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What She Found

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This is my first book by Robert Dugoni and finally I can see why my blogger friends have been raving about this author for years! Although What She Found is the ninth instalment in his hugely successful Tracy Crosswhite series, it is possible to read it as a standalone. Most likely, you will want to pick up the previous books after reading this one anyway.
The beginning was very dynamic- an investigative reporter Lisa Childress gets a phone call from a mysterious source and heads to a secret meeting place in the industrial zone of Seattle. There she finds her contact has been murdered and she herself is attacked by a masked man. Lisa, a brilliant journalist described as socially awkward and possibly on the autism spectrum, has a two year old daughter Anita and husband Larry who often begged her to buy a pepper spray to protect herself and even started putting a can of bear spray in Lisa's bag. Lisa reaches for the can....
Tracy Crosswhite is still getting used to working as a one-detective-investigative unit. Her new Chief of Police Weber is urging her 'to showcase' the importance of investigating cold cases in a press conference. Weber is mostly concerned with the public image and preventing the police department from being de-funded. She would like Tracy to focus on 'easy' cases, cases where there is DNA evidence that can be analysed by using new scientific advances. Lisa Childress's case doesn't fall into this category, but Tracy cannot resist Anita Childress's pleas to look into her missing mother's case. The police investigation was rushed and concentrated on her father who became the prime suspect. Anita, who is a reporter herself, has put together the notes from her mother's cases, stories Lisa was actively pursuing at the time when she went missing. Tracy is sympathetic- she has a personal knowledge of what getting a closure means to he family of a victim. She is also intrigued by Lisa's potentially explosive stories.
While the beginning was fast and action-packed, the rest of the book was more steady-paced with Tracy following various leads, hitting deadends, getting breakthroughs, hitting more deadends and so on. In a police procedural that focuses on an active case there is more tension and inherent urgency to catch the perpetrator(s). Things are different in a cold case investigation, where there are other factors to take into consideration such as statutes of limitation on prosecuting certain crimes and deceased witnesses.
This is a 'high-content-density' book. We take a look at police corruption- how it starts, how new police officers get involved, how difficult it is to investigate and prosecute it as well as the personal price of not coming forward. We also see how Tracy is juggling family life and motherhood with her highly-demanding job. Family is an important topic in this story, its 'one-line-through'. Tracy can't give up on bringing closure to victims' families. Other characters also have to make difficult personal choices involving their families. There's also another interesting topic touched upon- a court of law with its insistence on the right procedure Versus the court of public opinion, which can ruin someone's life and turn them into a social pariah or it can force the guilty into confessing their crimes where it is impossible to get admissible evidence.
Tracy is a wonderful character and I would love to read the series from the beginning to appreciate the development she must have gone through. She is fair, loyal, and tenacious, and isn't afraid to put her career on line for the sake of her principles. At the same time she is very wary of judging other people for their behaviour. It was great to see how much she values her family and her colleagues esp.Faz and Del who have taught her so much.
Definitely recommended to anyone who loves an interesting series of police procedurals with a strong female lead.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer. This book was okay. This issue I had was I did know that the. book was number 9 of a series. It contained a lot of detail but I kept on feeling that I was missing something that would help me enjoy it more. With that being said, It was a bit slow and I really enjoy fast paced thrillers but I can tell that the story may be interesting and worth starting the series from the first book.

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Investigative reporter Lisa Childress went to meet a source in the middle of the night 24 yeas ago and was never seen again. Her daughter Anita, now a reporter herself, asks Seattle cold case detective, Tracy Crosswhite, to take a look at the case. Although there is no new evidence, Anita feels the detectives who investigated at the time spent all their effort looking at her father and none looking at the stories her mother was working on at the time. Because Tracy has personal experience with not knowing what happened to someone you love, she agrees to take a look at the case even though the police chief is pushing her to focus on "easy" cases to close, ones with DNA evidence to follow. Tracy's investigation discovers the shocking truth about what happened to Lisa, tests her loyalties, and puts her career in jeopardy. Dugoni keeps this series fresh with original and interesting plot lines, while allowing his characters to mature and evolve. While this is the ninth installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series, it could easily be read as a standalone. That being said, I recommend reading from the start as it's a great series and starting with book 1 will give you the full backstories for all the characters.

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So far I have never been disappointed in one of these novels. The main character is an exceptional woman with a never ending well of integrity and the stubborn refusal to give up.

This cold case leads Tracey down a path twisted with a missing journalist, a dead informant and possible corruption in her own police department. What could possibly go wrong?

If you have never read any of this series I highly recommend them. I think you will enjoy them as much as I do.

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What She found is the ninth book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. This is a fabulous series by Robert Dugoni. This book can be a stand-alone read, but with it being the ninth book, there is a wealth of history and character development that makes this such a well-loved and anticipated series.

Tracy Crosswhite, is now working on cold cases that offers her the opportunity of more normal working hours so that she can spend more time with her family. After having wrapped the most recent cold case she is approached by reporter Anita Childress. Anita tells her the story of her mom, Lisa Childress, an investigative journalist working for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, disappeared one night to meet an informant. Anita's father, Larry, was and is still presumed the prime suspect in her mother's declared murder. But with no body and little evidence Anita now wants to know what happened.

Tracy agrees to take a look to see if there is anything she can see that might help but doesn't commit to working on it full time. After pulling the police records, she sees there is little to go on and that the police focused on the husband. She continues to check around by talking to the officers on the case to get their insights but comes up empty. Tracy goes to talk to Lisa's boss to get more information, what things was looking to, and did she have any sources. He gives her a few leads but since Lisa kept her stories close to the vest until she was ready, these are just guesses of what she might have worked on.

After she becomes invested in the missing Lisa Childress, she clashes with Chief of Police who insists that she drops the case as she wants cases that can be solved quicker with the addition of DNA evidence. But this case is more interesting with leads being unraveled and not as hidden as was to be believed.

The truth is revealed however, there is no proof and legally becomes more difficult to prove. Tracy decides to take the case in an unexpected direction in order to tell what she has discovered as she stands to lose her professional career.

This was a riveting slow burn story with plenty of twists and turns with a fabulous reveal. The ending was not what I thought it might be, but it leaves me to hope that there will be more Tracy Crosswhite mysteries in our future.

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This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2022/08/20/%f0%9f%8e%a7-what-she-found-by-robert-dugoni/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from . This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

The <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/155482-tracy-crosswhite" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Tracy Crosswhite</strong></em></a> series is an absolute favorite.  I enjoy every book immensely.   Tracy is much more calm and talented than I could be.  She has to deal with the corrupt too often, but she handles them so well.  She also doesn't forget what is important.

Tracy is working cold cases now which gives her a more regular schedule to see more of her husband and daughter.  The brass want her to focus on cases which can use DNA which wasn't available at the time of the case.  This gives them big wins so they can tout the success of the police.  Tracy is not interested in being in the eye of the press but she is the only detective in the cold case unit.  She has just solved another big case and received her third Medal of Honor.

Now a woman comes to her who is the daughter of a woman who disappeared.  It happened before Tracy was a detective  but when Faz and Del were new detectives.  <strong>What She Found</strong> is tied tightly to the events in <strong>The Last Line</strong> novella released last year.  Both have aspects of police and political corruption.   Both stories are somewhat unsatisfactory in the result because the powerful people have too much ability to cover what little evidence available.

In both books,  Del and Faz, and now Tracy,  determine the truth and cause the perpetrators some discomfort but they aren't able to bring everyone down.  Since it originated twenty some years ago,  some of them are dead now.   I  love this series so much but was a little sad to not be able to see some of the crooks arrested. There are a few loose ends which I hope may be closed in the future.

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Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing Thomas & Mercer for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest chapter in the wonderful Tracy Crosswhite police procedural series by Robert Dugoni - 5 stars!

Tracy is working on her own in the Cold Case office of the Seattle Police Department. A reporter, Anita Childress, contacts her about her mom, Lisa Childress, who went missing almost 25 years ago. Her dad was always presumed guilty but never charged because lack of evidence. Lisa was also a reporter and had met a source in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. Upon investigating, the case leads Tracy to members of her own department.

I've said before that I will read anything that Robert Dugoni writes because he is amazing at every genre! But I love getting back involved with Tracy, her family and coworkers. It goes without saying that this is a well-written police procedural, with Tracy investigating many different avenues. I love Tracy's character and how she's determined to always do what's right, regardless of the consequences. Some good life lessons thrown in here as well. This whole series is highly recommended!

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It's been a wild ride catching up with the Tracy Crosswhite books these past couple of months, and it's a detective thriller series that has quickly turned into a favorite. What She Found is already book number nine of a series that shows no signs of slowing down, and it's another highly successful sequel involving another cold case. What started out a tad slow, soon turned into a fascinating story and I couldn't stop reading once I started to see the direction the story would take. What a read!

Part of the reason why this series is so successful has a lot to do with the fact that it has a great cast of characters that you will easily grow attached to. There is a lot of room for personal development as well as the new cases Tracy Crosswhite and the rest investigate each book, and I would definitely suggest reading the books in order both to avoid spoilers and to learn more about the background of each character. Like with the previous books, the case in What She Found is actually a cold case Tracy decides to investigate after she is asked to do so by the daughter of a missing woman. This new cold case unit role fits Tracy's character so well by the way! The main focus of this story is on this cold case, but it is by no means a 'simple' case as Tracy will soon discover herself.

I could appreciate the different possibilities and angles the plot offered us before showing the true colors of the cold case. I definitely didn't see that direction coming! It was great to see both Faz and Del showing their faces again; these two Italians are amongst my favorites of the cast of characters. The character development and growth only adds to the story, and it's always a bonus when the new characters are fleshed out properly as well. The personal developments make for a great balance with the police investigation, and while nothing too major happened on a personal level in What She Found, I very much enjoyed spending time with the main characters both on and outside the job.

The writing makes it very easy to keep turning those pages, and I can appreciate how this series is mostly about plain old police work and chasing down leads. A lot of the previous books have had a cold case focus, and with Tracy now heading the cold case unit it has become a given to have at least one cold case popping up. This book mainly focuses on one case, but that proves to be more than enough as there are a lot of angles and different events involved surrounding that one case. The twists are very well done, and there were a couple I didn't see coming!

All in all What She Found turned out to be yet another satisfying Tracy Crosswhite sequel, and it has been a pleasure to catch up with the series in general. A great cast of characters, solid writing, a lot of cold cases and a healthy dose of suspense and crime... I can definitely understand why so many people enjoy this series now.

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Find My Mother Leads Tracy To A Most Complex Case

Twenty-four years ago, Lisa Childress, an investigative reporter, late at night went to an isolated industrial area in Seattle to meet a person who could break a story wide open. When she arrived, there wasn’t any response from the other car. She retrieved her recorder and preceded towards the vehicle. The informant was dead. A man and a ski mask came out of the dark and choking her and banging her head against the car. She finally found her bear spray and released the bear spray on the attacker’s mask. He ripped off is mask giving her a good look of him. He ran off. Since then, she or her body has not been found. The storyline shifts to the present day, where Tracy Crosswhite receives a phone call from Anita Childress who asks her to find her mother. A very engaging case follows.

The main storyline is complex but not confusing. Tracy is wrapping up a very high-profile serial murder cold case. The new Chief of Police wants Tracy to work only cases with DNA evidence that might provide a solution with recent advancements in DNA technology. Anita Childress pleas to find her mother has struck nerve in Tracy, and she really wants to pursue it. A quick check about what was happening around the same time seems to indicate that there may be a connection between several deaths and drug enforcement actions and her missing mother. Tracy discovers some actions or lack of action twenty-four years ago poses the possibly that two of her former team members may have their police careers in jeopardy and possibly face legal action. Tracy also discovers indications of police corruption. My tension meter was pegged into the red. My interest was quickly held and maintained all the way to the end.

As I have found with this author’s previous novels, the B-storyline on Terry, Dan, Del and Faz is quite extensive. There is much detail on how these characters interact with others and, especially, within this group. Their thoughts that reveal their real self is used extensively throughout the novel. These inner thoughts particularly increased my enjoyment in her interactions with her new police chief.

As for aspects that turn some readers off, there are not any intimate scenes. The use of vulgar words is very low with a sprinkling of some rude words. Except for the first chapter, the violence is described in the less edgy after the fact. I believe that for most readers, these aspects should not pose any hinderances in reading this novel. Lastly, this is the ninth novel in the Terry Crosswhite series. It can be read without reading the other novels. There is a short story prequel to this novel titled, The Last Line. It covers in more detail one of the old investigations that is part of this novel. Many of the details introduced in that short story are in this novel, but, in my opinion, you do not need to read that short story first. All the required aspects of that investigation are in this novel and is placed into the bigger picture.

As with this author’s previous novels in this series and other books that I have read, I could not find any aspects with which I had even minor issue. Every aspect was satisfactory solved in this and the prequel short story. The hold on my interest kept me reading at every opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. The author solidified my personal rating of a Must-Read author. If a cold case, police procedural novel interests you, I strongly recommend that you read this novel even if this is the first novel of Dugoni that will read. I am eagerly looking forward to reading any further books by this author. I rate this novel with five stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas & Mercer. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

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What She Found by Robert Dugoni is a very highly recommended police procedural involving an investigation into a cold case.

Tracy Crosswhite has agreed to look into the disappearance of investigative reporter Lisa Childress twenty-five-years earlier at the request of her daughter Anita. Anita's father, Larry, who raised her, has always been the main suspect in her mother's disappearance, but Anita hopes that looking into the case again will find out the truth. She hopes it will clear the name of her father, but more importantly wants to find out what happened to Lisa. What Tracy need to do is try to find out what Lisa was investigating when she disappeared, but that may lead to a much more complicated and incendiary case than Tracy realizes.

This is a wonderfully complex and detailed cold case and it is a pleasure to read about he steps Tracy takes to solve it. Opening up the investigation leads to an intricate set of clues that lead to an even more complicated set of clues that create a maze that Tracy must follow. There are a lot of details that readers need to follow, so this novel is a great choice for those who appreciate and enjoy complex clues and leads that send the investigation into many new directions. The focus on investigative detective work is appreciated. the start is a little slow, but soon picks up and takes off.

Characters are strong, interesting, and memorable, including the minor characters. Even though this is #9, you can read it as a stand-alone cold case investigation. All the information is present that you need about Tracy and the real star of the novel is the investigation anyway. Nevertheless, Tracy is a strong, determined character withe the intelligence and persistence to follow the case to the conclusion.

The narrative succinctly details the facts uncovered and logically follows them to the next clue. Tracy puts her reputation as an investigator on the line here and this jeopardizes all that she holds dear. It also shows who has her back and are willing to back that up with action. This is a perfect series for procedural lovers, especially cold case fans. 4.5 rounded up.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.
the review will be published on Barnes & Noble Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

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Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Robert Dugoni

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

I am sorry for any issues caused by this and I will be more careful in the future.

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I have read a number of Robert Dugoni books and have enjoyed them all. This book was for me surprisingly slow and the fast pace I am so use to his stories was missing.

Tracy Crosswhite is back again investigating cold cases, When a twenty-five year old missing case comes onto her path, she is intrigued. Brought on by the missing woman's daughter, Anita, Tracy begins a laborious search for Lisa Childress which brings her into conflict with the powers that be.

Lisa was an investigative reporter, who kept her reporting close to the chest, so no one really knew what she was working on, (including er husband who of course becomes the primary suspect in her disappearance.)

Going down many alleys and finding leading to corruption in the police department, she encounters opposition and a tinge of danger. However, there a few surprises in store for her and all involved. Tracy will not let the past be forgotten and although she doesn't get her man, she does uncover a case that had serious repercussions for all involved.

I enjoyed the story but found I had a hard time with all the details. I realize this was a police procedural and facts ad tracking down the real from the imagined is a laborious task.

Probably I bear a differing opinion from most, but this was my least favorite of the author's book I have read so far.

Thank you to Robert Dugoni and NetGalley for a copy of this story which is soon to be published.

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Tracy Crosswhite is back in the ninth installment of this series by Roger Dugoni. Tracy is now heading of up the Code Case Unit, and this time Tracy is looking at the disappearance of a reporter, Lisa Childress that happened twenty-five years ago. Lisa's father could have killed her, he was once a suspect. She was an investigative reporter and could have gotten involved in something that put her in bad situation. Or could Lisa still be alive somewhre?

To find out what really happened Tracy must reopen the explosive investigation Lisa was working on at the time of her disappearance involving people in high places and a possible drug task force scandal involving the police department. She could make some real enemies here.

I always look forward to Tracy Crosswhite's next adventure because she gets into some difficult situations and handles them with integrity and determination. This one was no different and the story was intriguing. If you like a good detective novel, I can highly recommend this one as well as the entire series.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on August 23, 2022.

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What She Found is, as always, a very captivating novel written by a great novelist such as Robert Dugoni. In this book, Detective Tracy Crosswhite has to investigate on the disappearance of Lisa Childress, a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligence, that happened on February 27, 1996. She was to meet a confidential source for a compromising story she was working on, in downtown Seattle’s Industrial District. She found her source lifeless and she was even attacked, but after that she mysteriously vanished. After twenty-five years of her disappearance, Anita Childress, Lisa’s daughter, wants to really know the truth and end once for all the assumption that her father was responsible for her disappearance..
At first, Detective Crosswhite is really struggling to get any hint or any path to follow to solve the case, but she gradually begins to compose every piece of the puzzle and what she found is something that won’t do any good to the Seattle PD. Someone at the highest level of the PD was highly involved in a drug scandal and we can take for granted that it won’t be forever hidden to the public opinion. Something unexpected will happen and everything will be turned upside down and the castle of lies will crumble down.

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Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book I've read that's a part of this series - and they just keep getting better. The author's protagonist, an experienced police detective now working more or less on her own in "Cold Cases", once again comes to life in his writing. This time she gets involved in a very old case that opens her up to a clash with old police department politics and scandals. I love how the author manages to combine a solid police procedural with personable details, twists and turns, and suspense - this is a strong female lead I will drop everything to read more of..

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I love the Tracy Crosswhite series. This is the ninth book in the series and they just keep getting better. Excellent characters, fast paced plot, and some unexpected twists. Fans of police procedural novels can’t go wrong. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer publishing for an advanced reader copy.

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Each time I open a book in this terrific series, I'm sure I'll be in for a treat. This one - the ninth - kept that streak going. Now the sole detective in the Seattle Police Department's Cold Case Unit, Detective Tracy Crosswhite is married to prosecuting attorney Dan O'Leary, and they share still-in-diapers daughter Daniella. She's still not popular with quite a few of her fellow officers in blue including her current boss; but overall, she's enjoying the relative solitude and independence of working alone and staying loyal to the few officers she's long respected and trusted.

That gets put to the test here, as she agrees to look into the 25-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of Lisa Childress, a hot-shot newspaper reporter who left behind a young daughter (and a husband who remains the prime suspect). Now grown, the daughter just wants closure - and, hopefully, restoring her father's once good name. Early in her investigation, she reasons that one of the stories Lisa was working on at the time she went missing might have triggered retaliation from someone who didn't want to be outed. The most likely possibility, it seems, was a suspected police drug task force scandal that could have brought down the entire department. If that's the case, there's a potential problem; some of her trusted friends were around back then. Is it possible they knew something, or worse, were in on it?

Still, Tracy perseveres, searching for and meeting up with some of the players mentioned in the meager police records of the task force's activities. Here and there, clues pop up to make her investigative nose start twitching, but there's nothing substantive that could lead to solving the case. Until there is; one big clue turns up in a California city - one that changes the intensity and course of the investigation as well as angers Tracy's boss and threatens a couple of long-standing friendships.

There's plenty of action throughout, although I did find the epilogue a bit abrupt as it brought an otherwise exciting story to a sort of "blah" end. Still, I'm already looking forward to the next installment - and I once again thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. Great series (start at the beginning and you won't be sorry), highly recommended!

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I just love the Tracy Crosswhite series! Dugoni's writing is crisp, his plots and characters are complex, and he captures and sustains my interest easily. I can always count on him for a good, fast-paced read, and his latest offering is no exception. Though this is part of a series, it stands well on its own.

Tracy Crosswhite is the sole detective in Seattle PD's Cold Case Unit. An excellent detective, she has been awarded three medals of valor and recently took this position to be able to spend more time with her husband Dan and young daughter Danielle. When Anita Childress asks Tracy to look into the disappearance of her mother, investigative reporter Lisa Childress, Tracy doesn't hesitate to take it on. Lisa disappeared 25 years ago, and Anita wants anwers. Tracy knows what it's like to wait for decades to find out what happened to a loved one, and is determined to follow every trail until she can give Anita the sense of closure she wants, needs, and deserves.

Tracy immediately finds things off about the case. The more she investigates, she realizes that this case is unsolved because there are plenty of people who want it that way. They try to block her at every turn, and Tracy soon finds herself risking both her career and her life. Will she find the truth? What will be the cost?

My thanks to Thomas and Mercer for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. Publication is slated for 8/23/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

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I love the Tracy Crosswhite series and author Robert Dugoni never disappoints!!

This is the second novel since Tracy has been named the head of Cold Cases for the Seattle Police Department. She had previously worked with a team in Violent Crimes.

Tracy is still adjusting to her new job but enjoys more flexibility in work hours so that she can spend time with her husband and young daughter Daniella.

While Tracy is wading through hundreds of cold cases, she is contacted by Anita Childress. She has never gotten over the mysterious disappearance of her mother, Lisa, 25 years ago. At that time the case of her disappearance was never solved because there were no witnesses or leads and her body was never recovered.

Lisa was described by her daughter as possibly being on the autism spectrum because she was somewhat socially awkward. She, however, had a brilliant mind and was working as an investigative reporter for a Seattle newspaper.

When she disappeared it was known that she was working on an important case, possibly implicating people in high places, but she never revealed what she was working on until it was time to publish the story.

Her husband reported that she left the house in the middle of the night and never returned. Her car was found by a greyhound station, with blood on the inside but no indication of what happened to Lisa or where she may have gone.

Though her new boss is pushing Tracy to work on more recent cold cases where they can recover DNA evidence, Tracy feels that Anita deserves an answer to her mother’s disappearance.

Besides the excellent mystery in this novel and the multi-layered plot, I also enjoyed the fact that this book includes some background information on Tracy’s old teammates Vic Fazzioi and Del Castigliano.

There is much to love about this book and I don’t think anyone who loves mysteries, especially cold cases, will be disappointed in this one.

Highly recommend this latest installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series which is set to publish on August 23, 2022.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Will post to Amazon upon publication

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Complicated Cold Case


Cold cases are usually interesting. The appointed detective is weaving her/his way through old files, many people are dead, in prison or not talking. Most cold cases are very difficult; there were no cell phones and DNA was not as cutting-edge. If the author is talented, he or she can create a cold case with emphasis on the people involved; the resolution is more painstakingly attained.

Robert Dugoni, a seasoned mystery writer, is a pro. He can tackle police procedures and weave a plot that produces a surprise ending.

This novel was predictable in terms of the bad guys with one twist at the end. The story was based on loss of memory, rather clever and excellent sleuthing. Tracy Crosswhite is a Seattle detective who is now in the Cold Case Unit, recently moved from Violent Crimes. A young woman comes to see her. Anita Childress entreats her to look for her missing mother, a Seattle investigative reporter. She had a history of following every lead and often did not tell anyone where she was going, including her husband.

Lisa Childress (Anita’s mother) vanished 24 years ago after she left home to meet an anonymous informant. Anita was raised solely by her father, who is rather bitter that people accused the “husband” of killing his wife. To this reader, that plot line seemed like a set-up, but it did work with the mystery.

Tracy Crosswhite pulls out all the stops to trace down Lisa. The book involves her search for this reporter who is now presumed murdered. Dugoni is artful explaining how many dead ends Tracy must follow before she solves the mystery. What happens to the mother, Lisa, is a clever storyline. Lisa’s history and how she fell off the face of the earth is the most poignant chain of events.

The dialogue was good, police procedures were interesting, but the storyline plodded along for me. Understandably, Dugoni needed to create a large cast of characters, but they did not add to a first-rate thriller.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

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