This is book 7 in the Tracy Crosswhite series.It reads well as a stand-alone. Tracy and her husband Dan along with their new baby are in Cedar Grove,their childhood home .The chief of police asks Tracy to look into a cold case that a reporter was working on when she was killed.Tracys husband Dan is working on a case and eventually these two stories merge together.
A good solid mystery.You won’t be able to put this book down once you start.
#netgalley#robertdugoni#acoldtrail

A Cold Trail is set in the North Cascade foothills in Washington. Tracy Crosswhite is a detective in the Seattle area who is on maternity leave. She and her husband have moved home temporarily to Cedar Grove, the town of their childhood. Back when Tracy was in college, her sister had been murdered in Cedar Grove – the second murder in the small town. Tracy is asked to look into the murder of a police officer’s wife – the local reporter who was investigating the cold case murder of Heather Johansen who was killed just before Tracy’s sister. At the same time, Tracy’s husband Dan is representing a small business owner against the town of Cedar Grove. As the book goes along, you realize the two cases overlap. As Tracy gets close to finding answers, her life is also in danger.

This is book number 7 in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I got caught up in the story and read it quickly. It is basically a stand-alone book but I felt like I was missing some back story as I read along. I’m planning to read the other books in the series. It makes me happy to find a series where I can relate to the characters and want to learn more about their lives.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy.
I have not read any of the previous books in this series but was still able to connect with the story. Tracy was the homicide detective that the series is based on and is a very likable character. I appreciated the take on her career and her ferocity with which she tackles it. So many times the female is set back in a series and expected and judged for not wanting to stay at home with a small child but the author illustrates how she should not be judged and had the courage to illustrate it. I will read this author again!

I enjoy books by author Robert Dugoni but especially enjoy the stories about Tracy Crosswhite. A Cold Trail is part of the Crosswhite series. A Cold Trail is a stand alone book, but so much more enjoyable because I've read all the previous stories. After all this time I feel like Tracy is a personal friend and hate it when our visit comes to an end! I was given an early copy to review.

This is the 7th book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I've read them all and they're great!

In this book Tracy is committed to solving an old murder, fairly recent murder and current murder. She's convinced they're related. All this while caring for her new baby, breaking in a nanny and dealing with a blizzard.

I love how these stories flow. Can't wait for the next.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying it is book number 7 in a series. So there is a lot of history in this book. It is easy to catch up on the basics and follow along, so it can be read as a stand alone as well. I really appreciate an author that can keep the story interesting for those who have read all the books as well as for those new to the story line.

Tracey Crosswhite and her husband Dan O'Leary both grew up in a small town in Washington and have moved away to pursue their careers but as is often the case they find themselves back in that small town seeking justice and looking for answers. As far as a mystery crime novel goes it was just okay for me. Often times it felt like Scooby Doo and the gang trying to solve a mystery. Also, it was easy early on to figure out secrets that were to be revealed.

However, there is a nostalgic feeling in reading this book. It takes place in Washington and there are references to Montana. In many ways Cedar Grove was like going home for me. For that and the great characters, this book was so much fun to read.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I have really enjoyed this series and to see the growth in Tracy is amazing. She is sucked back into case that seems all three death are related. She is also dealing with being a new Mom and trying to decide if she can still be a cop and a Mpm. Great story and great thriller.

Another fantastic book in the Tracy Crosswhite series! Tracy, her husband, Dan, and their daughter, Daniella, are back in her hometown of Cedar Grove. They are staying in the house Dan's parents left to him, which he and Tracy are using as a vacation house. It comes in handy now while their main home is getting renovated. Tracy is still on maternity leave and up in the air about whether or not she will fully return to work as a detective.

Dan has taken on a civil case against the city of Cedar Grove and the town's somewhat fraudulent purchasing of failing businesses. Soon, Tracy is asked to help assist with an old cold case and a recent murder. Both point the finger at a police officer, enough that he has been put on leave while a previous chief of police fills in. You wouldn't think at first that these two cases would ever intersect, but it's surprising just how many secrets the town of Cedar Grove holds.

Although at times a bit technical with the legal jargon, the story is generally easy to follow and quick to pull you right back into the lives of Tracy and her family. Tracy's friend and associate, Faz, makes an opportune appearance in this book, and his character is as delightful as ever. You will not be disappointed!

I only discovered Robert Dugoni a couple of years ago, and he is still keeping me quite entertained! I'm a fan of the Tracy Crosswhite series and this one does not disappoint.
As always, I found myself invested in the characters' lives and carried along an engaging plot line or two that blended together oh so well.
Dugoni manages to make it juuuust twisty-turny enough this time that every time I thought I had the perpetrator pegged...I was wrong. I recommend this book and if you're not already a fan, go grab the first Tracy Crosswhite and watch her (and the storytelling) evolve as you go.

I have read other books by this author (Wrongful Death, Bodily Harm, and The Conviction) but none in this series.

Mr. Dugoni has once again delivered a wonderful page turner. He brings the characters to life and there are always enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I was very surprised at some of the turn of events, especially when the bad guy was revealed.

I tried to figure out who committed the crime, and fell short. Robert Dugoni does a great job with weaving a story that you think you have all figured out, but leaves you pleasantly surprised by the ending. I could not stop reading this book once I started and now I am anxious to read the other books from this series!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this Uncorrected Proof of "A Cold Trail".

A Cold Trail is the seventh book in the Tracy Crosswhite series and can easily be read as a standalone. Robert Dugoni’s writing and plot concepts are effortlessly executed in a storyline that continues to develop interesting character arcs. Dugoni places a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic factors within the text aimed at the main character and her struggle with the dual identity of being both a detective and a new mother. The plot is mainly character driven and while not the most furtive, the narrative does hold an intriguing level of suspense in the identifying the antagonist(s).

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC. I read and reviewed #AColdTrail voluntarily. All thoughts and comments are my own.

Cracking the cover of a new Robert Dugoni novel is a guilty pleasure: You shut out — no, you vehemently ignore — the kids, cats, spouse, work, sleep and the rest of the world for a few hours because the story is that transportive.

And so with “A Cold Trail” (Thomas & Mercer) did I enter into one of Dugoni’s most prolific and popular series, the seventh installment of the Tracy Crosswhite books.

And within the first 50 pages did I develop a sense of wonder ... if I had entered the wrong book.

At this early juncture, I have to make the caveat that the book I'm reviewing is a galley and that things could change between now and the scheduled publication date of Feb. 4, 2020. But as it stands today. ...

Dugoni's "A Cold Trail" is a meandering stroll on a lukewarm day. Readers will get that the author is closing the chapter on several threads that have been fraying for six novels and counting, but just in case you miss that, there is this directed exposition from Chapter 11: “Tracy needed to put Heather Johansen to rest — and Kimberly Armstrong as well — if the town were truly to survive. She felt no personal compulsion to put Jason Mathews to rest, but his death seemed to be the linchpin to solving what had happened, and if she wanted to close the book on the darkest chapter in the town’s history, she had to put him to rest as well.”

Dugoin's fans will not be settled by such blunt assertions from the master of twists and turns and blind curves.

But because they are fans, they will stay with him and, finally, reap the reward. Few writers pen a legal thriller like Dugoni, and the court drama that is intertwined with so much of the novel is the savior of “Cold Trail,” turning my two stars into three out of the five in my critical orbit.

Uneven editing?

The blame, surely, lies with the source material, but somebody was off their game for allowing Dugoni to phone in the first two-thirds of the novel. When you have an author writing at the level of Dugoni, you don’t make poor writing good, you make whatever he gives you spectacular.

Without naming names, an extremely famous novelist — think, 1 million first-run — I’ve interviewed year after year once blew his deadline and, pushing the envelope of printing, fielded my query about the near-miss.

His answer? That, after more than a dozen No. 1 novels, his editor had turned back his late-delivered proof and told him he had to rewrite the entire first-third of the novel. (And, as an aside, change the name of the protagonist, which, in the galley, was Lars. ...)

In “Cold Trail,” Dugoni should have been so tasked — and so lucky to have had that shaper pen on his manuscript.

This is the second Robert Dugoni novel that I have read, but it won't be the last! It was interesting and at times scary! I enjoyed the whole town revitalization mystery plot and the murders that may or may not be connected. It's hard to know who the good guys are for a while. The courtroom scenes were well structured and built the case - and more! Believable characters, good suspense, and ending. I love books that don't leave you hanging or disappointed in the end, so that you wish you hadn't spent so much time reading them! This ending is not that! Many thanks to Robert Dugoni, Thomas and Mercer publishers and NetGalley for giving me a free book in return for an honest review.

You can take the girl out of the cop station, but you can’t take the cop out of the girl. In Robert Dugoni’s A COLD TRAIL, Tracy Crosswhite is back in her hometown of Cedar Grove, where she and husband Dan O’Leary and two-month-old daughter Daniella are staying in Dan’s childhood home while their home is being renovated to make more room for their family. Tracy is still on maternity leave, and she is learning the joys and concerns of motherhood. When the former police chief Roy Calloway calls her to discuss a case, Tracy’s detective juices start flowing. The wife of the current chief has died in a fire, and the chief, Finlay Armstrong, is on leave, so Calloway is acting chief. Not only is there a mystery surrounding Kimberly Armstrong’s death, but there is also the unsolved murder of a high school girl back in 1993, not long before Tracy’s sister Sarah went missing. Back then, Finlay was considered a suspect in Heather Johansen’s murder; now, with the murder of his wife, fingers are pointing at him again. Despite Dan’s concerns for Tracy’s safety and well being, Tracy agrees to investigate. Cedar Grove is a small town, and tongues start wagging immediately. Not everyone wants to cooperate.

Dan has business of his own to attend to. He is representing a small business owner in a lawsuit against the city.
Businesses have been springing up like crazy, and Dan’s client has been the lone holdout in selling to the city. It would seem that he doesn’t have a chance, but Dan decides that perhaps you CAN fight city hall.

I love the complex cases that both husband and wife face in this story. Since they both grew up in Cedar Grove, they cross paths with former classmates, friends, and rivals. Tracy, especially, faces a ¬¬¬¬whole spectrum of emotions, especially since it’s her first time back in her hometown following the trial of her sister’s killer. Her parents are gone; her father, dead by suicide over her sister’s murder. Now she is a mother, and she wonders what kind of life she owes her daughter and her husband. Love, gratitude, duty...She is a mother and a wife, but she is also a cop. How does she find the perfect balance?

The personal touches felt very real to me. I really liked the big role that Dan plays in this book. I also really enjoyed Faz (Vic Fazzio) and his wife Vera. That is loyalty! And Vic was a hoot!

The legal issues were a bit confusing for a reader like me, who is a bit challenged when it comes to understanding torts, contracts, and the like. So things got a bit bogged down in a few places, but I liked how Dan sort of pulled a rabbit out of his hat in court! Yay, Judge Harvey! Who’d’ve thought?

There are some big dramatics at the end, so hold on to your winter hats and gloves! (It snows A LOT in this novel.) As usual, Mr Dugoni has provided a very thrilling, entertaining story.

My thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and the author for this ARC. My views are my own.

4.5 stars

Book 7 of the Tracy Crosswhite series, A Cold Trail finds Tracy, a Seattle homicide detective, her lawyer husband Dan, and their two month old baby Daniella back in Cedar Grove, their hometown, while their home near Seattle is remodeled. Dan has taken on a case in Cedar Grove with a business owner who feels like something isn’t right as the city is forcing the main street businesses to sell. While Tracy loves being a mother, she is a little bored, and when the acting Chief of Police, Roy Calloway, an old friend of her father, asks her to help on a cold murder case and a new murder case that may be related, she jumps at the chance.

Although Roy is retired, both he and Tracy suspect Finlay Armstrong, Calloway’s successor, in both murders, so Finlay is off and Roy has taken charge. Tracy is excited to be back working, however it has caused a bit of a rift between her and Dan. Dan is worried about her safety, but knows that she is, after all, a homicide detective and he knew what she did before he married her.

The Tracy Crosswhite series is a favorite, and Dugoni has developed the characters so that they seem like real acquaintances. He has also captured the small town feeling and the fact that news travels fast. Tracy isn’t particularly popular now that she has come back to town due to the fact that she wasn’t sure that her sister’s murderer was guilty and brought a trial back a few years before. Dugoni is organized and the story flows; the novel is well-written and very hard to put down. Although this book can be read as a stand-alone, it helps to read the previous novels to get a sense of the past.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Another good entry in this solid series. This book takes it back to the town where it all started in the first book but with a different story. But Dugoni managers to work in the characters from Seattle we have come to know and love.

This is about Tracy Crosswhite who is returning once again to the town of cedar grove. this time for herself . But the local police ask her to help in the investigation of a police officers dead wife. This is the 7th book in series. and as I read each book they keep getting better. the only bad thing I can say about this book is that after I read it I have to wait for the next one to come out. wish you could come out faster. this is one of the best series books I have ever read.

This is the latest installment of the Tracy Crosswhite series. I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series, but this one stands alone pretty well. There are references to past murder cases and trials and I will now go back and start the series from the beginning. This installment deals with a court case that Dan, Tracy's husband, has brought about the rejuvenation of Main Street. All the old businesses owners have sold their property to the City for redevelopment except one and he has no intention of doing so. In the meantime, there are three separate murders that have happened in the little town of Cedar Grove.; some many years ago and some more recent. When Tracy starts to investigate the murders, it looks like they all point the Police Chief. Could he have killed his old girlfriend, his current wife and an attorney that was nosing around the town? As Dan investigates the Main St. deals and Tracy investigates the murders, they realize that there are similarities and there may be more than they bargained for in their hometown of Cedar Grove.

3.5 stars

In this 7th book in the 'Tracy Crosswhite' series, the homicide detective investigates three cases. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with earlier books is beneficial.

*****

At the core of the story are three unsolved deaths, all of which occurred in Cedar Grove, Washington. Heather Johansen - an eighteen-year-old girl who worked for the then mayor was killed in 1993; Jason Matthews - a retired criminal defense lawyer hired to look into Heather's death was killed in 2013; and Kimberley Armstrong - a journalist writing a book about Heather's murder recently died in a house fire.

Cedar Grove's Chief of Police, Finlay Armstrong, has connections to all of the above. Finlay was Heather Johansen's stalkerish ex-boyfriend 26 years ago; was acquainted with Jason Matthews; and was Kimberly Armstrong's husband.

Since Finlay can't investigate his wife's death - AND is a person of interest - he's on mandatory leave. Former Police Chief Roy Calloway, who has always been a formidable figure in Cedar Grove, is now Acting Chief, and is investigating Kimberley's demise.

It so happens that Seattle Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite and her attorney husband Dan - new parents to two-month-old Daniella - are staying in Cedar Grove while their Seattle house is being renovated.

Both Tracy and Dan grew up in Cedar Grove, and they're staying in Dan's family home with their baby, their two Rhodesian mastiffs Sherlock and Rex, and their nanny Therese - who was hired to help with Daniella.

Acting Chief Calloway, an old friend of Tracy's family, asks the detective - who's on maternity leave - to help investigate Kimberley's homicide AND the cold cases. Calloway believes all three murders are related, and may have been perpetrated by the same person. Tracy agrees, to the dismay of Dan - who was hoping his wife would stay home with baby Daniella.

Tracy proceeds to re-examine all the murder scenes, and to re-interview people who knew the victims. It soon becomes clear that someone doesn't want Tracy to investigate, and will take drastic measures to stop her.

In the meantime, attorney Dan accepts a local client named Larry Kaufman. Larry, who owns the only open business on Market Street, is being pressured to sell. The city wants to rejuvenate the run-down area, and has bought almost all the old stores and sold them to developers.

Now the city's lawyers are trying to use some murky statutes to acquire Larry's establishment, and Larry is fighting them. Since Dan is in town, Larry hires the lawyer to help him. When Dan looks into the matter, he learns that things going on 'under the table' could generate a lot of money for Market Street entrepreneurs.

Two favorite recurring characters in the series, Seattle Detective Vic Fazzio (Faz) and his wife Vera, drive to Cedar Grove to help Tracy. Faz assists with the homicide investigations, Vera helps with the baby, and both Fazzios prepare meals.

It turns out that Tracy's investigation and Dan's legal case have connections, and uncovering them helps resolve all the mysteries in Cedar Grove.

I enjoyed this intriguing story and recommend it to readers who enjoy suspense novels, especially Tracy Crosswhite fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Robert Dugoni), and the publisher (Thomas & Mercer) for a copy of the book.

Still enjoying the Tracy Crosswhite series. This one was a little slow to start, but, ultimately, delivered the same pace and plotting that I love in this series.