User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8) by Robert Dugoni
Tracy Crosswhite is back! Even though her baby is already ten months old, she is just coming back from extended maternity/compassionate leave and Tracy now sees a counselor regularly due to events from book #7. Despite the fact that she should be getting her old position back, she's reluctant to bump another woman out of that job so she takes the opening as the only person on the cold case unit. The hours should be less grueling and will allow her to be home with Dan and the baby in the evening and on weekends.
Tracy picks three cold cases to work and two of them (missing prostitutes) have a connection with a current missing girl case that her former partner, Kins is working and he asks her help. So basically, Tracy is back in the game, once again raising her stress level by focusing on cases that are similar to that of her long missing, now known dead, sister's case. Dan's worried, her counselor is worried, but Tracy can't give up on these women.
Quickly, Tracy and Kins have their sights on three brothers who are working hard to stonewall the detectives. Tracy is also investigating the cold case of a missing five year old girl who disappeared from a corn maze five years earlier. I like that Tracy knows she wants to work, knows she has to do this right now, and doesn't let the fact that she is going to miss some firsts with her baby keep her from pursuing the job she loves. She and Dan have a full time, trusted nanny, the baby is with people who love her, at all times, and Tracy can continue to help those who depend on someone who cares. This is another entertaining addition to the Crosswhite series and I'm glad that Tracy is still on the job.
Pub: April 20, 2021
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
This is the latest in Robert Dugoni's excellent Detective Tracy Crosswhite series set in Seattle, Tracy has come to the end of her extended leave from the Violent Crimes Unit at Seattle PD. She is living in the town of Cedar Grove, a protective and loving mother to her little daughter, Daniela, and whilst husband, Daniel is not happy about her returning, she needs to go back, besides they have a nanny to help. She is missing the close knit team, Kinsington 'Kins' Rowe, Vic Fazzio and Delmo Castigliano. There are still recurring issues from the PTSD she had suffered from her last case, but she has found her counselor, Lisa Walsh, helpful in working through her issues and in settling back into police work.
The nasty piece of work that is her boss, Johnny Nolasco, puts her in a difficult position, in her absence, Maria Fernandez has been recruited to Violent Crimes, whom Tracy likes. He says there is no place for her in the team, but as the Detective working cold cases is retiring, she can take over from him. As Tracy mulls over whether this is a direction she wants to go in, she is impressed by what the cold case detective has to say, pushing her into taking up the position. As a mother, the case that catches her eye is the disappearance of a little girl, Elle, at a corn maze. Her father, Bobby Chin was a SPD officer, and was in the middle of a horrendous divorce from his enraged and bitter wife, Jewel. Then she finds herself back in Violent Crimes as she works the case of a missing young woman, Stephanie Cole, a recent arrival to the city, with Kins, a complicated nightmarish horror of a investigation revolving around the Sprague brothers who live together in their dilapidated home.
This is a terrific addition to the series, one of the main highlights for me is seeing Tracy's continuing development as she learns to handle her traumas better and finds herself settling into cold cases so well that she is reluctant to leave when offered the opportunity to do so, although she wants to continue having some current input in Violent Crimes. This is a intensely dark crime read, full of some surprising twists and turns, with two tricky cases for Tracy as she learns to juggle family and professional demands. She is still the same wonderfully determined cop, she will never give up trying to get justice for victims, past and present. This is a wonderful series that I recommend to crime and mystery readers, and this addition can easily be read as a standalone. Many thanks to Thomas and Mercer for an ARC.
Rating: really liked it
Seattle Detective Tracy Crosswhite is back!
Yes, Tracy Crosswhite is back after an extended leave and has been reassigned to the the Cold Case unit. She is drawn to the file of a five-year-old girl who went missing while visiting a corn maze with her father. Her parents who were going through an ugly divorce at the time were the main suspects.
While investigating the missing girl’s case, she is asked to assist on the case of a missing young woman who vanished while jogging. She is reunited with her former partner, Kinsington "Kins" Rowe and the two dive into this case and find both old and new clues.
Another great addition to the Tracy Crosswhite series! It was nice to visit Tracy again and see her interacting with her baby and using her detective skills to solve crimes. This book will work as a stand-alone but starting from the beginning, will showcase the character development and growth of this series.
I found this book to be well written and I enjoyed watching Tracy and Kins investigate the cases. I also loved seeing Tracy as a mother. We get to see her being tough as nails yet tender. Nurturing and intuitive. Brave and beautiful. Intelligent and interesting. Plus, as we are often told, she can outshoot anyone on her team! In this book we see her willing to accept help and face her issues and past traumas in therapy.
This was a great installment, and I can't wait to see what future cases Tracy will work on. I also enjoyed seeing Tracy rub Johnny Nolasco's (her boss) nose in it!!!! Things really ramp up towards the end which had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen.
Riveting, tense and with a sense of danger!
Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Rating: really liked it
Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series is fast becoming one of my favourite crime series. It perfectly mixes smart police procedural with the personal growth of its main character, Tracy Crosswhite.
Tracy has come a long way since the disappearance of her younger sister, Sarah drove her to join the Seattle police department and devote her life to finding Sarah and hunting down killers. Now married with a young daughter, she is returning to work after maternity leave and recovering from PTSD brought on by her last case. However, on her first day back she discovers her position in Violent Crimes has been filled and that she is instead asked to take over the cold cases section. Reluctantly agreeing to give it a try, she picks out cases involving two missing prostitutes and an abducted five year old girl. Not long after starting to look into them, her ex partner Kins asks her to help him with a missing person case when Violent Crimes is short of detectives. A young woman has disappeared from a jogging trail and needs to be found fast if she is still alive.
Although the reader knows what has happened to the young woman, following Tracy and Kins as they work the investigation and put the clues together makes for engrossing reading. Tracy is learning to juggle her life/work balance while working her cold cases at the same time, particularly that of the abducted child which, as a new mother, pulls at her heart strings. The pace of the novel is perfect and there is plenty of tension and some great twists as Tracy and Kins zone in on the abductor of the missing woman. An excellent thriller, best read as part of the series, but could also be read as a stand alone with sufficient background to Tracy's story provided. 4.5★
With many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for a copy to read
Rating: really liked it
I have been working my way through the Tracy Crosswhite books in a somewhat random manner. #9 in the series “What She Found” will be publishing in August.
Tracy has just returned from an extended maternity leave and has been reassigned from the Violent Crimes Division to the Cold Cases Division. She’s none too happy with the change, she and her captain do not have a good relationship, but has decided to give it a go. Her own sister had been missing for 20 years and the family has finally found closure when the kidnapper and murderer was arrested. She thinks she would like to bring that kind of closure to other families.
As she is just shuffling through the cases, her close friend from the A team, Kins, asks for her help with a case. A young woman who just moved to Seattle has disappeared seemingly without a trace. Most of the A team is tied up with another pressing case.
Tracy has two cold cases of missing prostitutes that resemble the disappearance of the current victim. With these cases and back to working with her friend Kins, she feels back in the groove very quickly.
Mr. Dugoni has lots of conflicting twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.
I really enjoy the more traditional kind of police work that these books highlight. Interviewing witnesses, going over alibis again and again, checking and double checking neighbors statements, home monitoring cameras, making phone calls, etc. There is of course modern DNA forensics which will help to tie cases together in the end but for the most part this is a solid police procedural which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Tracy Crosswhite is a character that is believable, strong and self confident but still very relatable. She is a young mother now so is facing new trials and fears along with her husband and lawyer, Dan.
I’m anxious for the new installment in August but will continue to read the older books as they are just great reads. That’s not to say that there aren’t some very sick psychopaths between these pages, but the blood and gore are kept to a minimum which I always appreciate.
This was a Kindle Unlimited book which I very much enjoyed.
Rating: really liked it
This book is the eighth in the Tracy Crosswhite series. It’s perfect for those that enjoy a straightforward police procedural.
Tracy has just returned to work and is assigned to cold cases as her previous position in Violent Crimes has been taken. She picks two cases to re-investigate- the disappearance of a five year old daughter and the disappearance of two prostitutes. Meanwhile, she gets pulled into a live case of a young woman who disappears while out running.
The reader is aware of who is responsible for the live case, the mystery is in watching how Tracy and her partner, Kins, work it out. But Dugoni still manages to throw some twists and zingers in that totally threw me off. As you would expect in real life, Tracy attempts to balance the workload between the cases. There’s also office politics thrown in the mix to liven things up even more.
While I have read the prior seven books, I believe this would easily work as a standalone. Dugoni gives the reader enough background on Tracy to make a reader feel an immediate connection. He gives us the perfect balance between Tracy’s investigations and her personal life. It’s a fast read and I tore through its pages.
This remains a favorite series of mine and this book is another worthy addition.
My thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book.
Rating: really liked it
EXCERPT: 'Let's play hide and seek, Daddy.'
'We don't have time for that, Elle. We have to get through.'
'Please, Daddy.'
'I'm sorry, honey. Maybe we can play at home.'
Elle cried. Then she sat down in the dirt.
'Elle, get up, honey. You're getting your costume dirty.'
'No.'
'Honey, you have to stand up.'
'I want to play. Mommy lets me play.'
The counsellor Chin had seen for his court-ordered anger-management classes had warned that kids going through a contentious divorce could become defiant and play one parent off against the other.
'Elle. You need to stand up.'
'No. Graham plays with me.'
Chin felt his heart ripping apart. 'Okay. One quick game. All right?'
Elle got to her feet. 'Yay!'
'But when I say come out, you have to come out. Okay?'
'You count, Daddy. You have to hide your eyes.'
'Okay, but if I say come out, you come out. Right?'
'Turn around when you count.'
Chin turned and counted. It wouldn't be hard to find Elle's colourful butterfly wings among the green corn stalks. 'One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.'
At six he cheated and turned. He didn't see Elle's wings behind the corn stalks. 'Here I come.' He stepped forward. 'I'm coming.' He searched the aisle, looking under the drooping leaves. He turned the corner to another row. Then a third and a fourth. He checked his watch, felt himself starting to panic.
He shouted, 'Okay, Elle. I give up. Come out.' He turned in a circle, looking, hearing the wind rustle the stalks. 'Don't let the lights go out,' he muttered under his breath. He called again. 'Elle? You have to come out. The game is over.'
His heart raced.
He jogged, turning left and right, down the rows, shouting her name. 'Elle. Come out. Elle? Elle!'
He turned a corner, disorientated.
Another corner.
Elle's colourful butterfly wings lay in the dirt.
'Elle!'
Then the lights went out.
ABOUT 'IN HER TRACKS': Returning from an extended leave in her hometown of Cedar Grove, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself reassigned to the Seattle PD’s cold case unit. As the protective mother of an infant daughter, Tracy is immediately drawn to her first file: the abduction of a five-year-old girl whose parents, embattled in a poisonous divorce, were once prime suspects.
While reconstructing the days leading up to the girl’s disappearance, Tracy is brought into an active investigation with former partner Kinsington Rowe. A young woman has vanished on an isolated jogging trail in North Seattle. Divided between two critical cases, Tracy has little to go on except the treacherous deceptions behind a broken marriage—and now, the secrets hiding behind the closed doors of a deceptively quiet middle-class neighborhood.
To find two missing persons, Tracy will have to follow more than clues, which are both long cold and unsettlingly fresh. Given her own traumatic past, Tracy must also follow her instincts—to whatever dark and dangerous places they may lead.
MY THOUGHTS: Another solid addition to Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series. Tracy is returning to work following her maternity leave and finds that she has been shafted by her longtime arch-nemesis, Nolasco. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and Nolasco may just wind up having to eat humble pie.
Tracy's character continues to develop and motherhood seems to have made her more conscious of the effect her personal traumas have had on her, and the need to learn to cope with them, if not overcome them has her regularly seeing a therapist. She has to learn to balance her caseload with her family life, not always an easy task, especially for someone as dedicated and empathetic as Tracy.
There are some unexpected twists and turns, and one that wasn't so surprising to me, that I had guessed earlier on. Even though we know what has happened to Stephanie Cole, the young woman who has been abducted, Dugoni has laid a clever trail of red herrings so that the case is not quite as clear cut as it initially seems. This case somewhat overshadows the cold case involving the disappearance of five year old Elle Chin, and I also felt that the resolution to this was dragged out too long. Despite this, Dugoni kept my interest throughout and I enjoyed this addition to the series.
As a bonus, I think that this book could well be read as a stand-alone, so if you are daunted by the thought of starting this series at book #8, don't be.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.4
#InHerTracks #NetGalley
@robertdugoni
#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #mystery #policeprocedural
THE AUTHOR: A writer turned lawyer turned writer.
Robert Dugoni was born in Idaho and raised in Northern California the middle child of a family of ten siblings. Dugoni jokes that he didn't get much of a chance to talk, so he wrote. By the seventh grade he knew he wanted to be a writer.
Dugoni wrote his way to Stanford University, receiving writing awards along the way, and majored in communications/journalism and creative writing while working as a reporter for the Stanford Daily. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and worked briefly as a reporter in the Metro Office and the San Gabriel Valley Office of the Los Angeles Times.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of In Her Tracks by Robert Dugoni for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Rating: really liked it
For the world of me I can’t figure out why the Tracy Crosswhite books have not been made into an Amazon or Netflix series.
In Her Tracks is a prime example of a book that would easily turn into a great mini-series or a season. Everything seems to be made into series down to the point where they are hiring actors from a South Bend Indiana high school for starring roles.
Seattle police detective Trace Crosswhite is finally returning to work with the Violent Crimes detective A team, except she isn’t. Due to the tragic and traumatic case from last year that leads to PTSD, plus her maternity leave, Tracy has been on extended leave. When Tracy returns to work her captain, with whom she has had a long running feud since Academy days, has managed to screw her over once again, giving her the choice of the cold cases squad (made up of her) or retiring.
Tracy gives strong consideration to just retiring, but she knows she has an excellent nanny for baby Daniella and strong support from her attorney husband, Dan. Besides, Tracy cares. She has carried the burden of her missing sister for over twenty years. The horror and pain of the resolution of her sister’s death gives Tracy the wish to give closure to other families.
Tracy is immediately engrossed with the case of a five year old case of a missing little girl. The girl was caught in the middle of a very nasty divorce case, each parent blaming the other for her disappearance from a cornfield maze.
However the first day back, her former co-worker from the A-team, Kins Rowe also recruits Tracy in the new case of a missing runner, a young woman who has just moved to Seattle.
Traci is off and running with the case of the current missing girl and three cold cases. Two of the cold cases are of prostitutes with the circumstances of their disappearance bearing a faint resemblance to the recent missing woman’s case. Tracy also wants to give justice to the high risk victims that are often ignored by the system.
This is mostly Tracy’s book. With the minor exception of Rowe, Crosswhite carries this book by herself, a book of good old fashioned police work; working the scene, working the phone, working the forensics, interviewing the witnesses over and over, and checking their statements.
The Dugoni characters live next door to us, or down the street. They have new babies, pressure between work and home, too many “a few extra pounds”, not enough sleep, traffic horrors; co-workers you just want to kick in the shin, co-workers with whom you have the occasional quiet drink. So similar to us, so not; because their work loads are moments of horror, seeing people at their nightmarish worst.
The forensic work in
In Her Tracks fascinates. Tracy once again makes use of Kaylee Wright, the King County CSI man tracker aka sign cutter. (Hint to Mr. Dugoni: Sir, I think Kaylee Wright could someday star in her own book. Not that I am actually making a suggestion to an outstanding author.) Wright was almost able to pinpoint exactly where the missing woman ended up and to give a description of the man who carried her away.
I would never have figured out the various resolutions to the four cases that Traci investigates even though we know who took the jogger; however we have no idea if Tracy will be in time to save her. The ending reminds me of the Shakespeare speech from the Merchant of Venice “The quality of mercy is not strained….”
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and the chance to review the book.
Rating: really liked it
"Not everyone can be saved, Tracy."
Detective Tracy Crosswhite refuses to believe otherwise. She is relentless when it comes to searching for those individuals lost in the sea of obscurity. Never once did she give up hope in finding her own sister even when the final chapter brought with it the horror of that reality.
Tracy has been on leave after the birth of her daughter, Daniella. She's suffered with PTSD after her last case. Daniel, her husband, is not overly excited about Tracy's return to the Seattle Police Department, but he would never stand in her way.
Upon returning to the Violent Crimes section, Tracy is faced with quite the decision. Maria Fernandez has been covering for Tracy. Captain Johnny Nolasco presents the situation to her and requests that she take up the Cold Cases. Nolasco has it in for Tracy. They have a sticky history together from the past. Not wanting to evict Fernandez, Tracy cuts a deal to work Cold Cases only to return to her prior position eventually.
First up is a five year old case in which a little girl had been abducted from a corn maze on Halloween night. Her father had visiting rights that night. The divorce was a vicious one and the relationship between the parents was now lit aflame with the abduction. Tracy will try to work this one with very little evidence or witnesses after such a long time.
Next up is a current case in which her former partner, Kinsington Rowe, asks for her assistance. Nineteen year old Stephanie Cole, a recent transplant from L.A. to Seattle, has gone missing after a run. Days go by without a word from Stephanie. And that opens the gap wider if Stephanie will ever be found.
Even though this is #8 in the series, it still reads as a standalone. Robert Dugoni sees to it every time. Dugoni is masterful when it comes to injecting believable crimes that would blaze on the front of any city's newspaper or news app. His character of Crosswhite is painfully human with limitations that ring realistically. Her current job situation is similar to everyday people going back to everyday challenges in the work force. But one of many things going for Tracy is her bloodhound genes. You'll never find grass growing under her feet. In Her Tracks is another fine offering from the highly talented Robert Dugoni. Never ever a disappointment when you get onboard. Bravo!
I received a copy of In Her Tracks through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to Robert Dugoni for the opportunity.
Rating: really liked it
This is an incredibly fast-paced novel. The heroine, Tracy Crosswhite, is solving not one, but two crimes.
I’d read the first book in this series and then didn’t even look to see that this was the eighth one. Though I skipped all those other books (I’ll go back now and read them because I enjoyed this one so much), this novel stood on its own just fine.
When Tracy returns from maternity leave, she’s assigned to the cold case unit and decides to investigate a case of a five-year-old who went missing during a contentious divorce. At the same time, she helps an active case of a nineteen-year-old girl who disappeared while going for a jog.
The author doesn’t go into detail about the horrific stuff that happens to women, so it’s up to your imagination how much you want to think about their nightmare. If you don't overthink that, it's a fun read.
Rating: really liked it
"Not everyone can be saved, Tracy." I love Robert Dugoni, I love the
Tracy Crosswhite series, and I'm thrilled to see In Her Tracks appears to be getting very good ratings from beta readers. So...it breaks my heart to do this, but I have to say it.
I didn't love this novel.Compared to most of the other books in this series, this one felt clunky. There were so many story lines...and though they eventually all came together, it wasn't smooth sailing getting there. This was also the first time I haven't really enjoyed Tracy's character. She came across a little too cocky. I didn't find any of the story threads particularly riveting, and because there were so many, most weren't thoroughly fleshed out.
And then there were weird little instances of things that simply didn't make sense. For instance, Tracy was told she'd had a panic attack, yet she'd never heard of one. I'm fairly certain most officers have to undergo
some medical training...so for a medaled detective to have never heard of a panic attack seems more than a little implausible to me.
Oh, and I figured everything out really early...from all the threads. So there was that. Meh.
Please don't get me wrong...this isn't a bad story. BUT! I don't feel it stands up to the others in the series. It simply doesn't have the spark or that initial grip that the most of the others did (I also didn't care for book five, Close to Home.)
Anyway, if you enjoy this series, this is still worth reading. And if you haven't...what are you waiting for? It's Robert-freaking-Dugoni.
2.5 starsAvailable April 20, 2021My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
Excellent book in the seriesThe 8th installment of this series finds Tracy at a crossroads when she returns back from maternity leave to find she’s been replaced and is relegated to cold cases. Tracy, never one to shy away from hard work does just that. This book has a great time,one, keeps you interested, some interesting twists and one bigger surprise. I enjoyed the story and the ending and I can’t wait to read the next installment in the series. I look forward to the day Tracy really kicks Nolasco to the curb, on his ass, facing upward.
Although it’s part of a series it can be read as a standalone.
Rating: really liked it
the setup…Detective Tracy Crosswhite returns from extended leave to discover she’s been reassigned to the cold case unit. After consideration, she decides to begin with the unsolved abduction of little Elle Chin who disappeared from a corn maze while out with her father five years ago on Halloween. Elle’s parents were in the middle of a nasty divorce at the time and both pointed the finger at each other when their daughter, who was five-years old at the time, vanished without a trace. While Tracy starts her investigation, she’s also asked to help out her old partner with a current missing person search for Stephanie Cole, a young woman who went jogging in a park before she was to attend a Halloween party and hasn’t been seen since.
the heart of the story…It wasn’t only about the investigations this time as Tracy must make critical career decisions after being unfairly reassigned by her vindictive Captain Nolasco. Even though he narrowly threaded policy in making that move, Tracy still had options, retirement being one of them. I admired her process for deciding what was best for her and her family, which was thoughtful and measured. The Chin case was interesting and puzzling but also a tragic example of how a child can be caught up in the bad behavior of two warring parents in the middle of a divorce. The search for Stephanie Cole was classic police procedural, which I absolutely love and no one does it better than Tracy. It was even more compelling as we get the point of view of those responsible for her disappearance.
the narration…Emily Sutton-Smith delivers another fine performance and I’ve come to count on her as the voice of the series. It wouldn’t be quite the same experience without her. She’s my Tracy, as well as adeptly managing all other characters.
the bottom line…I was engaged in this story from the onset and stayed that way until the end. While I thought I knew what had happened to Stephanie, the resolution of the case still had quite a few surprises and caught me a bit flatfooted. The real surprise came with the resolution of the Chin case and the choices Tracy faced in putting it to rest. This series isn’t just about the investigations but wonderful illustrations of the human condition as everyone involved goes through the process, including the perpetrators, victims, their families and those tasked with solving these crimes. There are so many layers in this story that left me considering more than the final outcomes. And, for me, it’s all best served up in the audiobook experience. 4.5 stars
Posted on Blue Mood Café
Rating: really liked it
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Robert Dugoni, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.Robert Dugoni is back with another Tracy Crosswhite police procedural procedural, but adds a certain twist to keep the reader guessing. It’s been a tough go for Seattle PD Homicide Detective Crosswhite, but she is not one to let bumps in the road derail her work. Returning from maternity leave, Crosswhite is forced to take a position she does not want, but tosses herself into the work. She discovers an intriguing case that appears to be without strong leads. When Crosswhite is pulled into an active case, she finds her spark again, much to the chagrin of a captain who wants her under his foot. The missing and presumed dead have a voice in Detective Tracy Crosswhite, but she will have to breathe life into their cases before they go cold.
While she loves motherhood, Tracy Crosswhite cannot wait to get back to work. Returning to the Seattle PD’s Homicide Team, Crosswhite hopes to have her position back. However, her wily captain has other ideas, citing that they need to fill the spot while she was on maternity leave. Offering her a position as the cold case detective—one that everyone is sure Crosswhite will decline—it’s a chance for Tracy to decide what she wants next. A pep talk with the retiring detective leaves her willing to give it a shot, if only to scuttle the plans of her nemesis for a while longer.
Crosswhite scours the list of cases and finds one that piques her interest. A little girl went missing when her father took her to a corn maze and was never seen again. Part of a bitter custody battle, the little girl made numerous comments about how her parents fought before the separation. As a beat cop at the time of the disappearance, the father pulls on the heartstrings of Crosswhite, but she must remain objective.
Working on a few of the leads that go nowhere, Crosswhite is pulled into the middle of a fresh investigation with her former partner. A young jogger has gone missing in a local park and no one saw anything. Canvassing the neighbourhood, Crosswhite comes across three brothers who live together but seem to be hiding something. With nothing concrete to assert her claims of guilt, Crosswhite will have to pursue a few options on the sly.
While her missing girl case is going nowhere fast, Detective Crosswhite finds herself fixated on this jogger and how she could have disappeared into thin air. There’s something that is not adding up and those who know Tracy Crosswhite understand that she is not one to let opportunity slip through her fingers. She’ll use all her resources to get to the bottom of it, even if it means putting her future in jeopardy with a captain who wants her head on a platter.
There’s something about this series that has always kept me fully engaged and wondering. Robert Dugoni has crafted a stellar cast and writes so fluidly as to keep the reader on their toes. New ideas emerge with each novel and the series gets better the deeper into the characters Dugoni pulls the reader. I can see this being one series that will not get old any time soon.
Tracy Crosswhite is a stellar detective in her own right, having grown effectively over the last number of novels. Her grit and determination are like no other and she keeps her eye on the prize throughout, hoping to make the most of what is offered to her. Balancing work with motherhood has been tough, but Crosswhite has found a balance, even though it has come at the cost of her preferred job. It will take all she has inside her to solve the cases placed at her feet, while dodging the obstacles of suspects and a captain with an ax to grind. There is mention throughout her cold case investigation about how a missing child can tear a family apart, something Crosswhite knows all too well from her sister’s disappearance. Guilt is nothing new for Detective Tracy Crosswhite, which makes her all the more intriguing as she strives for truth.
Dugoni creates a string of strong secondary characters in this piece that complement Crosswhite when the need arises. Pulled from a variety of sources, those who fill the gaps and keep the reader intrigued offer their own spin on these missing persons cases. Some are straightforward while others prefer to present deceptive fronts, all of whom work well to keep the reader wondering what’s to come. The recurring cast is always welcome, but I also enjoy how Dugoni has created new and one-off characters that keep things exciting for all readers.
There’s something to be said for the novels in this series, as they take police procedurals to a new level. While there are the essential elements found throughout, Robert Dugoni uses his strong writing abilities to create a certain magnetism that pulls the reader into the middle of the case and won’t let go. The narrative pushes along effectively and keeps the reader on their toes until the very end, when the pieces finally come together. It’s a piece that may reveal itself slowly, but once the momentum is started, there’s not tapping on the brakes. Short to mid-length chapters propel the reader forward and keep the story on track, as much is revealed with each page turn. I can only wonder what’s to come and how Dugoni will continue to shape his core set of characters with new and exciting hurdles.
Kudos, Mr. Dugoni, for another winner. Your work is some of the best in the genre and I can only hope you have many more ideas to share soon.
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Rating: really liked it
I became curious after finishing Robert Dugoni's current Tracy Crosswhite's newest book, about missing persons. It appears that nearly 600,000 people go missing each year. The number is staggering and while some of those missing choose this as their path, countless others have been abducted. Many are children, and while the possibility is that this might be a parental abduction, many others are gone with seemingly not a trace.
This book's theme is a missing child, a child living in a home of much strife and hatred and while the investigation concentrates on the parents, nothing seems to turn up. Tracey , newly appointed to the Missing Persons detail, feels an affinity to this young girl. She and her husband now have a daughter of their own.
While investigating, Tracy finds herself teamed up with her former partner and they start looking for a young women who seems to have vanished from a jogging trail. It's a blending of a cold case and a new case and as the team investigates, clues turn up that lead them to a neighborhood that seems quiet and safe but may be exactly the opposite.
Mr Dugoni kept the action going and for those who enjoy a police procedural, this is one to pick up.
Thank you to Robert Dugoni (I so appreciated your author's note, Thomas and Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this story due out April 20,2020
****Some interesting data****
Of the 15,207 people currently missing in the US, approximately 60% are male and 40% are female.
The average age of people when they go missing is around 34.
As of January 2019, there are 106 children currently missing who were younger than a year old when they went missing.
Alaska has the most missing persons per capita, with 41.8 people missing per 100,000 population. Massachusetts has the least missing persons per capita, with 1.8 people missing per 100,000 population.
However, California has the most missing persons in total, with 2,133 people missing. Rhode Island has the least, with 20 people missing.
The cities with the most missing people total include Los Angeles (189), Phoenix (170), Houston (165), San Francisco (163), and Detroit (150).
There are 12,459 unidentified persons as of January 2019.
