The Firemaker
The explosive crime thriller from the author of The Enzo Files (The China Thrillers Book 1)
Published on 7. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
560 pages
978-1-5294-4925-9 (ISBN)
Description
THE 12 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LEWIS TRILOGY AND THE ENZO FILES
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021
'Peter May is one of the most accomplished novelists writing today.' Undiscovered Scotland
'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of Books
The first of Peter May's China critically acclaimed thrillers featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell.
LI YAN
A grotesquely burned corpse found in a city park is a troubling mystery for Beijing detective Li Yan. Yan, devoted to his career as a means of restoring the respect his family lost during the Cultural Revolution, needs outside help if he is to break the case.
MARGARET CAMPBELL
The unidentified cadaver in turn provides a welcome distraction for forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell. Campbell, married to her work and having left America and her broken past behind, throws herself into the investigation, and before long uncovers a bizarre anomaly.
THE FIREMAKER
An unlikely partnership develops between Li and Campbell as they follow the resulting lead. A fiery and volatile chemistry ignites: exposing not only their individual demons, but an even greater evil - a conspiracy that threatens their lives, as well as those of millions of others.
LOVED THE FIREMAKER? Read the second book in the series, THE FOURTH SACRIFICE
LOVE PETER MAY? Buy his new thriller, THE BLACK LOCH
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021
'Peter May is one of the most accomplished novelists writing today.' Undiscovered Scotland
'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of Books
The first of Peter May's China critically acclaimed thrillers featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell.
LI YAN
A grotesquely burned corpse found in a city park is a troubling mystery for Beijing detective Li Yan. Yan, devoted to his career as a means of restoring the respect his family lost during the Cultural Revolution, needs outside help if he is to break the case.
MARGARET CAMPBELL
The unidentified cadaver in turn provides a welcome distraction for forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell. Campbell, married to her work and having left America and her broken past behind, throws herself into the investigation, and before long uncovers a bizarre anomaly.
THE FIREMAKER
An unlikely partnership develops between Li and Campbell as they follow the resulting lead. A fiery and volatile chemistry ignites: exposing not only their individual demons, but an even greater evil - a conspiracy that threatens their lives, as well as those of millions of others.
LOVED THE FIREMAKER? Read the second book in the series, THE FOURTH SACRIFICE
LOVE PETER MAY? Buy his new thriller, THE BLACK LOCH
Reviews / Votes
Praise for Peter May:He is a terrific writer doing something different. From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer. Wonderfully compelling. A true pleasure to read. * Guardian * Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth. * New York Times * One of the best regarded crime series of recent years. * Independent, on the Lewis trilogy * Lyrical, empathetic and moving. A wonderfully complex book. May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships. * Sunday Times * Will have the reader relishing every tendency of description and characterization. * Independent * Dark, exciting and atmospheric. * Scotland on Sunday * Powerful and authentic. * Glasgow Sunday Herald *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Quercus Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
N/A
Dimensions
Height: 128 mm
Width: 198 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
386 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5294-4925-9 (9781529449259)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Peter May
The Firemaker
The explosive crime thriller from the author of The Enzo Files (The China Thrillers Book 1)
E-Book
06/2012
1st Edition
Quercus
€5.49
Available for download
Person
Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BBC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland's most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels.
In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA's Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally.
In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA's Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally.