Spot Fire

A river wont stop this wildfire. Will it hide a murder? A cozy Oregon mystery where every minute matters.

As the Sagehen Fire sends embers across the Pineglass River, Old Mill Road becomes an evacuation route and a race against the wind. Wildfire investigator Mara Calder is watching the crossing, recording the times, and helping guide a familiar voice away from danger.

The next morning, real-estate broker Clive Ransom is found dead inside a pump house that survived the burn. The fire seems ready to take the blame. Maras records suggest it may be carrying someone elses crime.

To reconstruct Clives last hours, Mara must follow two trails: the one left by heat and smoke, and the one left by people making offers on frightened neighbors land. Property deals, carefully timed arrivals, and competing accounts turn a disasters aftermath into a murder inquiry the valley can ill afford.

With investigator Priya Shah pressing for evidence, Sheriff Eli Mercer holding the line, and Midge Holloway still very much on the radio, Mara has allies she trusts. But trust cannot settle the one question at the heart of the case: who knew when the road would empty, and what could be hidden once it did?

Spot Fire is Book 7 of The Cascadia Fireline Mysteries, bringing a tightly timed whodunit to an Oregon river community where recovery depends on knowing whom to believe.

For readers who love:

• Testing an alibi against a precise timeline

• River valleys and vividly observed wildfire country

• Small towns pulling together after a crisis

• Property secrets and motives hidden in plain sight

• A warm recurring cast and a non-graphic puzzle