. There’s a dual plot here as well, interspersed with the arson investigation, and that works well to increase the suspense in both plots. This is a welcome addition to this series, definitely a huge improvement over the previous book. The writing is sharp (no pun intended), the dialogue is witty and appropriately sarcastic, and the plot will hold your interest. Loved this one! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping and intense, Hidden in Smoke is a combustible story that moves at a scorching pace and will ignite the thrill of the hunt in readers’ minds. Another fantastic book by Lee Goldberg, one of the most bankable authors in the genre for engaging, fun, smooth novels containing great characters and intriguing plots. All he does is churn out one great story after another.

An arsonist is setting fires at apartment buildings across Hollywood. Then a massive fire shuts down a major Los Angeles freeway. And just like that, arson investigators Sharpe and Walker are in the middle of the action, charged with finding those responsible. Could it be the same person causing havoc across the city or is there something more diabolical at play? Meanwhile, an old acquaintance of the two investigators is back in the fold and doing what he does best. Namely scheming and thieving. But this time, it could come back to burn them.

This third installment in the Sharpe and Walker series is as compelling and absorbing as the prior two. The banter between the two investigators is entertaining, their strengths are perfectly complimentary, and their investigative approaches are vastly different. But they form a brilliant team that gets the job done, usually with Walker having to make nice for all the people pissed off at Sharpe. It’s the interplay between the duo that makes this book, and this series, so much fun to read.

It also helps that the storylines are fire (pun intended) and the books well researched and written. I mean, it’s not often that someone throws together a serial arsonist, a world class cat burglar, delicious BBQ, big pharma, street artists, and the craziest museum you’ve ever heard about into a single book. But Goldberg pulls it off, seamlessly weaving it all together – and throwing in a few surprises and fan favorite characters – to construct a story that is equal parts amusing, anxiety-inducing and satisfying.

If you’re not reading Goldberg’s stuff, what are you waiting for? Get on it. Because I promise you a good time. And whatever he writes next, I’ll be first in line to grab a copy.

hank you, Thomas & Mercer, for the copy of Hidden In Smoke by Lee Goldberg. I loved Malibu Burning and Ashes Never Lie, books one and two in this series, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. I’m not sure why the writing in this one felt a little different, and there were parts that were distasteful to read. I loved both of the stories, and it seemed like the main characters in the ‘heist’ could be its own series! I loved how Eve Ronin made an appearance in this one too. If you’re looking for a clever story with three-dimensional characters, start this series! 4 stars

Former convict Danny Cole and Former US,Marshall Andrew Walker meet again in a fast-paced novel about getting true justice. This time they are working together, because the ends justify the means. They will bend the rules a bit to ensure that a greedy, rich man receives a punishment that he has deserved for a long time, a punishment that he was able to avoid until two people who usually oppose one another decide to work together. This was a quick, fun read.

Lee Goldberg has an incredible talent for cleverly plotted action thrillers. He is a screenwriter and his books are like a full cable series. It’s season three for Los Angeles County Sheriff arson investigators Sharpe (the arson expert) and Walker (the manhunter and former US Marshal). We get a reminder of season one in the beginning — back when a firefighting convict, Danny Cole, slipped away during a devastating Malibu blaze, but not before helping save two teenagers.

This time we have the older, cynical Walter Sharpe and younger Stetson-hatted Andrew Walker investigating a series of car fires in dingbat apartment buildings (mid-century, seismically vulnerable, two story apartments over carports, often with cool names on the front, many which collapsed after the Northridge earthquake) in one incredibly fiery night. They aren’t certain if the cars, tenants, style of buildings, or property owners were the targets.

Just as they’re zeroing in on a possible suspect and motive, there’s a spectular freeway fire (much like the real life November 2023 I-10 blaze) which started below the expressway in an area of questionable storage facilities (flammable pallets), rickety business shanties (recycling grease) and a homeless encampment (pirated electricity, open flame cooking devices, propane tanks, and sewage). The closed road is also a political hot potato and all sorts of officials (up to the governor) want to have the freeway rebuilt ASAP.

“Hidden in Smoke” works well as a standalone, but even the author suggests you’ll get a fuller experience if you read the first installment, “Malibu Burning.” Mr. Goldberg keeps us hyper-aware of the jurisdictional conflicts between the LA Sheriff’s Department, the LA County Fire Department, and the City of Los Angeles’ own Police And Fire Departments. Plus add in a few other municipal areas and teams like West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Sharpe is always wary of any political involvement and appearances; Walker just want to find the bad guy. Midway through, we get the guest stars: Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone — from Goldberg’s other terrific 5 book “Eve Ronin” series, who also were in the Sharpe/Walker book two, “Ashes Never Lie.” They are Sheriff’s homicide investigators and get involved when a local who was living beyond his means (but near Eve’s Lost Hills station) is found dead.

We do have another story interwoven among the arson investigations: semi-villain and book one secret survivor Danny Cole and his heist crew get to teach us about horology (the world of fine timepieces) on a Japanese billionaire’s private island with a glass bridge that cracks as you walk over it (also a real thing — Google this for fun). Trust me, the Cole backstory all neatly fits in by the end.

As I mentioned, this Goldberg mystery moved like a TV series — keeping an open case in the background, introducing familiar characters, having the “crossover” episode, but always jumping to a newer action scene if a paperwork/forensic scene lagged. I absolutely love the Sharpe and Walker dynamic (I put my TBR aside as soon I received this thriller) and I already want a fourth book! 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors, just sleepy and bloodshot eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Lee Goldberg meticulously knows the desert landscape of the hills surrounding Los Angeles.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I always have a great time reading a book from Lee Goldberg. Hidden in Smoke is the third book headlining Sharpe & Walker and featuring Ronin & Pavone. The intrepid arson investigators are a great set of characters and the story gets even better when the duo from the homicide squad gets involved. I love the bantering and humor but also the authors eye for detail and imagination when it comes to creating a story. I can really recommend this series and I thank Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for letting me have an advance copy of this great book.

This book is third in the series and it did not disappoint! The tie-ins from the first two, as well as Eve and Duncan from the Eve Ronin series just makes it even better! This story twists and turns around. I did not expect the ending at all.
Great read!!

I was thrilled when I found this on NetGalley!

His books read like an action TV series. And it was also fun to meet the main characters of his Eve Ronin series.

The fact that some pharmaceutical companies keep their prices unnecessarily high was also discussed...

The only drawback to his books are the too detailed descriptions of the environment where the story takes place at that moment.

I'm a big Lee Goldberg fan. I think Eve Ronin is one of the great contemporary California cop characters around these days. That said, it pains me to report that HIDDEN IN SMOKE is a very long way from Lee Goldberg's best.

There's something about the book that feels hasty and rushed, as if he was under such pressure from his publisher to get it out that he just pushed this thing out there as quickly as he could and washed his hands of it. Parts of the book didn't even read like Goldberg had written it, and I had to wonder more than once if his publisher might have called in a bit of ghostwriting help to meet whatever publication schedule they had established.

The narrative is frankly rather jumbled, jumping back and forth between two unrelated story lines which ultimately mate up. Well... sort of. The characters feel cartoony — not at all typical of Goldberg's characters — which is another thing which made me wonder occasionally if he had 'help' writing this one.

As much as I love most of Goldberg's work, this is a hard book to recommend. Read Goldberg by all means, but look to his other titles before you look to this one.

I was not familiar with this prolific author, Lee Goldberg, nor this series about Sharpe & Walker. I picked it up as a fast and dirty police procedural after a few more worthy reads, wanting some instantly engaging junk food reading. I actually really struggled to like or relate to the characters in the first half, but it got there in the end, as you'd expect from a writer with so many books behind them.

Hidden in Smoke mashes together two storylines that probably would make more senses if I had read the previous books. One is a James Bond-esque museum heist of a rare watch on a Japanese island, the other is a series of fires in Los Angeles: "This is urban arson, so we know the fires have got to be about revenge, money, or hiding a crime." There was fair bit of cognitive dissonance jumping between the two sorts of storytelling, but as I mentioned, they come together in the end.

The tone felt a bit brusque and flippant: "They wore matching blue LAFD windbreakers and matching sour expressions that suggested they both had heartburn." The characters felt a bit cartoony: "She was both the muscle and the eye candy on Danny's jobs. She felt cheated if she didn't get to sleep with someone or taste some blood along the way." There was dogwhistle misogyny in some of the writing about women: "Her breath smelled like a wet dishrag" or "I ran up the street screaming 'Fire,' barefoot and bare-assed, my cooch out there for everybody to see. It was the beacon that led everybody to safety." Probably the best bit of descriptive prose was about concrete: "Underneath the freeway, all the rubble was gone, exposing the damaged, crumbling pillars and the savaged underbelly of the overpass, where the blaze had violently clawed at the concrete like a ferocious animal, exposing the rebar and pebbly aggregate, the bones and sinew of the structure."

So I guess all in all, not what I was wanting or imagining, and slow to read as a result, but for fans of Lee Goldberg, I bet it scratches their itch. Maybe it'd appeal more to men...

Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg is the third in the Sharpe and Walker series. As arson investigators, this time they are tasked with trying to find the arsonist behind multiple apartment fires. Then, when another fire starts near a homeless camp and shuts down the major highway above it, things get serious. As their investigation continues they bring in Eve Ronin to help with the police side. These stories get better and better and I hope continue for a long time.

I love this third installment in the Walker /Sharpe series, with Duncan and Eve, for the explosive
entwining plots. It’s also familiar to the fans of the series, and we got more than we could ask
for as we have three separate fires & explosions along with theft, murder and some great
barbecue that will have you checking that address to see if it might actually be there!
There are several stand out characters, beginning with my favorite,: Sharpe. He has some
great lines and has to really work hard to deal with some of the ‘investigators’ who might
be working against the best intentions of the capturing the crimes/criminals.
This book is one of brilliant quips and quotes, none of which I will be sharing until the
books meets the world.
Lastly, Eve, the decorated 26 year old ‘murder cop,’, begins to show some of her
maturity and her innate investigatory chops.
What can I say except that this is another ‘hot’ book !
My thanks to Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley for the
download copy of this book for review purposes.

Thanks to Lee Goldberg, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for access to the Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series. Sharpe and Walker are great characters (along with Eve Ronin and others) and the action is associated with arson and arson investigations, which I find is a refreshing change from homicide detective based stories.

The plot involves a series of carport arsons, a freeway fire and a stolen watch. The plot comes together nicely as all three threads intertwine to this story and some continued action from the first novel. The dialog and pacing are top notch, and I especially like the interplay between the characters. Recommended.

This book is the third in the excellent Sharpe and Walker series and can be read independently of the other two, although action from the first book is mentioned and will give away the ending of that book.

Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg is the latest in the very enjoyable Sharpe & Walker series that began in Malibu Burning. If you have not read that book, you really need to as a major character from that book is resurrected here. In fact, as the author note at the start of this read explains, the ending of that book is addressed here on page one.

Danny Cole is alive and well in Japan, though he might be a tad bored. After several surgeries, he has a different face and has various names to go by as he moves about. The 35-year-old thief and grifter is retired and is, per doctor’s orders, trying to find inner peace and tranquility as he sits in the bathhouse. Any hope of that is gone when Los Angeles County Sheriff Department Arson Investigator Andrew Walker lumbers into the water next to him.

Walker isn’t there to arrest him. In fact, Walker wants Danny Cole to finish the job he started. If he does and gets even for what happened, he will help Walker as a certain drug price will come way down. A drug that Walker’s young son desperately needs to control his seizures.

For Danny, it is a chance to once again, experience the thrill of his old life. It will take months to pull off this heist. Doing so is one of the two main storylines in the book.

The other is dealing with the aftermath of a string of fires across Los Angeles. A number of fires has been set and caused damage at car ports in West Hollywood. The car ports had apartment buildings above them which provided fuel for the car port fire. Fire after fire happened and Walker and Waller and Sharpe are working the case when a catastrophic freeway fire pulls them onto another case.

A portion of I-10 in downtown Los Angeles burns and the freeway is severely damaged. Various materials were stored under the multilane overpass as the area was subleased to a business which also leased the area out to others. That resulted in folks running their small businesses under it. There was also a homeless encampment nearby and underneath the bridge.

With such a mix of fuels, it isn’t surprising a horrific multi alarm fire erupted. It burned so hot that the freeway in that section is severely damaged and will have to be repaired to the cost of millions and considerable time.

It has resulted in massive gridlock and a city wide and beyond traffic nightmare for residents. LA County Sheriff Richard Lansing reassigns Walker and Sharpe to the case as he sees a chance to score points with the public after they are tasked with determining what happened. He wants the fire investigated fast and, as he wants to be Mayor, is using, Walker and Sharpe to restore his scandal filled reputation. It’s complicated and Sharpe is sure that no matter what they find and do, they are going to get burned.

Not to mention, they have a case already that they have put a lot of legwork in on and have identified the suspect. Not that it matters as Lansing wants the best on the case, and Walker and Sharpe are the best. Seeing that other case to the finish line is not an option, so they get to work on the freeway fire, and find far more than expected.

Hidden in Smoke is another complicated and fast moving solidly good read. There are many moving parts here and they slowly come together as Danny works on his heist and Walker and Sharpe work their cases.

Not only is the book an enjoyable read, it makes you think as you drive under the overpasses in your city what could, potentially, happen. That fact alone is more than enough to creep you out.


My reading copy came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, by way of NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Excellent! I love how this book brought in Eve Ronin (I love her). I cannot wait for the next installment!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!