Ashes and Alibis
(2025)(The third book in the Backdrafts & Biscuits Mystery series)
A novel by Hailey Hartley
When Lieutenant Gloria Stevens arrives at the Pinewood Ridge training facility for what should be a routine controlled burn, she expects to teach ventilation techniques, not discover a dead body in the flames. Her rival firefighter Derek Vaughn is found in an unauthorized storage room, and the department brass want to call it a tragic training accident. But Gloria and her sharp-eyed German Shepherd Scout notice something the investigators missed—burn patterns that don't add up and accelerant evidence that tells a darker story. As the only woman in a department where Derek spent years making her professional life miserable, Gloria quickly becomes the prime suspect when her very public conflicts with the victim come to light.
Suspended pending investigation and warned to stay away from the case, Gloria can't sit idle while her career and freedom hang in the balance. With Scout's keen instincts detecting clues human investigators overlook, she uncovers a web of secrets buried beneath the brotherhood's surface. Derek wasn't just a bully—he was a blackmailer who'd been systematically collecting dirt on half the department, building files that could destroy careers and lives. Between dodging the detective assigned to her case and discovering that almost everyone had a reason to want Derek dead, Gloria realizes the training facility fire was no accident. Someone staged it perfectly to look like Derek's carelessness, and they made sure she'd be the one to take the fall.
But clearing her name means exposing secrets that powerful people want to keep buried, and the real killer isn't about to let a suspended firefighter asking too many questions ruin their perfect plan. As mysterious threats escalate and Gloria gets closer to the truth, she discovers that the tight-knit brotherhood of firefighters can close ranks fast when one of their own threatens to expose the rot beneath the polish. In a town where loyalty runs deep and questioning your brothers is the ultimate betrayal, Gloria must risk everything she's worked for to prove the fire was murder. Because justice burns brightest when someone has the courage to strike the match—even when the flames might consume everything she holds dear.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Suspended pending investigation and warned to stay away from the case, Gloria can't sit idle while her career and freedom hang in the balance. With Scout's keen instincts detecting clues human investigators overlook, she uncovers a web of secrets buried beneath the brotherhood's surface. Derek wasn't just a bully—he was a blackmailer who'd been systematically collecting dirt on half the department, building files that could destroy careers and lives. Between dodging the detective assigned to her case and discovering that almost everyone had a reason to want Derek dead, Gloria realizes the training facility fire was no accident. Someone staged it perfectly to look like Derek's carelessness, and they made sure she'd be the one to take the fall.
But clearing her name means exposing secrets that powerful people want to keep buried, and the real killer isn't about to let a suspended firefighter asking too many questions ruin their perfect plan. As mysterious threats escalate and Gloria gets closer to the truth, she discovers that the tight-knit brotherhood of firefighters can close ranks fast when one of their own threatens to expose the rot beneath the polish. In a town where loyalty runs deep and questioning your brothers is the ultimate betrayal, Gloria must risk everything she's worked for to prove the fire was murder. Because justice burns brightest when someone has the courage to strike the match—even when the flames might consume everything she holds dear.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Ashes and Alibis