Hugelschaffer, Dave

Dave Hugelschaffer grew up on a farm in Alberta and in his younger years worked as a trapper, construction worker, painter, beekeeper, log builder and stockyard hand before joining the Alberta Forest Service, where he worked as wildland firefighter, timber cruiser and Forest Ranger for eight years.  Following this, he spent ten years working in the forest industry for a private company, coordinating the operations of the forest and oil & gas industry, and has since returned to the Forest Service.  He has been writing for twenty plus years.  The Porter Cassel mystery series are his first published works and are based on an ex-Forest Ranger turned professional fire investigator.  The series has been described as ‘the Forest Rangers’ CSI.’

Selected Bibliography:

The Porter Cassel mystery series:

Day into Night. Cormorant Books, 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 Porter 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.

One Careless Moment, Cormorant Books, 2009 In the second book of the series, Porter Cassel, on loan from the Alberta Forest Service, is given command of a fire in Montana. The fire is in a canyon, rumoured by the locals to be haunted. Cassel, without a helicopter, is unable to conduct a preliminary reconnaissance. Taking what seems an insignificant risk, he and one of his men climb a ridge for an overview of the fire. Flames roar unexpectedly up the ridge and trap the two men, who frantically deploy their fire shelters. Only Cassel survives, scorched and stunned. Was his decision to climb the ridge a moment of carelessness? Or is there a more sinister explanation? Compelled by a sense of duty to the family of his fallen comrade, and determined to settle in his own mind the question of his guilt, Cassel conducts his own investigation.

WEBSITE: davehugelschaffer.com