The Burning Season
(2026)(The fifth book in the K-9 Search & Rescue Mystery series)
A novel by Sophie Lyon
Twenty-five years of waiting. One trial to end it all. And a wildfire that's about to change everything.
Warren Haskell is finally on trial for the murder of Brianna Hartley. The evidence is overwhelming—a recorded confession, a body recovered from his family's mine, witnesses who saw him with the victim the night she disappeared. After everything Gemma and her allies have sacrificed, justice seems inevitable.
But Warren Haskell didn't build an empire by losing.
His defense team is ruthless. The evidence is being picked apart. And Gemma watches helplessly as the case she helped build begins to crumble under cross-examination.
Then the fire comes and reveals another buried truth.
When a wildfire sweeps through the mountains, Gemma and Kira are called to search the devastation. What they find in the ashes isn't a lost hiker—it's the remains of a man who died years ago in what was ruled an accident.
It wasn't an accident. And Warren Haskell isn't the only killer who's been hiding in plain sight.
With the trial hanging in the balance and Kira's aging body finally showing the cost of years of service, Gemma must navigate a web of lies that stretches from the fire station to the courthouse—while fighting to ensure that this time, justice won't slip away.
The fire reveals everything. Even the things we wish would stay buried.
The Burning Season is the searing fifth novel in the K-9 Search and Rescue Mystery series, perfect for readers who love:
Warren Haskell is finally on trial for the murder of Brianna Hartley. The evidence is overwhelming—a recorded confession, a body recovered from his family's mine, witnesses who saw him with the victim the night she disappeared. After everything Gemma and her allies have sacrificed, justice seems inevitable.
But Warren Haskell didn't build an empire by losing.
His defense team is ruthless. The evidence is being picked apart. And Gemma watches helplessly as the case she helped build begins to crumble under cross-examination.
Then the fire comes and reveals another buried truth.
When a wildfire sweeps through the mountains, Gemma and Kira are called to search the devastation. What they find in the ashes isn't a lost hiker—it's the remains of a man who died years ago in what was ruled an accident.
It wasn't an accident. And Warren Haskell isn't the only killer who's been hiding in plain sight.
With the trial hanging in the balance and Kira's aging body finally showing the cost of years of service, Gemma must navigate a web of lies that stretches from the fire station to the courthouse—while fighting to ensure that this time, justice won't slip away.
The fire reveals everything. Even the things we wish would stay buried.
The Burning Season is the searing fifth novel in the K-9 Search and Rescue Mystery series, perfect for readers who love:
- Courtroom drama with high stakes
Wildfire survival and search-and-rescue action
Dual investigations with shocking connections
Aging K-9 partners who never give up
Not all monsters hide in the dark. Some hide in plain sight.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Sophie Lyon's The Burning Season