Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Charlie Priest #6

Some by Fire

Rate this book
Listening Length: 9 hours and 15 minutes

Charlie Priest was a newly promoted sergeant on the Leeds force when he was called to the scene of a tragic fire, deliberately set. Now a DI in nearby Heckley, Charlie jumps at the chance to re-open the investigation when a message left by a suicide suggests new leads. By a combination of luck, detective work and, Charlie would say, soaring flight of the investigative imagination, he is soon closing in on the perpetrators, but a cornered villain with nothing to lose can be dangerous for a copper who'll take every kind of risk in the hunt for justice...

10 pages, Audio Cassette

First published November 7, 1999

275 people are currently reading
86 people want to read

About the author

Stuart Pawson

17 books32 followers
Stuart Pawson lived in Fairburn, Yorkshire, with his wife, Doreen.

After a career as a mining electrical engineer, he worked part-time for the probation service for five years, mediating between offenders and their victims. This gave him a good insight into the criminal justice system, and it was during this period that he started to write his first book, The Picasso Scam.

Stuart believed he must have some cowboy genes somewhere in his genome because he always had a strong affinity for the American West. His first visit to the USA was to work for a month at a Wyoming coalmine, and he holidayed over there many times. Although tone-deaf (some would say stone-deaf) he always thought it would be good fun to be a songwriter. The thought of composing a three-minute song as opposed to a 300-page book had a certain attraction. He managed to combine the two themes - song writing and the West - in the opening chapters of Laughing Boy, and he enjoyed writing that one immensely.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
287 (53%)
4 stars
170 (31%)
3 stars
73 (13%)
2 stars
7 (1%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Neville.
269 reviews1 follower
September 16, 2025
Charlie needs to find out who the criminals are that are terrorising rich, elderly people. On top of that, an arson attack from a number of years ago has come back to haunt both Charlie and Dave.
400 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2023
It is a shame that a processing story had to be spoilt by so much gratuitous sexism and misogyny. I worry that the author may have been pandering to those who think this is OK. It is not; it is unessesary and adds nothing to either the story or the time in which it was set. Anyone who is not offended by it simply needs to take a good look at themselves and their so called values. I had to give it one star, which it does not deserve, in order to write this review - maybe a change to that rule is in order!
Profile Image for Vicki Gooding.
903 reviews16 followers
May 28, 2025
Charlie Priest received a promotion. His group of people are wonderful. There were a couple of times the book dragged just a bit, but the good parts are so good, and I have loved this series that I decided to go ahead and give it 5 stars. I won't spoil the ending, but I will tell you it is so choice and rich you'll like it a lot.
Profile Image for Spuddie.
1,553 reviews92 followers
November 1, 2017
I do love my British mysteries and in my opinion, this series is one of the best. I have to slow donw, this is my fourth one of the year already, and because the author has died, there is a finite number left in front of me. DI Charlie Priest has become one of my favorite fictional characters.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Carr.
234 reviews8 followers
June 27, 2021
Sort of odd and quite dated - some sexist comments that wouldn’t pass muster these days and some typical wise cracking that is simply irritating. The plot is ok as are the characters but I probably wont bother with another one.
53 reviews
May 10, 2025
love some good Charlie Priest perspective

Charlie doesn’t get everything he wants. But he does want to solve a 30 year old crime. Without getting killed And maybe find a new love his life. ?
5 reviews
August 10, 2025
Great read

This story has got more twists & turns than a Blackpool big dipper. The final twist was delicious Charlie can wipe the smile off Mellisas face.
54 reviews1 follower
October 14, 2025
some by fire

The first person pov is done extremely well. The personality of each of the team members is becoming clearer. Enjoying this series.
31 reviews
March 26, 2021
This book was fun to read.
I felt the author and/or his editors should have done some research on IS immigration policies. Just marrying a U.S. citizen 24 hours ago did not entitle a person to reenter the U.S. after over staying the visa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for John Lee.
860 reviews14 followers
January 14, 2013
If you have read my previous reviews you will know how much I enjoy this series. It ticks all of the boxes for me. It did, however, take me a couple of goes to 'get' the funny which appears quite early in this book ( perhaps that was why ). Watch out for the Judge without thumbs !!
6 reviews
May 4, 2014
Yet again another very good read from this author, would recommend to read as a light read most enjoyable, hard to put down as well...
Profile Image for Daniel.
147 reviews
May 23, 2016
Excellent entry in the DI Charlie Priest series.
Profile Image for David.
1,767 reviews2 followers
July 10, 2011
Probably the best one of the series for me, so far.
329 reviews
January 24, 2015
smashing...can't wait to pick the next one up☺☺☺
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.