Skies of Ash

“Something, something kill me.”

Los Angeles homicide detective Elouise “Lou” Norton and her partner Colin Taggert arrive at the scene of a tragic house fire, summoned by a 9-1-1 call from a terrified Juliet Chatman, who perished in the blaze along with her two children, Cody and Chloe. Left behind is grieving husband and father Christopher Chatman, hospitalized after firefighters forcefully restrained him from entering the inferno. Chatman is inconsolable, devastated that he couldn’t save his beloved family.

Unless, of course, he’s the one who killed them.

The neighbors, along with family friends Ben and Sarah Oliver, insist the Chatmans were living the dream: successful commodities trader father, beautiful stay-at-home mother, two perfect children, a gorgeous house in an excellent neighborhood. But Lou quickly discovers the reality was very different. The flames of adultery, jealousy, scandal, fraud, and disease had all the consumed Chatmans’ marriage before it went up in smoke.

Lou’s own marriage hangs by a thread. Soured by the men in her life, Lou is convinced that Chatman started the fire. But her colleagues worry that her personal issues are obscuring her judgment. With very little evidence regarding the fire—and rising doubts about her husband’s commitment to monogamy—Lou feels played by all sides.

Was the fire sparked by a serial arsonist known as The Burning Man? What about Cody, a teenage fire bug who regularly burned his father’s property? And what are the neighbors hiding about the Chatmans?

Searching for justice through the ashes of a picture-perfect family—the Chatmans and her own—Lou doesn’t know if she will catch an arsonist or be burned in the process.