Porter Cassel Mystery series by Dave Hugelschaffer

Dave Hugelschaffer has spent eighteen years working in the forests of Alberta as a forest ranger, timber cruiser, firefighter, and land planner. Author of the Porter Cassel Mystery series, he currently lives in Edson, Alberta.

01.Day Into Night (2006)
When a raging forest fire cannot suck in air quickly enough, smoke turns black, blotting out the sun and turning day into night. To a firefighter, this false dusk is a sign of conditions turning rapidly from bad to worse. But Cassel has more than just fires to contend with—he is a man with a tragedy in his past and the situation becomes more complex when he is framed for the murder of a suspect.

02.One Careless Moment (2008)
When a small fire starts to creep through the underbrush, deep within a Montana forest valley, Porter Cassel is brought in to organize the firefighters charged with containing it. The fire moves quickly from bad to worse, rapidly scaling the forest canopy and killing one of Cassel's men. Removed from command, Cassel takes the fire investigation into his own hands, discovering that the fire was not just a random flare-up, but the work of an arsonist. In this second book in the Porter Cassel mystery series, One Careless Moment picks up where Day Into Night left off with Porter continuing to prove himself against all odds. Fighting against local legends about the valley being haunted, shady development deals, and the tree-hugging hippies who've chosen Holder's Canyon as their particular Eden, Cassel must get to the bottom of the case not only to clear his name, but also his conscience. Dave Hugelschaffer has taken the murder mystery into a new realm: the world of the forest firefighter.

03.Whiskey Creek (2012)
The latest installment in Dave Hugelschaffer's innovative murder-mystery series sends forest fire forensics expert Porter Cassel to the isolated northern Alberta community of Fort Chipewyan, where an arsonist armed with Molotov cocktails has started a series of blazes. During his investigation the remains of a trapper are discovered in a burned-down cabin. The RCMP rule the death accidental, but Cassel isn't so sure. Complicating matters are unfriendly locals who don't take kindly to outsiders prying into their business. Once again, Cassel must act alone - surviving assassination attempts on both his character and his life - in order to get to the truth.