Fire for Hire

by M.E. Roche

In the sleepy town of Jacobsport, California, shadows from the past return. Bob Doyle, once the golden boy of the sheriff's department, who fled under a cloud of suspicion is found brutally murdered at the isolated fishing camp of Tom King, his former partner. Whispers of corruption and betrayal swirl through the pines when it is learned that Brian Lang, a former Jacobsport firefighter, has also returned. FBI Special Agent Conor Mayhew has pulled Tom and fellow detective, Nora Brady, into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Suddenly, the two find themselves deep undercover in Boston, infiltrating a shadowy world where firefighters moonlight as arsonists. With each flame that rises, so does the tension. As Tom and Nora inch closer to the truth, they'll discover why playing with fire is a game where even heroes can get burned.

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

While the product of a Midwest upbringing, M.E. has lived and worked on both coasts as well as in Ireland. As a registered nurse, she has had the opportunity to work in many facets of nursing from pediatrics to geriatrics, from labor representation to administration, including the implementation of hospital information systems for nursing.

While officially retired, she continues to volunteer at a neighborhood clinic where she lives in southwest Florida. When M.E. discovered that nothing had been written about nursing for young readers, since the 1950s and 60s, her first novels were written to address this deficit—to show young readers something of what nursing was like today. As she got to know her characters and their involvement with law enforcement, M.E. decided she needed more direct experience. She connected with her local sheriff’s department and began volunteering with the coroner’s division.

Her adult novels have been a product of that experience, giving Nora Brady the somewhat enviable opportunity to merge her talents for that of nursing with those of law enforcement.

Reviews

[Sally Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspense at its best! I listened to the audio version of this book and loved hearing it read by the author herself. Nora Brady is one unforgettable character. Tough, smart and brave, she is a tenacious investigator, always thinking of ways to get the information she needs to apprehend the bad guys, no matter how much danger that puts her in. I particularly enjoyed the scenes when the criminals underestimated her. This story reveals the challenges law enforcement face in obtaining the evidence necessary to arrest criminals, even when they have a witness. Fire for Hire also provides interesting insights into the crime of arson as well. Great read!

[Melissa Westemeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire for Hire opens with an action-packed scene and I didn't expect the plot to take me from a quiet fishing spot in California across the country to Boston, Massachusetts. Nora Bradley goes undercover to assist in an arson investigation run by a federal agency. Someone's profiting, someone's pulling the strings, and when she's kidnapped and questioned she knows someone on the inside of the investigation is compromising their investigation. I honestly never knew much about arson as a crime and found the explanation and description of firefighting interesting. Roche definitely does her research to portray each part of the investigation as realistically as possible!