by Cynthia Chow & Lorie Lewis Ham
This week we have a little bit of a double review of this book. We have Cynthia’s full review of the book, and Lorie’s take on the audiobook version. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a print copy of the book, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.
Hidden in Smoke begins with Los Angeles arson investigator Andrew Walker forming an unexpected, and possibly career ending, one time partnership for the sake of his two-year-old son, with a thief whose path they have crossed before.
Walker already has a lot on his plate, as a night erupts with a series of car fires set near apartment buildings in West Hollywood. Walker’s partner Walter Sharpe always – loudly – laments the fire departments who wash away evidence while putting out fires, but in this case it doesn’t take long for the arson investigators to track down the likely culprit. They have to pass on the actual capturing of the criminal when they are assigned to investigate a fire underneath the I-10 Santa Monica Freeway that shut down traffic for hours. In a town that lives and dies by its freeways, the freeway closure has the mayor, governor, and head of the Department of Transportation demanding that it be resolved and the freeway rebuilt as soon as possible. This puts Walker and Sharpe in conflict with the small industrial businesses and homeless encampments underneath the freeway, who both blame the other for starting the fires. The trail of clues eventually leads them to a dead body, which has them once again meeting Lost Hills homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone. The four investigators are as effective in their investigations as they are frustrating to their supervisors, caring more about results than public relations or politics.
While Walker, Sharpe, Eve, and Duncan solve a murder and take down an arsonist, the thief enlists his own crew of honeytrap/muscle, and together they conduct an elaborate scheme to steal a priceless watch out of a museum on a Japanese billionaire’s private island (you will have to read the book to find out why Walker is working with them).
This third in the Walker & Sharpe series (but seventh in the Eve Ronin, who has her own books) is an exhilarating blend of an Ocean’s Twelve caper and the movie Backdraft, with plots coinciding into a satisfying end.
This clever and exhilarating romp is as engaging as Walker and Sharpe’s more grounded and practical investigation, but both are as witty and hilarious as one expects in the books written by Lee Goldberg.
California natives will feel at home with the descriptions of freeways and familiar landmarks, with the latter including action-packed surveillances in a shopping mall and drive-thru. The dialogue is always witty and the plots so entertaining that readers will be eagerly anticipating the next adventures of these characters who are as much fun together as they are in their own separate books. The more the merrier though, and here’s to hoping that they all team up again to deal out justice to criminals and an incompetent bureaucracy.
Hidden in Smoke Audiobook Mini Review
Review by Lorie Lewis Ham
I wholeheartedly agree with all of Cynthia’s points about the book–Lee’s books never disappoint. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the audiobook and I can add that the performances were great and definitely did the book justice. Eric Conger, who does all the male voices, does an amazing job of bringing these characters to life and giving each one their own sound. Nicol Zanzarella for me has become the voice of Eve even when I read the books.
Don’t miss Hidden in Smoke, whether you prefer to read it or listen.
You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.
To enter to win a print copy of Hidden in Smoke, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Hidden in Smoke” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 7, 2025. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.
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Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.
It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
Would really like to read, sounds like an intriguing story.
I’m familiar with some of his other works but haven’t read this series. Will have to remedy that.