Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided for review by the author.
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Cam Torrens’ third entry in his Tyler Zahn mystery series deftly juggles murder, an art heist, a raging forest fire, a budding romance (maybe two) and Zahn’s continuing obsession with the apparent death of a Search and Rescue team member, carried over from the last book, [False Summit].

The opening finds Zahn babysitting the SAR command post instead of leading a team in the field, as he recovers from physical and emotional injuries related to the disappearance of friend and teammate Kristee Li. The situation quickly morphs from standard rescue to crime scene when a body is found in a vehicle near the rescue site and it’s determined that both are related to the theft of valuable Frederick Remington paintings bound for a local show. Left behind in the heist is a large painting done by Zahn’s new romantic interest.

Trying to help his lady friend salvage the remnants of the exhibit puts Zahn on the scene at a picturesque mountain lodge when her previously-unstolen painting goes missing just as the show opens. Now we have the set-up for Torrens’ homage to the classic Country Manor mystery, with a small group of suspects and a crime to be solved, and it doesn’t take long for someone to turn up dead. But the stakes are raised when a raging forest fire traps the group on the property, knowing there’s a murderer among them. Zahn’s Hail-Mary attempt to get everyone out alive is the strongest part of the novel.

Things get increasingly complex toward the end, especially when Torrens re-introduces the search for the missing Kristee Li into the mix. Zahn’s insistence that she could have survived a supposedly-fatal landslide in the last book may be a delusion or it may be an heroic refusal to admit defeat, but the issue continues to resonate through this book, and will almost certainly be re-visited in future series entries.

When the ashes finally settle, multiple layers of deception, internal double-crosses, and a couple of red herrings need to be untangled. Torrens can be forgiven for falling back on straight-up exposition here, though a more experienced writer might have kept the setup simpler. At least the answers don’t come from a gloating villain moments before the hero prevails.

The Tyler Zahn series continues to grow and improve. This is definitely one to keep an eye on. ( )