"A page-turner with a kicker at the end-you can't ask for anything better. Intricately plotted and full of character, this one is a great ride that burns with the intensity of a California wildfire."-Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestseller
The dry season has hit the Inland Empire of California, depleting the ponds and revealing the muddy grave of Paul Dwyer. From his mansion on the hill, Dwyer lorded over Los Colmas, a small town that he aspired to make big by building mansions for wealthy LA commuters. Some viewed him as a savior, providing construction jobs for locals. Others believed he was ruining their beautiful, close-knit town.But who was angry enough to murder him?
Local cop Ron Starke is overwhelmed by the list of suspects and plagued by a difficult captain who is demanding results. Starke investigates Paul Dwyer's dirty money and handshake deals gone wrong, but the name at the top of the suspect list is the most intriguing, and chilling.
The developer wasn't the only one with secrets; his widow Shelby has kept her own for decades, none more harrowing than the horrific abuse she and her daughter endured at the hands of Dwyer. And none more volatile than what she knows but must hide about Paul's murder.
As the season's wildfires intensify to historic levels and surge towards Los Colmas, Starke must discover who killed Dwyer before all the evidence burnsand the whole town is erased.
"Combustion is exactly what I love in a mystery-fast as a bullet and bristling with suspense. Part Hitchcock, part 'Law & Order,' all terrific."-T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Room of White Fire
Industry Reviews
"A page-turner with a kicker at the end-you can't ask for anything better. That's what Martin J. Smith delivers with Combustion. Intricately plotted and full of character, this one is a great ride that burns with the intensity of a California wildfire."-Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestseller
"Combustion is exactly what I love in a mystery-fast as a bullet and bristling with suspense. Smith is a fine observer of the human psyche and his characters kept me off balance. Part Hitchcock, part 'Law and Order,' all terrific."-T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Room of White Fire
"[A] well-written fair-play mystery from Edgar-finalist Smith..."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"As compulsive as its wind-fueled wildfire, Martin J. Smith's Combustion is a tour de force of suspense writing. Capturing inland Southern California's urban sprawl, shady real estate development, and the locals' memories of more pastoral times (inevitably tied to youth and love), the novel is alight with far more than just the approaching flames. Smith's well-drawn characters are motivated by familiar drives-love, power, lust, fear, loneliness-but they address their needs in uniquely 21st century ways, clearing the path for a collision of the cyber world with the 'real' world, leading to an unexpected and unforgettable climax."-Gordon McAlpine, author of the Edgar-nominated Woman with a Blue Pencil
"Turn off the phone, lock the doors and settle in for a roller coaster ride with Martin J. Smith's well-plotted, fast-paced crime thriller Combustion. Longtime journalist Smith blends a smooth, spare style with crackling dialogue and elegaic descriptions of Southern California that evoke Raymond Chandler, but his story is firmly set in the 21st century. Whether it's the grieving widow, rapacious developer, slick philanthropist, petulant teen, small town officials or career-climbing cops, these characters all have secrets and subterranean entanglements that cross lines of class, culture, and geography. The perfect read."-Denise Hamilton, bestselling crime writer and editor of Los Angeles Noir, the Edgar Award-winning short story anthology
"Martin J. Smith has found a dusty, incestuous corner of Southern California to explore in this tight tale of small town greed and deception. As the Santa Ana winds blow, and fires rage all around this assortment of lost souls seeking redemption, the truth is burned out of them in a gripping finale."-Philip Reed, Edgar-nominated author of Bird Dog and Off and Running
