‘A ruthlessly efficient, consistently surprising whodunnit. The depiction of the glowering inferno is so realistic you’re surprised to find your eyebrows aren’t singed’ Mark Sanderson, The Times

A town under fire. A detective with something to prove. A killer hiding in plain sight.

The small town of Rislake in the picturesque Blue Mountains is about to be engulfed by a major bushfire.
The order has been given for the residents to clear out.
But a last sweep uncovers one person is missing: Tracey Hilmeyer, wife of one of the firefighters tackling the blaze.

Detective Kennard is in town to help with crowd control, but instead he finds himself driving straight towards the inferno to look for Tracey at the Hilmeyer home.
When he gets there, he finds her dead at the bottom of the stairs, and it’s clear she was murdered.

With the evacuation almost complete there is barely enough time to save the living never mind the dead.
But Detective Kennard has something to prove and cannot let this one go.

Can he solve her murder before the crime scene, and the entire town, turns to ash?


'Faster than a raging bushfire, Delargy paints a terrifying portrait of a town under siege, and the traumatized detective tracking down a murderer in its midst. Blistering stuff!' SAM HOLLAND

'With his trademark immersive writing, James Delargy drops you into the Australian bush amid scorching flames, choking soot and your own pounding pulse. A blistering narrative delivered with cool prose – this book is on fire!' JO FURNISS

'Delargy ratchets the tension masterfully . . . Packed with atmosphere and as unpredictable as a bushfire, this is a searingly good thriller' HEATHER CRITCHLOW

'A terrific read, the best yet from a rising star in the world of crime writing' KATE RHODES

'Brilliantly menacing and evocative, the heat is set to high' ELEANOR RAY

'Intense, fierce and with a violence to match the fire itself. I couldn’t put it down, James Delargy writes with a grip on character and plot which will pin you to the page' RACHEL WOLF

'An absolute scorcher that’ll be seared into your brain long after you put it down. Simply superb. I felt every lungful of smoke and every lick of flame as I tore through it in two sittings!' ROBERT RUTHERFORD