Cover Image: The Trapped Girl

The Trapped Girl

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Member Reviews

Intricate plotting and well developed characters have made this a "not miss" series for me. This 4th book featuring Detective Tracy Crosswhite and her team was an excellent police procedural.

I really like the way this author writes. Including the weather and other details about the Seattle area and surrounding towns provides a great backdrop for the story. He has a way of being able to guide the reader along in the investigation, creating the right amount of tension and enough distraction to keep you guessing. Although I'd figured out some things, I was caught up in the mystery and wanted the answers just as much as Tracy.

I definitely will be first in line when book #5 appears on my radar. Recommend this series and encourage you to read it in order to get the full picture of Tracy and watch the changes that give her new dimension in every book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-book ARC to review.

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The Trapped Girl is the fourth addition to the Tracy Crosswhite series by Robert Dugoni. This novel kicks off with the grisly discovery of a woman's body stuffed inside a crab pot. Initially, Tracy and her team think they just closed a missing person's case from Portland. However as they dig deeper, they realize there is a lot more to the story than what meets the eye.
This novel is unique in that typically we have two cases per novel, one with the main focal point and another that seems to just fall into place either with their current investigation or just something for the other detectives to focus on while Tracy does her own thing. This time around we really only have one case with several different strings attached, and it really gets the whole team involved, which I really enjoyed. The investigation took many twists and turns, and the outcome was pretty unexpected on my part.
Tracy's personal life has quite a bit of growth in this novel, as well. Her relationship is in full bloom, and she has the personal revelation that maybe she takes some cases too personally. That personal attachment, while exhausting emotionally, is what makes Tracy so good at what she does.
Yet again this is another exceptional read in a wonderful series that I anticipate each and every new release for.

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Another great entry in the Tracy Crosswhite series. This is the second Tracy Crosswhite novel I've read and I can't wait to catch up on the two I've missed. Kept me guessing to the very end... great characters, believable plot and well paced.

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This is my first entry into the Tracy Crosswhite series by this author and though I try to avoid jumping into a series in the middle, it's written in a way that invites newbies like myself into this world. While I assume all of the characters have existed and evolved together since book one, there is a nice organic summary of all I would need to really know about each of them to catch me up. I enjoyed the characters, even though several fell into the classic cop story archetypes. The hook of this story is what pulled me in--a kid pulling in his crab pot from Puget Sound finds a woman's body inside it. From that opening chapter, the story takes off...but then it soon slows to a crawl, and it follows that pattern throughout. There were times I found myself flying through chapters, and others that quite literally put me to sleep. The narrative is primarily from Tracy's point of view, but then we're also treated to a handful of chapters written by the assumed victim--a choice that I still don't quite understand or agree with because it wasn't consistent and those chapters only really provided more characterization and background on the victim and suspect(s). They felt like tacked on chapters born from an editor complaining about character development or motives; they just didn't feel organic to the story nor did they flow properly into or out of Tracy's chapters.
Where this book really fell apart for me though was in the final whodunnit and why climax. It was just patently ridiculous. I felt like there was so much promise with the case set up but at the end of the day, the story just couldn't pay off on such a cool set up.
Should I find myself with copies of the previous Crosswhite titles, I think I'll still check them out. While this book didn't entirely leave me satisfied, the main characters were interesting enough to continue reading about.

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Would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a mystery.

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A woman’s body is found trapped in a crab trap in the waters of the Puget Sound. Detective Tracy Crosswhite and her colleagues first have to figure out who the victim is. When the victim is ID’d, they start discovering another spiral of lies and untruths. Jane Doe went to a lot of trouble to hide and start over a new life away from certain people. Why? What or who was she running from? Will Tracy and her team be able to put the pieces together before this killer strikes again?

This is the first book I have read in this series and was very pleasantly surprised. I do feel like details given in this book would probably spoil the first few books in the series, but I still plan to read them anyway. I loved the characterization of the people that were working in the police office. Dugoni did a masterful job in bringing them all to life and providing you such a clear picture, that you could run up to Seattle and see them on the street. You had the team members who were doing everything they could to solve a crime. You had the boss every one hates that they tried to work around. Then you had the sleezeball detective from the other force Tracy was forced to work with. I loved the fact that even though Tracy has dealt with so much tragedy, she is able to still open herself up to the possibility of love and family.

The best thing about the book is definitely the characterization. Everyone felt believable and you felt like you understood the inner workings in their mind. Also, this one really messes with your mind a bit. I have to say that I fingered everyone for this crime and was still wrong at the end. Lots of twists and turns. Gave it a 4 out of 5. Great read and thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Truly a great read!!! Well written, no word fluff, and characters well fleshed out and engaging. An author that I look forward to reading more from!

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I really enjoyed this book. The mysteries were complicated, and the secrets everyone had seemed to grow and have their own power. I love how the ending was sudden and tied up all the ends that seemed unexpected. Dugoni did an wonderful job creating his plot and characters. A part of me kept wondering if it was all real!

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When a body is found in a crab pot in Puget Sound, Detective Tracy Crosswhite has to first identify the body. Facial implants lead to a name, and her picture leads to a person who disappeared several months earlier.
I have not read earlier books which didn't seem a problem, and we were told some of the history of Crosswhite which I found distracted from the plot, and didn't find at all interesting.
For me this was a rating between a 2 and 3.

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Each book hooks you deeper into the series with Tracy Crosswhite! I'm happy to read the 4th book in this series. Tracy's character is really depending and becoming so much more real. Connecting to her is getting so easy now! I think it's partly because of what the author did, and partly because by now we have "known her" long enough to be serious about her and her world.

Tracy had my attention in book one, but now, I just can't wait for the next installment. Well done indeed! So, this body, chomped up on by crabs and fish washes up and the facial implants lead Tracy and her team to figure out who she was. Now we just need the why, and catch the killer. Go Tracy! We are rooting you and author Robert Dugoni onward to new novels.

My copy came from Net Galley. I wasn't required to leave a review. I do so of my own free volition and I'm really happy to be able to do so. My thoughts and opinions are all my own.

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Excellent twisting whodunnit starts with the find of a body in an unusual location and continues apace all the way through. Our heroine is blocked from straightforward detecting at every turn but continues regardless until a twist in the tail ending brings a satisfying conclusion. Good stuff!

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I absolutely love Robert Dugoni's books. I know when I pick one up, it will always be a good read. I haven't found a bad one yet. Maybe one not as good as the other, but still a good read. This one, wow (the exact word I said out loud when I finished).

While I am fairly certain I have no idea what a crab pot is, it must be pretty big. As this story starts with a fisherman (or fisherboy) finding a dead woman's body in a crab pot. Apparently he lowered his the night before and went back to get it and it got tangled up with someone else's which just happened to be carrying this prize.

The twists and turns in this book were phenomenal. The author had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going on. The further I got into the book, the more confused I was until, of course, the Aha moment. This was so good and absolutely no way anyone could figure the whole thing out. Alas, Mr. Dugoni the feats your brain had to come up with the answers to and the puzzle for this book, kudos. Fantastic job. I was entertained for hours.

Huge thanks to Thomas and Mercer for approving my request to read this fantastic book and to Net Gallley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

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This is the first book I have read by Robert Dugoni, and it is the fourth installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I was hooked early in the book because Dugoni's writing style and the plot is superb. The first part of the book has two parallel storylines, one the main current day plot and the other a first person narrative from the victim. The two storylines converge early on in the book. Several times I felt a little lost when characters from past books were mentioned, but it didn't really take away from the story. There are a few twists and turns that keep you guessing, and then a major twist at the end. It was fun to follow along as the detectives worked their case. I really enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to reading the previous books in this series. I would recommend this book to fans of mysteries, thrillers, and police procedurals. I received this as a free ARC from Thomas & Mercer on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. The characters stay with you, and seem very real. While I wouldn't call the book predictable, maybe somethings are easily guessed.
Good read for a snowy weekend.

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If you've read any of the other books in the Tracy Crosswhite series, you will really enjoy this one. When a young fisherman pulls up a dead body in one of his crabpot's, Tracy and her partner, Kins, begin an investigation to find out who she is and how she ended up dead in a crabpot. The young woman's death brings back memories for Tracy to her own young life and her sister's death.

I really like Tracy Crosswhite's character - she is a strong, intelligent woman who doesn't like to step off a case before it's finished. I also really like the other detectives she has teamed up with on the Seattle Police Department - they all look out for each other and are family.

This is also a great series if you like the PacNW location since a lot of the places are recognizable.

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Excellent police procedural with intricate plot and unending twists and turns. Though the clues are all there, I doubt many readers will successfully predict the ending. Robert Dugoni gives us well-thought out characters, and riveting looks inside their worlds. Though this is #4 in the Tracy Crosswhite series, it is the first one of the series that I've read and it stands alone superbly. I look forward to going back to read the previous books and eagerly await the next one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Robert Dugoni and Thomas & Mercer Publishers for giving me a copy of this book to review.

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I am a big fan of Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series, and The Trapped Girl is a worthy addition. I must say, this story is not at all what I expected. The last 10% of the book changed my entire understanding of the case, and I didn't even see it coming. I thought I knew what happened, but boy oh boy was I wrong! If you like mysteries and thrillers, read this book! You will not be disappointed.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing a complementary e-ARC of this book.

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THE TRAPPED GIRL (Tracey Crosswhite #4 by Robert Dugoni

This is the first time I have read anything from this author. It is also my first time reading the Tracey Crosswhite series. This is the fourth book to the series and it is my opinion due to the references made of past cases that it might be better to read them in order. I should say it would probably be more enjoyable to read starting with book #1 in the series. I was able to follow the sequence of events and found this to be a taut suspenseful mystery/thriller crime procedural. I really loved Tracey Crosswhite who is a detective along with her partner and two others that are trying to solve the crime. Tracey Crosswhite comes across as a detective with a brilliant mind and has a good sense of perception when it comes to assessing other people. There seems to be references that there is some history with her boss that has a negative impact on their relationship as colleagues. There are also references made that Tracey Crosswhite had a sister who was the victim of a murder. It is only my opinion that reading these in order may make for more of an enjoyable reading experience. It isn't a requirement though, as I was turning the pages unable to put the book down.

It seems that alternating chapters of the victm is in italics as she seems to be speaking to us directly about her life and it gets frustrating because as the novel progresses you do not want to be interrupted by going to a scene that is relevent to the detectives doing the leg work during the
investigation. It also could be that I need more patience.

This is a murder mystery that begins with a brutal and graphic discovery of the victim. I kept seeing those images in my mind as I was reading. I do want to warn those who are deciding if they want to read this that my stomach kept churning. As you keep reading it is hard to forget those violent graphic details. The murdered victim is a woman who may or maynot been trying to hide her true identity. The clues are right there in front of you as Tracey investigates further and the victim continues to narrate what seems too obvious to be the tell or reveal of who the murderer is. At least that is what was going through my mind as I was reading. I kept thinking this is just to easy. There has to be more to the story. Don't believe what is glaringly too easy and typical.

This did hold my attention and was a taut suspense driven story. I like strong women character's which the author captures a very likable protagonist. I will give you a detail about the victim that won't be a spoiler. She loves to get caught up in a good book as her best hobby. Again, my best advice is to have a strong stomach to read this novel. I think the author is talented in being a good storyteller and also in making Tracey Crosswhite so appealing and easy to connect to.

Thank you to Net Galley, Robert Dugoni and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a digital copy for a fair and honest review,

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Robert Dugoni does it again with detective Tracy Crosswhite and her colleagues Kins, Del and Faz. They use good investigative skills and are humane in dealing with their suspects. A more forgiving and personal side of Tracy introduced. Liked the character of Andrea Strickland and her commentary on what was happening in the book. Book got a bit bogged down at times with who was who with the money business but besides that a great read to the end.

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Robert Dugoni has quietly sneaked up on me to become one of my absolute favorite authors of today. This most recent book has only strengthened how I feel. Good mysteries do not give too much away until truly necessitated by the events in this book and this book truly follows that recipe.
A woman is pulled out of the water in a crab trap by a young boy crabbing well outside the season. While some of the answers as to what happened come quickly, many do not. The investigation and the detective Tracy Crosswhite (who coincidentally has become a favorite fictional character of mine) seem to take us in first one direction, then another, and then yet another. Every time, just as you think you have figured it out, it all comes crashing down over your head. I didn't put the breadcrumbs the author had left for me to find until towards the very end of the book. True mastery. I highly recommend this book to all mystery fans out there.
[A copy of this book for the purposes of an honest review was made available to me by the publisher through Netgalley]

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