ARC Review: Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg

Hidden in Smoke
Author: Lee Goldberg
Series: Sharpe & Walker (Book 3)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (April 22, 2025)

Description: When the crimes of a serial arsonist lead to murder, Sharpe and Walker need detective Eve Ronin to join the hunt in a blistering thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.

After dozens of Hollywood apartment buildings erupt in flames during a single night of terror, arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are assigned to catch the serial torcher and end his spree. But then a catastrophic fire destroys a major freeway, crippling the city and forcing Sharpe and Walker to take on another massive case.

Desperate for help, they know exactly who to call: homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone. Together the four detectives must quickly figure out whether the freeway disaster was a tragic accident…or the work of a mastermind with a horrific plan.

As the investigations collide, an old foe with a revenge scheme enters the fray, igniting a race against time to stop a conspiracy of deception, corruption, and murder.

My Thoughts: Sharpe and Walker are back in this third adventure. Someone is setting cars on fire threatening the apartment buildings near them. While they are traveling between fires, someone sets a fire beneath a freeway overpass which threatens the city. Sharpe and Walker turn over their car fires to another pair of investigators and concentrate on the freeway fire. 

However, the State and city have already hired a construction firm to get the freeway back open and they discover that major cleanup has already happened. It's hard to investigate when all of the debris has been moved to landfills. 

Meanwhile, Walker has gone to visit master thief Danny Cole in Japan to ask for a favor. Walker's two-year-old son has epilepsy and only one medication helps. However, Roland Slezak has bought the company and raised the yearly cost from $10 thousand to $150 thousand. Danny and Walker had a previous encounter with Slezak, and both are still unsatisfied how it resolved. Danny plans a sting to get his final revenge on Slezak which will also help Walker. 

I liked the way the two different plots were interwoven. I liked the way Goldberg found a way to bring in Eve Ronin and her partner Duncan Pavone from another of his series. The characters are all interesting and the action was intense. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.