When cable television mogul Stanfield Standish dies in the fire that also destroys his recently restored antique car, attorney Max Bramble and arson investigator Wylie Nolan seek the truth in the complicated Standish empire. Reprint.

Author Shelley Reuben has her own arson investigation business, and she brings all her technical know-how to bear in this crime mystery, as well as a finely developed romantic attachment to the "magic of fire." New York City arson investigator Wylie Nolan is called in to get to the bottom of a seemingly inexplicable case: valuable paintings housed in the locked maximum security room of a museum seem to have spontaneously combusted. Reuben's eccentric characters are charming, and engaging sub-plots swirl like smoke around the main story.