Malibu Burning

The worst firestorms in Los Angeles history are tearing through the Malibu hills. Arson investigator Walter Sharpe, methodical and unimpressed by almost everyone, is convinced the fires were set deliberately. His new partner, Andrew Walker, is a former US marshal who would rather chase than analyze, and the two of them agree on very little except that someone is doing this on purpose.

Elsewhere in the smoke, Danny Cole is working. A career thief who once fought wildfires on an inmate crew, Cole lost a friend to a blaze that should never have killed anyone — and he has built a plan to take what he is owed from the people he blames, while the rich are busy evacuating.

Lee Goldberg opens the Sharpe & Walker series with a fast, funny California crime novel that runs the investigation and the heist at each other until they meet.