I’ve been a longtime fan of the Tracy Crosswhite series, but A Dead Draw just didn’t hit quite the same for me. The premise is chilling, Tracy confronts a suspect who may be connected to her sister’s murderer, and things spiral from there. Add in a legal loophole, a retreat gone wrong, and a game of cat and mouse, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a high-stakes thriller.

But somehow, this one felt a little more slow burn than edge-of-your-seat. While there were strong emotional beats and classic Tracy grit, I found myself wishing for more momentum and less repetition. Maybe it’s just hard to top some of the earlier entries in the series that really packed a punch.

Still, if you’re a series loyalist like me, you’ll want to see where Tracy’s headed next. Just maybe not my favorite stop on the journey.

This continues Tracey's story. She's a thoughtful law enforcement officer who is struggling with PTSD and with the fact that a villain has been released from custody and might be coming for her. So what to do? She takes her family and heads for shooting training. There's a bit too much about shooting but I liked Lydia, who is neurodivergent. I've not read all of the books in the series but this was fine as an almost standalone. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Obligatory ACAB disclaimer but since it's fiction I'll let a few things slide.

It was good to see the impact of Tracy's PTSD and the way she managed it with Pettibone and Lydia's shooting training. Speaking of Lydia, the way the autism was written was extremely clinical. Autism is certainly a spectrum and this isn't to say there aren't autistic people like Lydia. Just that the stereotypical diagnositic image isn't actually that stereotypical in real life. I did enjoy Tracy's speculation on whether her sister may have been like Lydia. Sometimes I find it a bit insulting whn that happens in media, but it didn't bother me in this book.

Returning to her hometown and having it turn into a final showdown was really satisfying to read and Lydia getting to have her moment as well? Loved it. Here's to more Tracy Crosswhite (and maybe another Crossdraw/Lightning Strike team up?)

This is the first book of this series that I’ve read, and I can honestly say that I look forward to catching up. The main character is a straight shooter (no pun intended) as well as a dedicated wife, mother and detective. I found that the story moved and was I engrossed to the end. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing and it came to a satisfying end. I look forward to the next installment and, as I commented earlier, catching up on the series.

Im a BIG Tracy Crosswhite fan. I love this series, but this book fell flat for me. The last two books I couldn’t put down and I was hoping to continue that storyline, but this went a completely different way. It was really slow to start and the “action” didn’t start happening until more than halfway through the book. I felt there was a lot of over explaining and filler (over explaining police jargon, autism, etc). I wasn’t feeling the cowboy shoot storyline either. We all know Tracy grew up doing that, but it’s never been focused on and it seemed random. I think if we kept with the normal theme and incorporated it I would have liked it more, but it was a little much with the Wild West town and all.

I did enjoy it once the book got going, but this is definitely maybe my least favorite Tracy Crosswhite book. If you’re reading this review don’t let it deter you from this series, it really is great!

**I received an advanced copy thanks to NetGalley**

I’m a fan of this series, but this was probably my least favorite. I think The pacing was impacted by the spaghetti western shooting points and all the shooting in general. Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, book publishes 5/27

I found this one to be the weakest in the Tracy Crosswhite series so far! While I usually enjoy them, this one struggled to hold my attention. The chapters on competitive shooting dragged—I found myself skimming through them—and Tracy’s decisions were uncharacteristic and almost silly. It also lacked the balance and sharp pacing of earlier books. 3 stars is generous. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley, publishers Thomas & Mercer and author, Robert Dugoni for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. I can't believe this is the 11th book of the Tracy Crosswhite series. Robert Dugoni has done it again. He kept me entertained from the moment I opened the book with both vivid descriptions and suspenseful storylines..

FOUR STARS****
Content Warnings: death, grief, murder, violence

A Dead Draw starts with Tracy and her old violent crimes team interviewing a recently arrested suspect, Erik Schmidt, in two cold case murders. During the interview Tracy loses her composure and attacks him which felt out of character for her but was understandable due to the circumstances. Later in an evidence suppression hearing, Schmidt walks free on a technicality and makes what Tracy feels is a personal challenge and a threat. This situation has Tracy feeling shaken and flares up issues with her PTSD.

The author does a great job discussing PTSD and compounded trauma. Tracy has been through A LOT in the last 10 books and obviously hasn’t made it through that unscathed. This is something that makes me love Tracy even more. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Tracy is one of the best female protagonists in a mystery/crime thriller that I’ve ever read and it’s because she feels so real and so human. She has strengths and weaknesses, confidence and self doubt, fear and fury. She is not a stereotype or a token or a caricature of a woman in law enforcement but feels very authentic.

Tracy ultimately is told to take some time off, during which she returns to Cedar Grove with her husband and child. She soon realizes that she is not only fighting a living and breathing devil but her inner demons as well.

The stakes raise significantly and the plot starts taking off around the half way point. Although unfortunately we don’t see much of Faz, Del, and Kins (love those guys) in this book, we do meet a new character, Lydia, who reminds Tracy a lot of her sister Sarah. Tracy and Lydia become very close, and Schmidt uses this to his advantage.

Taunted by Schmidt, Tracy takes risks with huge implications for herself and her family.

Overall, I really enjoyed the old west feel of this book which made it unique within the series. The author is always very descriptive with the setting and atmosphere which I really enjoy. I loved Lydia and am excited to see how she may play in to future books. I wish we got to see more of Tracy’s team (Faz, Del, Kins) as I think they are super lovable side characters.

I am hopeful that after this book we can move past this plot point. Obviously her sister Sarah’s death will always affect her, but I would hate for the House/Schmidt plot to keep going and feel overdone.

Ultimately this particular book was not my favorite in the series (they are all bangers though so hard to compete) but I’m excited to see where Tracy goes from here and I will be reading any and all future Tracy Crosswhite books!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Robert Dugoni for this early release copy. All opinions are my own. This book will be out for publication on May 27, 2025.

A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni is a highly recommended thriller and the eleventh book in the Seattle Detective Tracy Crosswhite series. It can be read as a stand alone novel.

A handgun that Detective Kinsington Rowe confiscated is identified as the weapon used to kill Julia Hoch and Bridgette Traugott, two cold cases Tracy Crosswhite is working on in her department’s cold case unit. When interrogating Erik Schmidt, the owner of the weapon, he taunts her and makes it clear that he was close to Ed House, the man who kidnapped and killed her sister, Sarah. Tracy is rattled by the sociopath and uncharacteristically loses her temper. When Schmidt is released on a technicality he is out for revenge and is likely targeting Tracy.

Talking to Schmidt induced flashbacks from the past for Tracy and leads to a critical mistake during a department shooting exercise. Needing to refocus and get her concentration back, Tracy, Dan (her husband), daughter, and their nanny go to their weekend house in her hometown of Cedar Grove. There she can practice her marksmanship skills with Mason Pettibone, her first shooting instructor. He has Tracy work with his granddaughter, Lydia, an exceptional shooting instructor who’s on the spectrum.

The writing is excellent, as expected. The tension remains high throughout because the stakes are high, even though it is clear early on in the narrative where the plot is heading. At the same time there is not much investigating. Readers will know Schmidt is stalking Tracy. Proficiency with firearms and marksmanship is an essential factor in the plot. There is plenty of information and interaction with firearms, along with tie-ins to westerns in this outing for those who are interested. If you aren't, you can skim sections.

Adding to the tension are memories, inner conflicts, and past events coming back to haunt the present. Tracy is a fully realized character at this point and is always a sympathetic reliable one too. Her struggles with past memories resurfacing is understandable and something many can experience and wrestle with as they try to get back on course. Lydia is a wonderful new character and I hope she reappears in future novels.

Those following the Tracy Crosswhite series will enjoy reading A Dead Draw. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Seattle Det. Tracy Crosswhite has a tense encounter with Erik Schmidt in an interrogation room. The police are convinced that a few years ago Erik killed at least two young women and has gotten away with it. Erik gets under Tracy's skin mocking her with information he knows about a traumatic event from her past. When Erik's court case is dismissed due to a technicality, a game of cat and mouse starts between the suspected murder and the Det. This game follows Tracy to her home town of Cedar Grove where she and her family go to get away from the stress of the events in Seattle. They culminate in a deserted mountain town where Erik is certain he can make Tracy pay for the sins and lies he has convinced himself she committed against a man he befriended in prison years ago where he was on another charge. These are untrue, but Erik believes them, so Tracy must pay and he is determined to make sure she does. But, who will win...

This book is very easy and entertaining to read, with interesting characters. The plot is simple, however, and the setting of the final action scene is a bit too much. But the twist and the outcome are great.

I’ve always been drawn to series that mix law themes with family struggles, emotional depth, and action, and this one does it better each time. The characters are always put in situations where their loyalty to family and their pursuit of justice are tested. This time around, the tension was higher than ever, and the fear they experienced, combined with their determination to do what’s right, made for an unforgettable experience.

The emotional weight of the decisions these characters make is one of the things I love most about this series. It’s not just about following the law or the action scenes; it’s about seeing the characters wrestle with their inner conflicts. They’re constantly torn between doing what’s right for justice and protecting those they love. It adds such depth to the story, and I felt deeply invested in their choices.

The action scenes were intense, as always, but it’s the emotional stakes that really drive the story. I couldn’t help but feel connected to the characters, rooting for them to find a way to balance their personal lives with the demands of their larger, more dangerous worlds. It’s that mix of heart and action that makes this series so compelling and keeps me coming back every time.

Once again, this series has delivered everything I love: gripping action, complex moral decisions, and powerful family moments. It’s never predictable, and I always find myself emotionally hooked. I’m already looking forward to the next part, eager to see how the characters will face even more challenges ahead.

Tracy Crosswhite’s past has always been central to this series and in A Dead Draw, we go back to some of the deepest wounds in her life. This book is undeniably personal and emotionally tied to Tracy’s sister’s murder, but as the 11th installment in the series, it felt more like a psychological loop back than a step forward.

While the story is connected to her trauma (with Schmidt’s revenge plot and haunting ties to her sister’s killer), it doesn’t build much on the momentum from the last few books. After two installments focused heavily on police corruption and professional stakes, I expected this one to carry that thread. Instead, it shifts focus almost entirely to Cedar Grove and the first 60% quite slow-ish.

Things do hype up,both emotionally and plot-wise in the final third and there are moments of real intensity and meaning. But overall, the pacing felt off, and the shift away from Seattle’s ongoing storyline left me wanting more. (Okay, frustrated. A lot. A LOOOT *cry face*)

It’s not a bad book ... far from it. But it feels like a side quest in a series where I was ready to level up the main story.

Thank you to NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Tracy Crosswhite mysteries, having read all ten of the previously published books in the series. So I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to read A Dead Draw, entry number eleven.

A Dead Draw opens with Tracy losing her cool during the interrogation of Eric Schmidt, who knew the killer of Tracy’s sister (recounted in the first book of the series). Unfortunately, he’s let off on a technicality, and when released, Schmidt goes after Tracy and her family as he feels she’s responsible for the death of her sister’s killer, a man Schmidt idolized.

This is the first Tracy Crosswhite book that just didn’t do it for me. Unlike the others, this wasn’t as much a police procedural thriller as it was uncovering the reason for a psychopath’s idea of revenge. While I can deal with changes of direction in a series, I didn’t feel that this installment was well done. For me, the writing just wasn’t up to snuff, the plot thin and predictable, and there were way too many coincidences that just detracted from my reading experience. I also missed the supporting cast of characters from the prior books, who didn’t have much of a role in A Dead Draw. This was hopefully just a bump in the road, and I do look forward to book twelve (assuming there will be one).

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.

Tracy Crosswhite usually has her wits about her, but after participating in an interrogation with Erik Schmidt where he reveals ties to Edmund House she's rattled. When a glitch in Erik's case allow him to go free and her interrogation affect her work, she decides it's time to leave the city and spend some time in Cedar Grove.

Once there, it doesn't stay a peaceful retreat with her family for long, as Tracy is fearful that Schmidt plans to come for her. As Tracy tries to get back into shooting shape she's also trying to figure out what, when, where, and how Schmidt will confront her and how she can come out on the other side of that confrontation.

Thank you to #NetGally and Thomas & Mercer for providing me an advance e-book copy of this story and the opportunity to share my opinion.

Headline: An Utterly Enjoyable Must-read!

Book Review: A Dead Draw, Tracy Crosswhite #11, by Robert Dugoni
Published by Thomas & Mercer, May 27, 2025

★★★★★ (5/5 Stars, Rave!)

Robert Dugoni takes his bestselling police procedural series "back to the future", as his strong female protagonist reaches back in time to the rigorous training that gave her that mental and physical toughness which'd then given her 20-year-old self three consecutive Statewide shooting championships and earned her the sobriquet Tracy "Crossbow" for that unbeatable fast crossdraw on her side arm. In the process, he pulls another pleasant surprise for his readers as he introduces a compelling, new character, a charming 18-year-old autistic-savant quite reminiscent of a young and beloved tragic figure in Book 1.

Dare we call this episode the Revenge of Sarah, "The Kid"!

// "A Dead Draw", Tracy Crosswhite #11, by Robert Dugoni (2025) //

// Enveloped by verdant conifers out in the North Cascades, Seattle PD Detective Tracy Cross, seriously injured, finds herself on a secluded ridge as she awaits the first light of dawn. That would be the very moment she'd engage in a "dead draw", mano a mano, mortal kombat against a foe whom she knows will be much faster, ruthless and lethal... //

The Pacific Northwest. Present Day.

"Load and make ready!" Following a botched shoot/don't shoot field competitive test which belied the innate skills of the former three-time Washington State shooting champion, an unsettled Tracy Crosswhite finds herself back in her hometown, Cedar Grove, north of Seattle, for a badly needed respite. Previously diagnosed with situational PTSD and anxiety, she'd shot and emptied an entire clip on an civilian range target that held a walkie-talkie. "Unload and show clear!", the range master abruptly halts the exercise. But the reasons for her temporary loss of concentration is much more deeply ingrained.

"Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast." The forty-something wife, mom, ten-year veteran of the Seattle PD's crack Violent Crimes A-Team, and three-time recipient of the department's highest award, the Medal of Valor, places herself under the tutelage and rigorous mental and physical regimen of her old master, Mason Pettibone, trainer of "Cowboy Action Shooting" champions "Crossbow" (20-year-old Tracy), "The Kid" (sister Sarah) and "Doc", her dad, an MD.

"Solve one puzzle at a time. Move up one level at a time." There she gets to meet Pettibone's autistic savant 18-year-old granddaughter, Lydia, shooting moniker "Lightning Strike", an applied physics and computer science major, already a Washington State shooting champion herself — accurate with a gun and as fast as greased lightning. Tracy is introduced to new training techniques to hone up her shooting reflexes, moving, with Lydia's guidance through increasingly challenging levels of FPS (First Person Shooter) video games - Halo Infinite, Call of Duty, Warzone, Valorant. All of which require players to quickly process visual information, aim, and react to moving targets, training reflexes and hand-eye coordination. She savors her time with Lydia, so reminiscent of her baby sister, Sarah.

But then, young Miss "Lightning Strike" gets abducted.

The Showdown at Silver Pines.
Ace marksman and confessed murderer, Erik Schmidt, had been kicked out of the Army's elite sharpshooting AMU team. Court-martialed, dishonorably discharged, he met one Edmund House in prison and became his disciple. House, now deceased, is none other than the psychopath and convicted rapist who'd murdered Tracy's sister, Sarah. Erik Schmidt is out to avenge what he obsessively perceives as the unjust demise of his master.

It is at that elevated area of the North Cascades range where coniferous trees with silvery-blue needles thrive, that Erik Schmidt uses the kidnapped Lydia to lure Tracy to meet at a crest far up in the rugged terrain, up at the crack of dawn...

It's a do or die showdown. The brutal, lethal AMU Grandmaster marksman against "Crossbow" and "Lightning Strike". And the spirit of "The Kid", too...!

"You tell them I'm coming. And hell's coming with me!" -
Tracy Crosswhite, Book 11

The US Army's AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit) teams are widely recognized as exceptional marksmen, the best of the best, established in 1956, with a long history of excellence, consistently dominating shooting competitions at national and international levels, including the Olympics and World Championships.

FPS (First Person Shooter) games require players to quickly process visual information, aim, and react to moving targets, which enhance reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Military and law enforcement also use simulation training (e.g., virtual reality systems like those developed by VirTra), which are more advanced than typical FPS games and incorporate realistic elements like recoil and stress scenarios.

The phrase "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" emphasizes that taking the time to execute a task with precision and care (smoothly) ultimately leads to faster and more efficient outcomes.

"Load and make ready" and "Unload and show clear" are safety terms used by range masters, trainer, even timers and judges, in competitive shooting.

An utterly enjoyable must-read!

Review based on an advance review copy courtesy of Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley.

“‘Revenge can be a powerful motivator.’”


This one felt a little different than other books of this series (that I’ve read). Granted, there is a year break in between reading each one so my memory of them might not be the best.

A Dead Draw felt a little more technical with some of the descriptions of guns and shooting and the legal stuff in the trial. He brought in an autistic character and some commentary on video games. There was also a good deal of Tracy thinking about her sister Sarah.

I probably could have done without some of the gun details, but I didn’t have a problem with the other themes. It made the book feel a little more layered than usual, which isn’t a bad thing.

I liked the old Western vibes in this one— even if I don’t have the same ‘watching Westerns with my dad’ nostalgia Dugoni had— and liked the more atmospheric vibe that got woven into the plot.


The final duel was also pretty epic. I think the cover of this book should have somehow depicted the ghost town or something like that instead of the mansion.

This book doesn’t really connect with the previous ones and could probably be read as a standalone, but as with most series, it always helps to know where the main character has come from. Especially since this one talks so much about Crosswhite’s murdered sister.



This story begins with Crosswhite still working in the cold case department. She is working on a trial for Erik Schmidt, a suspect in two cold case murders of young women. During her interrogation of him she finds out that he was prison mates with Edmund House, the guy who murdered Crosswhite’s sister, Sarah.

Schmidt’s taunting gets under Crosswhite’s skin causing her to lose her cool. When he gets off on a technicality and threatens Tracy, she takes her family to Cedar Grove to get away.

But Schmidt won’t let her off that easily. He has some revenge to enact and it has more to do with Cedar Grove than Tracy realizes.

We know that Tracy did shooting competitions when she was younger and that she is an amazing shooter, but her nightmares and demons have affected her ability to react and discern at the speed her job requires. Can she get her ‘mojo’ back before she’s forced to face Schmidt?



Overall I really liked the book and its layered, different feel and atmospheric setting. But I do have one pretty big bone to pick that costs this book one star.

Dan, Tracy’s husband, runs into a suspicious guy at the coffee shop. When he tells her about it at home they wonder if it was Schmidt. Dan has to go to San Francisco for a trial but tells Tracy he wants to stay back with her.

She says no and that “We don’t have any evidence the man in the coffee shop was Erik Schmidt.”

Because all she does is ask Dan to describe the man he met. I’m tempted to put this in all caps but I’ll refrain: Why didn’t she SHOW Dan the MUGSHOT of Schmidt to verify if it was him?!?!?! Okay I had to use some caps, because duh. She HAS a mugshot because she gave it to the local police. Even if she didn’t, it’s called GOOGLE. He was just on trial and would have been in some sort of article or story online. It would be so EASY to make sure if the guy was Schmidt or not.

I was just dumbfounded. Man, I just really wish there was a way to know if the guy that threatened me is now in our very small town that we escaped to- what color was his hair and eyes again? Shoot, it’s so hard to know. Welp, time for you to leave for the airport- I’m sure everything is fine.

Even further, if we were getting out of town to avoid a dangerous guy that is out and about, I would be sure to know what that guy looked like so I would be on the lookout if I saw him near my family. Dan is a smart guy, but not smart enough in this scenario.

And it’s not just Dan. When Calloway goes back to the coffee shop to ask the barista about it, he tells Crosswhite that she “gave us a description.” He didn’t say anything about SHOWING HER THE MUGSHOT because God forbid we confirm an identity on the exact picture of a person. We just don’t have the technology.

At least it ended up not being as big of a plot point that I thought it was going to be, but even still, Dugoni really missed this one.



Part of Crosswhite’s extra training involves FSP games. I personally have not played any of these and I know there is mixed data on the use of violent video games. In the author’s note at the end Dugoni mentions his use of them in the book after talking with a friend in the gaming industry and how “games are not about violence but more about strategic thinking at a very high and very fast level.” I’m not entirely convinced of these benefits and would like to see more research on whether playing these games would actually improve someone’s actual shooting.

Along these lines Dugoni says of this book, “I wanted her to face a lawless situation where she stood isolated, on her own, and had to either kill or be killed, to put her shooting to the ultimate test— take a life or lose her own.”

I actually really liked this premise. It built on Tracy losing her shooting edge and needing to work to get it back using a unique method and encountering a young girl who reminded her of her sister who was arguably a better shooter than herself. It built on the Western duel and lawlessness culture.

It also tapped into Tracy’s motherhood and being part of a family who needs her. Dan gets involved with this one after Tracy doesn’t heed his advice, “During their years of marriage, he had become his wife’s conscience when she needed it most. He was the voice in her ear talking sense. And he would bring her home before she did something that would impact him and Daniella for the rest of their lives.”

He knew that she had gone and put herself in a dire situation without any backup and couldn’t let her put herself in harm’s way so deliberately.


It will be interesting to see where this series goes. Tracy moving into the Cold Case division was a way to stay out of the danger of the field and just use her detective skills after she had Daniella. Will she be able to go back to that situation or will she have to look at a different career path that provides more safety for her family? Is this series going to be wrapping up?



I also liked the way Dugoni chose to connect the video game aspect with real life— the idea of just focusing on the level that you are on, not the past level or what’s to come:

“‘One level at a time’… a way to live her life, not to dwell on past mistakes, regrets, or losses, and not to anticipate what could or might be— things that had not yet happened and might not ever occur. She would stay in the present, living each moment fully, handling whatever problem she might encounter, and enjoying every blessing.”



New word alert: I had never heard of the term ‘spaghetti western’ before. If you haven’t either, it’s a subgenre of Western films by Italian filmmakers mostly filmed in Europe in the 60s and 70s. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a popular one.



Recommendation

As with the rest of this series, I do recommend it. Tracy Crosswhite is a great character and I’ve loved seeing her progress not only in her detective career but in her family life.

You may not want to start with this one, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you did.

The main downsides to this book were just the increase in technical content and the mugshot debacle. Some reviewers thought there were too many uncharacteristic things of Tracy and that this book diverted from the typical caliber for this series. I did feel the difference but didn’t feel like it was entirely bad and I actually really liked the ending even if it was a bit dramatic. To me it fit the vibe nicely.

But definitely if you like police procedurals, strong female leads, Westerns, or a person with two big dogs, this book is for you!


[Content Advisory: 4 f-words, 35 s-words; no sexual content]


**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

I am a fan of Robert Dugoni. I have followed his Tracy Crosswhite series from the beginning and like his standalone novels. I was set to enjoy another good Crosswhite book, but this one let me down. It did deliver Dugoni's brand of murdering psychopath, but it also delved too much into material already covered in previous books.

Tracy thinks she has an air-tight case against killer Erik Schmidt, but when a technicality throws the case out, she is determined to uncover new evidence against him. Schmidt is equally determined to seek revenge against Tracy for a wrong he is convinced she committed. Concerned for her family's safety, they flee Seattle for the remote town of Cedar Grove, where she and her husband grew up. Tracy's hope of escaping Schmidt is short-lived, and she prepares for the showdown with him while fighting the ghosts from her past.

This is a gripping and fast-paced psychological thriller. Where it fell short for me was the rehashing of storylines covered in previous books and the depth to which guns and shooting competitions played a role. I am not a gun enthusiast, so my take may be biased. Dugoni did a good job weaving Tracy's need to improve her gun skills into the plot, but I didn't need that much information. 3.5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is May 27, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access.

One of my favourite Detective series, I love coming back to this world and its characters as it's like putting on your favourite cardigan.

As is normal I was hooked from the start and ploughed through the first half of the book so quickly. I liked that we got to see competitive shooting in the book as it takes us back to when Tracy was Crossdraw and sort of gives us an insight into what her childhood must have been like and having her train with Lydia who I really liked and hope to see more of in future books.

For me Tracy is one of those detectives that go above and beyond for her cases and fellow detectives who all have each other's back and can always rely on and you can feel that from Robert's writing.

I'm sad that I've now read this and have to wait for the next installment lol.