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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Robert Dugoni has supplied his readers with another dose of detective mystery with Tracy Crosswhite. This is my fourth read of the series, and every time I am left wanting more. Once again we greet Seattle detective Tracy Crosswhite and her team investigating a complicated homicide case, this time a young woman found in a crab pot. Nevertheless, this is much more than just another instalment of the series. With each book we learn more about Tracy and her life, how each of the cases affect her not only physically, but also psychologically and emotionally. It is comforting and refreshing to learn about characters from these dimensions (not just Tracy but also her colleagues), and it feels that we can finally relate to them at a human level, which is nice. 

Overall, a very satisfying read. The characters are detailed and in-depth, the plot is complex and unique, and the overall storyline contains many unexpected turns and twists, making this book hard to set down once started. 

Cant wait for the next instalment of the series!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Rober Dugoni for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.

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.

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,

Brilliant story again. One of my favourite authors.

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.

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]

The trapped girl is a good title for this book as it’s exactly how I felt when reading it. I was trapped from page one and did not want to move. What a story and what a twist! The first chapter pushes you right in that water into that crab pot and then as it draws the victim out, it draws you in to the action even further.

This is the shockingly the forth in the series so slap my hands I now have 3 more to read. A nice treat for me. This doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of this book at all however. No sir.

A woman found in a crab pot who might not actually be dead? What?? This ovel messes wih your head in a good way and it was a thrilling read from start to finish. It’s quite complicated in places as you get as tangled as that poor woman in the mesh of the crab pots but never does it get overly so or confusing as  a result.

The setting, the raw natural landscape and the mercy of the people to the elements was a neat touch and made for some really good characters I just got on board with immediately . The police team are a strong unit, characters are well fleshed out (sorry) and the storyline concerning facial reconstruction and suchlike is just fascinating.

Ever since I read My Sister's Grave I have loved these characters and this writer! I was so happy when I found out that Thomas and Mercer via Netgalley was allowing me to read this story for my honest review. 

Tracy become involved in the murder of a woman who was found in a crab pot, which links to the apparent murder of a woman on Mt. Rainier. I loved the excerpts from the missing woman and we see who she was, while Tracy is trying to discover why she was killed. Lots of twists in this story and I can't  wait to see what case Tracy and Kins get next!

3 1/2 Stars

This is the 4th installment of the Detective Crosswhite series.  I received this copy from NetGalley and the publishers.  I have also read the previous three books and would definitely recommend reading the previous books, but the author has written these novels in such a way that you can read them without reading the previous installments, but definitely recommend reading them in order, much more satisfying.

A woman's body is discovered inside a crab pot, submerged deep in the waters of Puget Sound.  Once again, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself with yet another difficult case to solve.  The first order of business is to find out who this woman is.  During the course of the investigation, they find that this woman went to a lot of trouble to hide who she really is.  What or who is she running from?

As Tracy and her A Team of detectives begin to unravel this case, they discover that their Jane Doe is actually a woman who went missing weeks earlier from Mount Ranier.  This woman was married and her husband had been the prime suspect in her disappearance and becomes the prime suspect again now that she has been found dead.  Just as the case gets rolling, the team is told that the case is going back into the hands of the jurisdiction that handled the disappearance case.  Tracy doesn't want to let go and she is willing to risk her entire career to solve this case.

As the case goes on, it dredges up memories of Tracy's sister and the twenty year search for justice in her case.  This is another case that hits close to home.  The young woman who disappeared had much in common with Tracy.  She lost her entire family at a young age and Tracy feels that she owes it to this woman to find out the truth, no matter the cost.

Once again, Tracy is an admirable protagonist and I love her strength and her convictions.  But I am getting a little bored with the whole "personal connection" to every case.  It's starting to feel a little forced at this point, as is the strained relationship with her Captain.  The guy is a creep and should have been shown the door after the last book.  Her team is full of amazing people too and I'm glad to see them taking a larger role in this book.  I especially love Faz and Del.  We also get to see more of Tracy from a personal level and her relationship with Dan.  It was nice to see her outside of the role as Detective and in the role of just an ordinary woman in love with a man.

If you have read any of the previous books in this series, I definitely recommend this one.  I would not recommend this to someone who hasn't read the backstory, it just wouldn't give you the complete story and for that reason alone, I had to deduct half a star.  It's always hard to review books in a series to someone who hasn't read the previous books.  But this is a solid undertaking and I don't think we are done seeing Detective Tracy Crosswhite.

I have become a huge fan of Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series, devouring the other three books before this one. I was able to get an advanced copy of this one through NetGalley, and I devoured it in just the same manner.

One thing that I love about Dugoni is that he is able to make each novel just that little bit different enough from the last that they don't all feel like the same book, even though the characters are the same. In this one, Dugoni gives little snippets from the point of the view of the victim, either confirming or disproving piecing of evidence that the homicide team has found. This added a layer of intrigue, while also allowing the reader to get to know the victim on a more personal level. This technique hooked me.

As usual, the dialogue between Tracy and partner Kins is both character building and story telling, developing their relationship more and more throughout each novel while also filling the reader in on the thought processes of the detectives as they work on solving the crime. The same thing happens with detectives Faz and Del, with a little comedy thrown in the keep some light in what could otherwise quickly become a heavy murder story.

Dugoni also develops Tracy's personal life in this one, exploring the idea of Tracy and Dan having children and whether or not they want to move forward in their relationship or maintain the status quo. Having Dan there as a supportive character gives more insight into each case Tracy works, but it also serves to develop Tracy as a character.

The victim in this story, Andrea Strickland, turned out to be such a wonderful character. The glimpses into her life build her into someone who has struggled from the beginning, and yet she finds a way to survive. She keeps hoping that life will get better and she just keeps on going. And while there's a part of me that recognizes that people have no choice but to keep on keeping on, I still respect the fact that she did it.

The climax to this novel was, in typical Dugoni fashion, a last minute surprise to me. Just when I thought I had things figured out, Tracy gets that one last piece of evidence, makes that one last connection, and it totally blows the story open. There are few things that are greater than being continually surprised by a novel, and Dugoni does that extremely well.

If you aren't reading the Tracy Crosswhite series, you need to be. These books are all amazing, well-written suspense novels, with snarky and heartfelt characters built right in. Pick these up!

This book was a great addition to this series!  I love the series, Tracy is one of my most favorite badass female characters!    The story had more twists and turns than any rollercoaster, and all the ups and downs and thrills of one too!  I highly recommend reading the series in order and highly recommend that you read them all!  Really great series.

A body pulled up in a fishing trap turns out to be a much deeper—no pun—mystery than anyone thought, especially the detectives.
The main character—not counting the investigators—goes from supposed victim to possible serial killer and back, and everywhere in between. From being conned into marriage—though I never understood her husband’s motive for that—to becoming a new woman in more than a changing-identities-kinda way, her story was well done and the best part of the novel.
I love reading mysteries set in places I’m familiar with, and Seattle has always been a favorite, squeeing about spots I’ve been. In this book there’s a prominent scene up in the Alki Point lighthouse, which I’ve been to but never for an occasion like this. Now I feel like an intruder.
So this turned out to be one of the best mystery novels I read this year, keeping me guessing throughout. The killer was well thought out, and I loved detective Tracy, which is the most important thing.

He sneaks down to the waterfront quietly.  He's poaching crabs and doesn't want to get caught.  When he brings up the pot from his honey spot, he realizes the one he has isn't his.  When he sees the hand in it, he knows he definitely doesn't want it...

Thomas & Mercer and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 24th.

When Tracy shows up, she notices blue fingernail polish on the hand and suspicions it's a woman.  The interesting part is that when they try to prove who she is the trail quickly goes south.  She's had medical work to change her face.  That gives them a lead because the implants they used are numbered.  They find her doctor and confirm her name.  The only problem is that when the name goes public, they find out she's already dead and has been for some time.  She disappeared on Mt. Rainier and the rangers there said she was most likely in a crevice and wouldn't be recovered.  But did she really die there?  If not, why would she be in a crab cage now?

This is a complex mystery with lots of investigation and lots of danger, too.  The killer is willing to do anything he has to get the trust fund of the supposedly dead woman.  When the police find out about the trust find, they also find it was moved the day after the crab pot discovery.  A dead woman can't transfer money.  Who's dead, who's alive and who is telling the truth?

There was an interesting twist in the story.  It was easy for me to believe her husband was the killer because he wanted to use her trust fund money.  But it was someone totally unknown and unrelated.  Someone very dangerous who intended to leave no witnesses.

It's a story that caught my interest because it happened in the Seattle area (I grew up in Western Washington) and the body was in a crab pot.  I wasn't sure if the woman was alive or dead.  But even if she was alive, the killer didn't intend to leave her that way.

You won't be bored.  I read this book in one day.  I'll also be watching for more in this series.  It's a good one.

Thank you Net Galley. I enjoyed this book very much. A well written book that combines a nail biting police procedural with well fleshed out characters and complex interpersonal relationships.  Highly recommended.