Fireproof: A Maggie O’Dell Novel

A serial arsonist is torching empty warehouses in areas of Washington, D.C., where the homeless take shelter in bestseller Kava’s strong 10th Maggie O’Dell novel (after 2011’s Hotwire). When the remains of two bodies, both severely beaten, turn up at the arson sites, the emotionally frayed Maggie must put the pieces together, despite being under pressure from her sadistic and politically motivated boss, injured by flying glass from an explosion, and tormented by memories of an earlier, horrific case. Might the arsonist and the killer be one and the same? FBI profiler Maggie works seamlessly with Julia Racine, a brash D.C. homicide detective with a wicked attitude, not only to track the arsonist, whose activities are escalating, but also to outfox an egotistical and ruthlessly ambitious journalist. Amid a barrel full of red herrings and a cluttered cast of characters, the suspenseful plot builds to a finale that offers an irresistible lure to Maggie’s next outing. 6-city author tour. (July)