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A writer of more than 60 books, Lee Goldberg is back with another crime mystery that centers on arson. Hidden in Smoke (2025, Thomas & Mercer) is a new case for Los Angeles County Sheriff arson investigators Sharpe and Walker, who Goldberg also featured in Malibu Burning.

There are two stories going on in this new book, one involves a series of seemingly related fires in L.A., and the other also brings back thief Danny Cole, who is out to steal a $40M watch, which interestingly has a tie to Walker.

At first, I had trouble buying into the Danny Cole caper story, it seemed like a Tom Cruise or George Clooney heist tacked onto a Harry Bosch police procedural. I kept an open mind as these two stories proceeded, one very believable, the other less so.

Goldberg is a damn fine mystery writer, in addition to his own mystery series, he’s written with Janet Evanovich and William Rabkin, and penned books for the Monk series and Diagnosis Murder series. In addition, he’s a television writer and producer, with Monk, Diagnosis Murder, Mystery 101, Spencer For Hire, and many other credit. He was also a writer for a very underrated show about a criminologist, The Cosby Mysteries. My point is that Lee Goldberg knows what good stories are and how to create interesting and believable characters. He is a terrific police procedural writer and solidifies that with each crime mystery. I’m just not a big fan of international capers with bigger than life plots and characters; the Danny Cole story is just a tough one for me.

Despite my issues with the “other story”, I highly recommend Hidden in Smoke. Goldberg holds my interest in the arson case right to the end. Of course there are twists and great deductions by the investigators that uncouple several arson fires even though others are ready to stamp them “closed.”