I haven't read the first in this series, but it didn't matter. Detective Lou Norton investigates a fire in which a mother and her two children were murdered. I liked Lou and the banter between her and her colleagues. The plot moves along at a fast pace and I would have given the book four stars except that the ending was a bit lacking. There were too many unknowns/things unexplained and I couldn't

SPOILERS

really see the two perpetrators working together. They had such different motives. Did Christopher set the lint/Vaseline trailer before he left for his office? Did it just take hours for the fire really to take hold? What was his intention for Cody? Or did Sarah set the fire? If so, how and if not, why did she park near the house? Why did Christopher lie so extensively to everyone? If he loved his house so much, why did he plan to burn it down and move to Venzuela? I would have liked some sort of epilogue where the perpetrators were seen to get their just deserts. ( )

“Personal drama handled, my heart found its regular pace, and I shoved the phone back into my bag. I muttered another “thank you,” then jammed up the hill, following a dank river of water and ashes that would end in blood.” (Skies of Ash, Rachel Howzell Hall, Chapter Two, Page 20)

It is almost mid-December and six months after Land of Shadows when Detective Elouise “Lou” Norton is called out to a house fire in Baldwin Hills. There are bodies in what is left of the house ravaged by a horrific fire most likely caused by an arsonist. As it happens, the scene is a short three miles away from her home. While she has directions, she could have just followed the smoke plume over the area.

Much of the house at 6381 Don Mateo Drive is gone. What remains and still barely stands hides the bodies of Juliet Chatman and her kids, Chloe and Cody. All three were found dead. The smoke got to them before the flames worked their way to them. But, there are troubling aspects that indicate Juliet Chatman knew they were in serious danger. One is the fact that while she clearly was holding on to her daughter, Juliet Chatman died while clutching a gun in the other. Then there is the 911 call Juliet made where she said somebody was trying to kill her. The name of that person is not discernable on the tape.

Clearly, person or persons unknown, did kill the mom and her kids. Somebody did it. While law enforcement always starts from the proposition that the spouse did it in this case that initially seems unlikely. Christopher Chatman, a commodities broker, arrived as the fire was blazing and was injured fighting firefighters in attempt to go into the inferno after his family. His alibi for why he was not home stands up to scrutiny.

If he didn’t do it, then who did? And why are the neighbors being so weird about the Chatmans? Two of the many questions for Detective Norton and her partner Colin Taggert to answer in Skies of Ash.

Often the second book in a series is weaker than the first. That is certainly not remotely the case here. Skies of Ash builds on Land of Shadows and adds further depth to the Norton character as well as most of the other characters.

Like a lot of really good series, this second book continues everything regarding personal relationships while offering a brand new intriguing case to solve. Such is the case here with what is definitely a horrific tragedy in the deaths of two children as well as their mother. Author Rachel Howzell Hall does not focus on the gruesome details of what happens to a body in a fire and instead keeps the focus on the reason why things like this happen.

Skies of Ash is a very good book. Interested potential readers are strongly encouraged to read Land of Shadows as major plot points from the first book carry over here amongst the new case and that investigation. There are a lot of things going on in this second book that tie directly into the first making both books well worth your time and effort. Good stuff and very much recommended.

Skies of Ash
Rachel Howzell Hall
http://www.rachelhowzell.com
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
http://www.tor-forge.com
May 2015
ISBN# 978-0-7653-3636-1
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
336 Pages
$25.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2018 ( )

For those that enjoy Michael Connelly and the Harry Bosch books, the Elouise Norton series would most likely interest you.

In some ways the two series are similar, but in other ways vastly different. Of course, Rachel Howzell Hall tells her stories through the eyes of her created black, female detective and to suggest the writing of Rachel Howzell Hall as an imitation to Michael Connelly is not the intent of this review - it is instead to point out how enjoyable her writing is and with just two books featuring Elouise Norton. It is also to point out the promise this series has in store for the future.

In the second novel involving these characters, Elousie Norton and her partner are investigating a house fire that has claimed the lives of a mother and her two children. Is it murder or a terrible accident? The story unfolds involving a number of characters that are chameleon-like in their nature and may or may not be what they profess to be.

Through the investigation, Hall also uses the flaws of her main character to be sprinkled through the story to allow the reader to accept Norton is human and not the typical fictional character made of steel.

While reading these novels, my mental image of the two main characters are those of the actors Michael Hyatt (she played Avon Barksdale's sister Brianna in HBO's The Wire) and Chris Evans (Captain America). Through the novels, Norton and her partner Colin Taggert, a green, hyper-sexualized, white male, show growth in their working relationship, which involves a sprinkle of sexual tension thrown in. Though readers my hope for some sort of physical relationship, I'm hoping future novels avoid that. To me, it's more enjoyable reading how their relationship is developing.

I highly recommend this series to those that enjoy police procedurals and to enjoy the road ahead with this author.

( )

Rachel Howzell Hall's 'Skies of Ash' is a competent followup to 'Land of Shadows', again starring LA detectives Elouise 'Lou' Norton and Colin Taggert, her junior partner. The plot is interesting- a fire where a woman and her 2 children die has enough curious aspects to point the detectives toward murder. Over the course of 6 days the mystery is solved. Sounds simple, but it's not.

Detective Norton, though the 'star' of the series, isn't a particularly likable character. She's talented (just ask her!), arrogant, combative, dismissive of most of her fellow law enforcement personnel, and seemingly incapable of keeping her sexuality separated from her work. There does seem to be a little growth in the Taggert character in that he's a bit more mature than in the first book but still on the goofy side. As a team, they really aren't a team- Taggert bugs Norton because he's not from LA, not 'street' enough, has the audacity to speak his mind on occasion, and sometimes says the wrong thing at the wrong time. I'm not sure how many subsequent novels are in this series, or if I'll even read them, but one hopes that the Norton character at some point realizes she can be even more effective by supporting the people who are trying to help her.

In general, the writing is decent and the dialogue is very good. The plot at a high level is good, but the sheer amount of ground covered over the course of 6 days, and the immediate focus on motive as opposed to forensics and basic blocking and tackling (which, once they got around to it, clarified the time line) seemed unrealistic. The resolution of the mystery surrounding the fire made sense, it's just that I don't think it could've happened as quickly as it did, nor did I feel the behavior of the various characters in the neighborhood and family friends was reasonable.

All-in-all, it's a readable novel with a good story starring an imperfect protagonist that progresses implausibly toward a satisfying conclusion. Not sure that makes sense, but that's how it felt to me. ( )

Lou is a detective in Los Angeles. She is investigating an arson/murder. This is a basic detective crime novel. However, it was entertaining. I hadn't read the others in the series, but that didn't interfere with understanding or enjoying this one. If I come across others, I'll probably read them. ( )