“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?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Into the Flames by James Delargy. Into the Flames was published by Simon & Schuster on 4th July 2024 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of Into the Flames but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the blog tour and to the publisher for sending me a finished copy.

When a bushfire starts to get out of control in Rislake, a popular Australian tourist destination, DS Alex Kennard decides to lend a hand evacuating the locals. But it soon becomes clear that someone important is missing — Tracey, the wife of one of the firefighters. Throwing caution to the wind, DS Kennard joins Russell, the anxious husband, and his best mate, fellow firefighter Joel, in the hunt for the missing woman. Only to discover her crumpled, bloodied corpse at the bottom of the stairs. It’s clear to experienced detective Kennard that Tracey has been murdered. But the fire is edging ever closer to the property, promising to destroy the murder scene and any evidence left behind by the killer. It’s a race against time for DS Kennard who feels he has something to prove to both his superiors and to himself. Can he solve the murder before the fire destroys him…?

Into the Flames is a compelling, atmospheric, claustrophobic crime thriller that held my attention from beginning to end. I was drawn into the story by the vivid setting, the ever-present threat of the fire devouring everything in its path, the flawed main character and the high tension stakes. Would Kennard be able to get beyond his own demons and discover what happened to Tracey or would those same demons take hold of this fragile man and destroy him? Leaving the city behind following a hostage situation gone terribly wrong, Alex Kennard and his wife Ann are making a new life for themselves in Katoomba, New South Wales. Having had a rather shaky start in the new town, Kennard knows he needs to work hard to build trust. So when he realises that he’s inadvertently stumbled into a murder scene, Kennard is keen to take control of the situation. Show his superiors and those colleagues who doubt him that he is a good detective. That he is capable of solving a murder and that the past is firmly in the past. But time is running out, along with Kennard’s list of suspects. And still the fire burns, getting closer and closer to the murder scene, ready to destroy everything.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Into the Flames is a gripping, thrilling, tension-laden read perfect for fans of well-written mysteries. I adored the small-town Australian setting. The way the author builds the threat of the fire throughout the book is done very well. The scale and the impact for someone who has never experienced an Australian bushfire first hand was staggering. There was no stopping the devastation and destruction. And on top of the drama and imminent threat posed by the fire, there is an intriguing murder investigation playing out. I quite liked Kennard as a lead character. He’s flawed but that only made him all the more interesting to me. I enjoyed seeing the journey he took, particularly the really quite reckless decisions he made along the way. They certainly added a lot of tension to the narrative. All in all, I very much enjoyed Into the Flames and would happily read more by this author without a moment’s hesitation. A very vivid story and a great murder mystery set against one of the best backdrops I have read in recent years. Unpredictable, claustrophobic and highly compelling. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of Into the Flames. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Into the Flames by James Delargy was published in the UK by Simon & Schuster on 4th July 2024 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland and lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland before ending up in England. He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, landscapes and cultures into his writing.

His first novel, 55, was published in 2019 and sold to over twenty territories. It was followed in 2021 by the standalone thriller Vanished.

His third book, Into the Flames, set during a bushfire In NSW will be published in Summer 2024.