The smell of gasoline points to murder; the body is Thomas Warrendale, choir director at First Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Indiana. Detective RJ Franklin Jr. is a parishioner, and his insider's knowledge makes him the obvious choice to lead the investigation. The congregation doubled after Warrendale revamped the music to appeal to a more youthful crowd. RJ's godmother, Mama B, tells him Warrendale was also an accountant and a "fancy pants" seducer....

"Hell comes to Southern California every October. It rides in on searing Santa Ana winds that blast at near hurricane force, igniting voracious wildfires. Master thief Danny Cole longs for the flames. A tsunami of fire is exactly what he needs to pull off a daring crime and avenge a fallen friend. As the most devastating firestorms in Los Angeles' history scorch the hills of Malibu, relentless arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his wild card of...

"Los Angeles homicide detective Elouise "Lou" Norton and her partner, Colin Taggert, arrive at the scene of a tragic house fire. Juliet Chatman perished in the blaze, along with her two children. Left behind is grieving husband and father Christopher Chatman, hospitalized after trying to rescue his family. Chatman is devastated that he couldn't save them. Unless, of course, he's the one who killed them. Neighbors and family friends insist the Chatmans...

"An insurance adjuster for California Fire and Life Mutual, Jack Wade investigates the destruction of one of the area's valuable estates in a fire that also kills the owner's wife and finds himself embroiled in a bizarre conspiracy involving the Russian mob, Vietnamese gangs, corporate corruption, and murder."--

"The true story of the most devastating wildfire in Australian history and the search for the man who started it. What kind of person would deliberately start a firestorm? What kind of mind? On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the Valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than...

"At the deteriorating Pheasant Run, the occupants keep their secrets and sadnesses locked tight behind closed apartment doors. Kind Leo Umberti, formerly an insurance agent, now quietly spends his days painting abstract landscapes and mourning a long-ago loss. Down the hall, retired professor Rydell Clovis tries desperately to stay fit enough to restart a career in academia. Cassie McMackin, on the same floor, has seemingly lost everything - her husband...

"Was a monstrous killer brought to justice or an innocent mother condemned? On an April night in 1989, Jo Ann Parks survived a house fire that claimed the lives of her three small children. Though the fire at first seemed a tragic accident, investigators soon reported finding evidence proving that Parks had sabotaged wiring, set several fires herself and even barricaded her four-year-old son inside a closet to prevent his escape. Though she insisted...

From the internationally bestselling author Catherine McKenzie comes an evocative tale of two women navigating the secrets and lies at the heart of a wildfire threatening their town.