Another great book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. It can also be read as a stand-alone.

There are actually 2 investigations going on in this book. Tracey is investigating a hit and run where a 12 year old boy was killed. She discovers that the car belongs to an active- duty serviceman at a local naval base. After a key piece of case evidence goes missing, he is released without going to trial. But Tracey can't forget about justice for the 12 year old boy. Meanwhile her team members, Del and Faz, investigate the heroin overdose death of Del's niece.

Great plot and great characters. I highly recommend this series. Always suspenseful with twists and turns.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for supplying a copy of Robert Dugoni's "Close to Home" in exchange for an honest review.

I love the Tracy Crosswhite series and this newest book does not disappoint. She's a tenacious seeker of the truth and in this case trying to unravel the mystery behind a hit and run, she uncovers more than she bargained for. Well paced with great characters.

The Tracy Crosswhite series is one of my go-to series when I want edge-of-your-seat scenes and a solid main character who has just enough baggage, humour, stubbornness, courage and back-up to get the job done.

The series features Tracy Crosswhite, a homicide detective in the Violent Crimes division of the Seattle police force. Close to Home, the fifth installment of the series, is a multi-layered story that focuses on the hit-and-run of a child and the heroin epidemic.

Dugoni gives readers a lot to think about and balances the emotional affects of losing a loved one to drugs with a no-holds-barred look at street drugs. He brings up several interesting, and sometimes controversial, topics including the benefits of free clinics as safe injection sites for addicts to decrease the risk of overdosing and how the legalization of marijuana has caused drastic change in the drugs that are readily available on the street. These issues add much to the plot and their ramifications are far more complicated than I had ever imagined.

This gritty plot line gets personal as readers witness how the overdosing of his niece has greatly affected Del Castigliano, one of Tracy's fellow homicide detectives. Del takes the reigns for much of the book and his grief over his niece was touching and gave his character depth. I also enjoyed the introduction of Celia McDaniel - she's an intelligent, strong woman who adds much to Del's story line. While Tracy shares the spotlight this time out, her personal life, though touching, didn't grab me quite as much and I fear how this plot line will influence future books.

I wouldn't say that this book grabbed me as much as others in the series but it was still a solid read. I'm not a big fan of military story lines and while the view into the Navy and JAG added something different, the military legal plot line fell a little flat for me. I also had issues with the fact that Del would be allowed to work on his niece's case - I can't see that ever happening, staffing issues or not, buuuut it's fiction and Del's story line was my favourite of the bunch.

This is a twisty, multi-layered suspense read that brings the issue of addiction and drugs to the forefront while giving readers a look into the Navy's hierarchy and its JAG system. If you're looking for a great series with strong characters and some edge-of-your-seat, twisty action then I highly recommend this series.

Note: While these books can be read as stand-alones I'd recommend reading them in order or at least reading My Sister's Grave first to understand where Tracy's emotional scars come from.

This is my least favorite Tracy Crosswhite book. The subject matter was something I hardly cared about. Which is mainly the drugs angle. Tracy gets involved after a hit and run on a 12 year old boy happens. Meanwhile, Del--another detective--is investigating the overdose of his niece. I did like the fact that we got more of a story on other characters lives, but, once again, Dan is on the sidelines. The reason it took me so long to get into the story was I felt there was a lot of information dumped on me in the beginning. The Navy is involved in this story so there were facts and acronyms thrown in the air. It did get somewhat tedious. About 53% into the book, the story picks up and more of an investigation happens. It was good the 2nd half for which I'm happy about. Although, the ending? If only real life was as good to people.

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the thrilling ARC, Close to Home by Robert Dugoni. I love all the books in the Tracy Crosswhite series but this latest was superior. A young, black teen on his way home after basketball practice is hit by a car and killed. As Tracy and Kins investigate, this case will become more problematic as a stolen car takes them to the Navy and a suspect. Their partners, Faz and Del, are also trying to find out who supplied the deadly heroin to Del’s drug addicted niece. What a delicious and wild ride as this detective and mystery novel kept me turning the pages. Of course, I love the Tracy and Dan subplot and really enjoyed getting to know more about Del and his family. Dugoni’s characters in this series are well drawn;I could not put down this book, I loved the plot with all its twists & turns. New characters such as Leah Battles, the determined Navy lawyer who rides her bike to and from work and does Krav Maga (loved this aspect of her training) kept me on my toes. The lawyer, Celia, who keeps Del and Faz resolute in their tracking of the heroin supplier killing multiple teens in the Seattle neighborhood is a ripped from the headlines trauma affecting many communities today. Dugoni’s story was a taut, suspenseful mystery with many angles as Tracy and her team try to figure out who is guilty. Such a surprising, great ending with lots of adrenaline and an awesome Epilogue. I recommend reading the Acknowledgments at the end of this book, so good and enlightening; it says so much about Robert Dugoni as an author and person that makes Tracy and her team real. As a result of this psychological thriller, I LOVE reading Robert Dugoni novels, I can’t wait for #6 in the Tracy Crosswhite series! This is a must-read series.

A talented young basketball player is killed in a hit and run accident, as he returns from practice late one evening, when he was quite close to home.
A young girl, a recovering addict, was pressured into using heroin again by a user boyfriend and dies of an accidental overdose. She had done her best to resist his repeated pressure over a period of time and had been so close to going straight home after work and to staying alive.
Tracy Crosswhite, a homicide detective with Seattle PD, is assigned the hit and run case which in the current political climate is potentially sensitive as the victim was a black youth. The teenager who overdosed was a niece of another detective in the precinct.
At the same time it transpires there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths of addicts overdosing on what was either a very high grade heroin, or one laced with something deadly.
As the detectives investigate both cases they discover the two tragedies are related and they must work not only for justice for families of both victims but to identify and shut down the source of the highly potent heroin on the streets, before even more lives are lost.
This is another fast paced, well written thriller in the Tracy Crosswhite series. It is a mixture of police procedural and courtroom drama and will not disappoint fans of Robert Dugoni.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

4.5 stars!
This is another great book in the Tracy Crosswhite series!

The book starts with the investigation of a hit and run death of a young kid. The victim is an African American boy and the case instantly puts the black community on edge. I like how Robert Dugoni writes about current political issues in his books. He writes about how the murders in the black community have not gotten the justice that they have deserved.

So, Tracy Crosswhite and her partner Kinsington "Kins" Rowe end up making an arrest for the murder of the young boy and the suspect is a Navy officer.
The Navy takes jurisdiction of the case looking at a possible court martial and when they take over in the book, that's when it gets fantastic. I'm not writing anymore in my review about the details of this case due to spoilers. Let’s just say that I felt like I was reading about an episode of Law and Order but NCIS style.

Dugoni knows how to write about the court and judicial system. His real-life experience as an attorney has made his writing solid! I can say without a doubt that he’s in the same league as John Grisham, maybe even better. And his writing about police procedure is also on point.

But back to the plot, while the Navy is trying to prosecute one of their own, Detectives Vic Fazzio and Delno Castigliano are in deep with the heroin overdoses that have become an epidemic in Seattle. Del’s niece overdoses on heroin and dies. She's just a teenager and you read about how the detective and his family try to cope with her death. Dugoni does not skip on any of the details of this fast growing epidemic and this part alone in the book is worth reading about.

Both plot stories are excellent!

So, in conclusion, I really enjoyed this book. I have loved all of the Tracy Crosswhite books in the series. Dugoni has a way of making each book different. Each book goes in a different direction in regards to plot and characters. It’s always a joy to read these books!

Is is another book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. Even tho this is part of a series it could stand alone. The book opens with the hit and run death of a 12 year old black boy. Tracy is investigating the case and isn't happy when it is taken over by the Navy because the driver is active duty Navy. The black community is on edge because they think the Navy taking the case will ultimately end with no justice for the victim. There is a second story line about drug deaths from a deadly form of heroin. The detectives investigating that case have a personal interest. The niece of one of the investigators overdosed on the deadly heroin.

This book has a great plot that will hold your interest. There is a great cast of characters, some you will recognize from previous books. This story has suspense, great dialogue and some humor too. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

I'm a big fan of detective Tracy Crosswhite and the three other members of her team (Faz, Del and Kins) working as one of the Seattle homicide teams and I was super happy to see this fifth new novel coming out!

The Trapped Girl, the fourth installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series was such a cracking read, I knew in advance it would be a hard one to match. Close To Home was definitely a strong novel and an enjoyable read but I have to admit, it didn’t have the same waw-factor. Probably part of the reason I didn't feel the the same thrill was that I expected it to be more alike the previous one and Mr. Dugoni took quite a different approach with his new novel. Close To Home was much more police procedural than thriller, taking everything from fighting over jurisdiction to interviewing people on the witness stand in the court room and processing evidence. Even though this change took some getting used to, his writing still was as detailed and sharp as ever.

There are two plotlines in this novel that pretty much alternate, one involving an investigation into a hit and run which finds its way into the navy and the other plotline focuses on one of the team members, it is a rather personal one for Del. His niece of 15 years old died of a heroin overdose and he wants to find whoever provided her with the drugs. Mr. Dugoni delved into the many problems involving this addiction. He's really going well into the issue, explaining why it became so epidemic and he even makes a plea for a safe location to use. It's something that Del is very much opposed to, seeing what it did to his niece but then a friend who lost her son as well says she probably wouldn't have lost him if he could have done it in a controlled environment and he starts to feel slightly differently. It's controversial and you'll definitely want to come to your own conclusions.

The navy setting was a completely new scene for me and he wrote about it in such a way that it got me interested and I have a better picture now of some of its inner workings than before. There isn't much to say about Leah Battles, who works there, though. The idea was to throw suspicion her way and cause doubt about the fact that she tampered with evidence or not but I strongly felt she didn't. I'll leave it in the middle if she did or didn't do it ;-).

I've come to love Tracy's tenaciousness and in this novel it's no different, even when the case was in peril of being lost to her, she didn't give up trying to find the person responsible, even if it gets quite dangerous for herself. As usual, this series has delicious banter and digs among the team members, which I've come to love about this series, and I was relieved it wasn't any different in this novel.

This book was amazing. It took me 10 days to read it only because I had been so busy with the holiday. Every time I picked it up, I did not want to put it down. I did not figure out who it was until the book told me. A lot of books that I read, I can figure it out about halfway through if not sooner. I love a good thriller that keeps me on the edge of my seat. It all tied in perfectly together at the end. I highly recommend this book and am definitely anticipating the next one in the series.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review.

Close to Home is the latest Tracy Crosswhite story by Robert Dugoni. Close to Home works as a stand alone novel but is so much more enjoyable having read the series. My only complaint is it ended too soon! I feel like Tracy is an old friend and I wanted to spend more time with her. I was given an early copy to review.

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.

Adding another explosive novel to the Tracy Crosswhite series, Robert Dugoni has answered the call of his fans to create another superior story. Pulled from the headlines, Dugoni draws on some heart-wrenching topics to add depth to this fifth novel. After young D’Andre Miller is struck and killed in a hit and run while walking home, Tracy Crosswhite and her partner, Kinsington ‘Kins’ Rowe make their way to the scene and begin an investigation. With no vehicle, it might be like finding a needle in a haystack, with a grieving family breathing down their necks. After someone calls in a vehicle matching the evidence left at the scene, Crosswhite and Kins trace it back to a member of the Navy, one Laszlo Trejo. He denies being in Seattle at the time of the crime, though admits his vehicle was stolen overnight. As things are heating up, Trejo makes a call and JAG lawyer Leah Battles appears to lay the groundwork for whatever defence she can formulate. Trejo continues to claim his innocence, even when evidence points in the direction of his being placed at the intersection where Miller was struck. While juggling this agonising case, Crosswhite has her own issues at home on which to focus. With a biological clock that continues to tick, she has agreed to seek some intervention surrounding not being able to get pregnant. With the support of her husband, Dan, Crosswhite takes her last apparent avenue to bring a life into the world, though the prospects are poor. In other events around the Violent Crimes Squad, Detective Delmo ‘Del’ Castigliano is still reeling at the death of his niece from a heroin overdose. Forced to hold the family together, Del tries to track down the person who derailed his niece’s life after she’d recently completed rehab. When he discovers that she has been sold a highly-potent form of heroin, Del will stop at nothing to run up the supply chain to get to the creep who destroyed his family. Del liaises with Celia McDaniel, working in the D.A.’s office on the rise in drug offences. Del and Celia tackle the legal angles and soon find themselves trying to come to an agreement to remove the dealer from the street before another family is torn apart. When the Article 32 hearing arrives for Trejo, Battles is hoping to score at least a few points before a court-martial. However, a key piece of evidence paralyses the prosecution and all eyes shift to Battles, who was the last person with the box of evidence. A killer going free, a young life taken due to heroin, a budding romance, and the perils of pregnancy. All of these are issues that strike close to home in this latest Dugoni legal thriller that will keep the reader enthralled until the last sentence. Series fans will flock to this and newbies will surely find their curiosity piqued.

I have long been a fan of Dugoni’s work, as I find it flows so easily and keeps the reader’s attention. The growth of Tracy Crosswhite has be prevalent throughout the five novels, allowing the series reader to explore her from various angles. The exploration of her maternal side here is poignant, as her work within Violent Crimes has her consoling witnesses and families on a daily basis. However, she is left to be stoic, even in the face of her own personal tragedies. Dugoni does well to build on this throughout the story, adding aspects of Dan’s interpretation. All this, while Crosswhite keeps her detective skills sharply honed to find a killer. The added storyline involving Del Castigliano pulls on the heartstrings of the reader as the family regresses after the death of a young woman. As Dugoni mentions in his Acknowledgements, he cannot fathom the depths of despair that these people must face, but has tried to put a face on it to allow further character development for Del. Dugoni’s use of other characters pulls the story in many directions, all of which prove useful to the overall story arc. The premise of the novel is timely, even if the drug-related storyline takes second chair to the hit and run. The reader is able to relate to both stories, or at least is given enough to allow them to connect, without dwelling too long and losing the narrative’s momentum. Dugoni’s writing style allows the chapters to flow with ease and the narrative to keep things fresh, which makes digesting the book in short order a real treat for the reader. The only issue with this, is the need to wait for the next instalment, though Dugoni seems to be able to churn them out so easily without losing their quality. I hope many will find Tracy Crosswhite to their liking and add this series to a teetering ‘to be read’ pile. It is well worth the gamble.

Kudos, Mr. Dugoni for impressing yet again with an explosive thriller. You touch the heart while spinning a crime and legal thriller like no other in the genre.

Without giving away spoilers I enjoyed reading this book. There were three POV and they all worked well together. From the beginning of the book I was drawn in by the accident and the emotions that came with that along with Tracy's personal struggle. It was interesting to learn more about the Navy as I was not familiar with their procedures and I enjoyed reading it.
Also learning about the drug trade was really interesting and how it affects every city, race, etc. The entire time I was biting my nails trying to find out if Tracy & Battles case would be solved as well as Del's case.
I would like to thank NetGalley for providing the ARC via Thomas and Mercer and allowing me to read the book early. Can't wait for the audible book!

Very slow paced book that did not have me on the edge of my seat as the others in the series.

Close to Home is the fifth installment in the outstanding Tracy Crosswhite series. And again, it is another of those "better than the last one" kinda things. I LOVE this series but better than that, I think it's Robert Dugoni's way of stringing words together that I love. Even the acknowledgements read better than the majority of novels written by others. I did a bit of struggling through some of the legalese parts but found them interesting and informative. I didn't know NCIS is civilian and I watch the show every week. Go figure!

Many thanks to Mr. Dugoni, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another great installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series. In this one, we learn the inner workings of the military judicial system and are introduced to a great new character: Leah Battles. Battles is a young, sharp judicial advocate who crosses paths with Tracy and together they solve the mystery behind why a soldier fled the scene of an accident after accidentally hitting a teenager with his car. Great plotting, great characters. I look forward to the next Crosswhite/Battles book.

Another Gripping Tracy Crosswhite Novel Deserving A Read By You

Close To Home is an excellent addition as the fifth novel in the Tracy Crosswhite series. The novel opens with the 12 year old, D’Andre Miller playing basketball in a local gym. His mother told him to be home by nine, and you don’t cross his mother. Not be late he had to hustle. Very close to home, D’Andre is struck and killed by a car. The driver did not stop. Tracy and her team is called in because the Police brass wanted this case to be handled with a little more sensitivity given the current environment and the Black Lives Matter movement. The car is found, the owner identified as a sailor stationed across the Puget Sound from Seattle. The evidence mounts and an arrest is made. The sailor called the Defense Services Office and was connected with the Command Duty Officer, Lieutenant Leah Battles. She also was the senior defense council and also loves a good legal fight. The story line proceeds from here and is peppered with jurisdictional issues with the Navy and Bremerton Police Department. The case goes south faster that the proverbial lead balloon falls.

There is a secondary thread in the main story line. Del’s, a detective on Tracy’s team, 17 year old niece recently returned from detox program and overdosed on heroin. Tracy did not approve, her boss, Captain Nolasco, assigning the investigation to two of her team member including Del, because of the relationship to the victim. This investigation proceeds painfully slowly and weaves in and out of the main storyline.

One aspect of this author is his rich B-storyline which makes all of her characters seem real with all of the trial and tribulations of people try to balance their lives with their jobs. More insight is given to Tracy’s relationship with her husband, Dan. Blended into the story is Tracy’s usual partner, Kins, with his decision to finally take care of a long-term nagging problem. Thrown into this mix is not only Del’s attempt to keep his sister with her two sons afloat after her daughter’s tragic death, Del’s own personal life comes to the forefront. Lastly, much insight into the life of Leah Battles is stirred into the mix. All of this enriched the story and made reading this novel quite enjoyable. If this is your first novel in this series that you are contemplating to read, do not worry, everything referring to the past is well explained and will not leaving you wondering on what happened with puzzling references.

There was an instance where I thought that the author had tipped his hand on the identity of a key villain. Later in the novel, this was reinforced. I had to laugh when it turned out to be a red herring.

Now some reviews have complained concerning vulgar language, graphic sex and violence. This novel should be quite enjoyable by readers with these concerns. There is nothing graphic, no f-bombs, and only minor and infrequent PG expletives.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel so much that I stayed up to 2 am reading the last fifth of the novel. Everything was tied up at the end with some intriguing hints to the future. Do give it a try as I believe you will enjoy it also. I rate this novel with five stars.

I have received a free Advanced Reading Copy of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas & Mercer with a request for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this novel early.

Loved this book! It was good to see the development of minor characters as well as the main character. The twists were acceptable rather than the Deus ex machines moments. This has been a great series.

Anticipate your opponent's moves and be prepared to counter.

Tracy Crosswhite and her band of fellow detectives track every motion and every exhale. They work the Violent Crimes Section of Seattle with the challenging tiers of well-honed analytical skills. But this set of wirey incidents are proving to be quite the tangle......tangled because some of this is personal.

D'Andre Miller, an energetic twelve year old African American boy, is hitting the sidewalk at a face pace. He just slammed the door on hours of fast action basketball practice at the school gym. He's been making quite the name for himself on the court. But he knows the rules at home. School work takes top priority over that basketball that he grips tightly. From out of nowhere a car careens onto the crosswalk sending D'Andre into the air and down again. The driver never stopped. Tragedy now visits this community.

Crosswhite and her team are assigned to this senseless crime. When the vehicle is finally traced, the news is not good. The owner is Navy Petty Officer Laszlo Trejo. Trejo claims that the car was stolen and he knows nothing of the hit and run. Crosswhite believes otherwise.

What come to pass is a hand-off under Navy jurisdiction. Lt. Leah Battles is the JAG attorney assigned to represent Trejo. Battles, the ultimate professional, will be accused of tampering with evidence when a video crucial to the case goes missing. Is the aloof Battles manipulating evidence purposefully or is there shade being thrown after this highly sensitive case by someone else?

Del and Faz enter the pages once again. Del's niece, Allie, has recently died from a drug overdose after Del did everything possible to get her help. Dugoni takes Del's heartbreaking reality and lays the groundwork for an open-the-door-to-the-real-world for the readers. With marijuana being legalized, the Mexican drug cartels have plowed those fields under and now plant acres of poppies to produce heroin.........commonly used by 18 to 29 year olds.

The drugs and the dealers find their way into this very multi-layered, complicated case. Robert Dugoni taps at the heart and the soul as his story unfolds. There's quite the gamut of characters here, some regulars and some newly introduced. Dugoni never lets you down. He fills pages with perky dialogue, taut fibers of suspense, and well-spiked humor in just the right spots. Please note: Even though this is #5 in the series, they all can be read as standalones, but familiarity begins with #1. The Epilogue is sure to bedazzle you!

I received a copy of Close to Home through NetGalley for an honest review. My sincere appreciation to Thomas & Mercer and to the talented Robert Dugoni for the opportunity.

I first picked up a Tracy Crosswhite mystery because it was on sale on Kindle. I was immediately hooked. Dugoni just keeps 'em coming. This is the second Crosswhite book in about a year and it's set to be released on September 5, 2017. In this latest installment, the Violent Crimes A Team is split up working two separate cases (one of which is very personal to Del, whose niece died of a heroin overdose). Tracy's case this time ends up in the hands of the Navy and there are some nice plot points around jurisdictional issues and military codes of honor. Well-plotted and tightly written, these are go-to mysteries for me!

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!