This review is very difficult. If I were reading this book on my own, I likely would not have finished it. However, because I was asked to review it, I hung in there. In the end, I found it interesting but more as a textbook on forensic science, than a mystery.
Fire Sign is a short novella, listed under women’s adventure, mystery thriller. I would classify it more as a textbook on forensic science with an attempt to throw in a mystery and a very poorly done sex scene (It certainly wasn’t a love scene.) that came out of nowhere.
Most of it is written in first person with our main character, Dr. Anja Toussaint, a forensic engineer, describing what she sees as she investigates a series of church fires. All of this is done in forensic textbook fashion, with very little emotion and even less “show, don’t tell”.
Accustom to working on her own, and living like a nun, Dr. Toussaint is saddled with Detective Gil Dolan as her partner on this case: Both of whom have secrets (I would call them hang-ups) and a ton of baggage from their past. Which, once again, is hinted at but never explained.
In the books description, Dr. Toussaint is described as “beautiful” but all I remember reading is her age (and I think) hair and eye color. Likewise, Det. Dolan, was described as not bad looking somewhere along the way. So much for developing character image.
Even though the two of them have no use for each other, the beautiful doctor attempts to rip the clothes off the married detective, in between fires, in what has to be the worse sex scene I have ever read.
And here I will stop because it is very hard to think of Fire Sign as much more that an interesting and fascinating text on forensic science and arson investigation. Sadly though, character and mystery plot development need a lot of work.
This book was given to us for free in exchange for an honest review.