'The best crime book I've read this year. Kept me guessing right to the end. The setting is brilliant, the characters compelling, the writing elegant, the plot bewitching, the tension palpable. A winner.' - Chris Hammer
'A great book and an engrossing read that I just could not put down. Michael Brissenden has delivered an intense, diabolically smart and unforgettable novel.' - Dervla McTiernan
'Smoke by Michael Brissenden is a powerful, haunting and exceptionally well written novel that kept me reading late into the night trying to figure it out and stayed with me long after I finished it'. - Don Winslow
'Atmospheric, fast-paced, and almost unbearably tense - I was deeply immersed in Alex Markov's dangerous, unpredictable world. Brissenden has created characters you'll care about and a page-turner that'll keep you guessing. This is a cracking crime novel and his best book yet.' - Mark Brandi
'A blistering tale of murder, betrayal, and corruption in small town America. The writing is so good I could feel the heat of the California wildfires. Smoke could just be the best crime thriller you'll read this year.' - Tim Ayliffe
What secrets lie in the ashes?
After a brutal wildfire tears through the town of Jasper in the Californian sierras, a body is discovered in a shed. It looks like an open-and-shut case of accidental death - until further investigation reveals that the victim was locked in from the outside.
Years after leaving Jasper, Detective Alex Markov has been sent back under the shadow of an LAPD corruption investigation. She is convinced that the man, a family friend, was murdered opportunistically under the cover of the fire. As the smoke clears, Alex reveals a town corrupt to its core - but exposing that corruption could destroy her and the people she loves. Will she ignore the crookedness and deceit, or face the consequences of pursuing an inconvenient truth?
About the Author
Michael Brissenden was a journalist and foreign correspondent with the ABC for 35 years. He was posted to Moscow, Brussels and Washington, and worked in Canberra for many years in various roles, including as the political editor for ABC-TV's 7.30 and as a reporter with the ABC's investigative television documentary program Four Corners. Michael has published four books, including his highly successful 2024 release Smoke and the number one bestseller Dust, published in 2025.
