California's Santa Ana winds are blowing nothing but trouble in to Los Angeles County. On their own, they are a formidable force to be reckoned with, but add a fire-crazed arsonist and you've got a truly explosive situation. That's the situation Fire Captain Jim Kendall is in now.  Kendall, just back from a leave of absence following the suicide of his daughter, is the chief arson investigator.

Kendall and his men determine that a fire at Porter Ranch was deliberately set by an arsonist. The only clue is a red apple timer. Fearing that more fires will be set, Kendall looks for suspects including Father Dom, a "priest" who offers his help to Kendall, but who also has access to arson tools.

Readers are introduced to Mikey Yoder, a young man who steals firefighting equipment while impersonating a firefighter; Donna Demko, formerly known as Darnya Demko, local weather reporter who is the adopted daughter of Kendall's friend Mark Demko, now deputy chief of the fire department; and Ruffy Lozano, a night supervisor for the county 911 dispatch center who yearns to become a firefighter.

Investigators' fears turn into grim reality when the perfect storm of hot, dry Santa Ana winds and an arsonist's chicken timer explode into one of the county's worst fire maelstroms.

Author Kurt Kamm keeps readers guessing in this fast-paced mystery. The suspects include some real whack jobs, but Kendall is a stand-up guy with a love of York Mints and readers will be cheering him on. Kamm definitely knows his way around a fire and the Southern California terrain and he does a bang-up job of passing that information along to readers.

I highly recommend this book for readers who love a good mystery with plenty of action.