In the Clearing

One of my favorite things about Robert Dugoni is that he never writes the same book twice when he's writing a series. Another thing I love is that the characters and situations he writes are so vivid and captivating that you can't put the book down until you've reached the end. He's done it again with the third book in the Tracy Crosswhite series, In The Clearing. The first book was deeply personal to Tracy as she literally dug through the past and put herself in the crosshairs. The second book was more suspenseful because she was dealing with an active killer who seemed to be hunting her.

This is another cold case, like her sister's murder from the first book. Yet, it's completely different. This time, the small town is unfamiliar and show more there's the added tension involving football heroes and Native Americans. Dugoni weaves a fascinating tale of patient detective work as Tracy digs through forensic evidence, brings in experts and talks to witnesses with bad memories and personal agendas. She's not jumping to conclusions. But she eventually digs deep enough to get the killer's attention and put herself in danger.

There's a secondary murder investigation back in Seattle involving a domestic dispute. Of course, something that Tracy learns on the cold case will help her unravel the other mystery. Thankfully, it's not too distracting and it's fun to see the author, and Tracy, stay on top of two separate cases.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review. show less

Many thanks to publishers Thomas & Mercer Publishers for entrusting [b: In The Clearing Book: Tracy Crosswhite, #3|26214866|In the Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite, #3)|Robert Dugoni|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446943429s/26214866.jpg|46196139] to me. I received this free Kindle e-book in exchange for an honest review.

"In the Clearing" is my first read of [a: Robert Dugoni|63650|Robert Dugoni|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1405264763p2/63650.jpg], it will not be my last. Many authors are good, but Dugoni has gifts.

I still have a book hangover from Sunday night to early Monday morning (this is Tuesday.) It has been difficult for me to move on. I cannot stop thinking about the characters.

This book possessed me. Sunday night after show more dropping off in mid read, in a dream state, I sat up in bed and yelled, "Don't worry, they are about to make an arrest. There are three good suspects..." - (not a spoiler) - This novel infiltrated my sleep and dreams - I want more.

I perceive [a: Robert Dugoni|63650|Robert Dugoni|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1405264763p2/63650.jpg]'s writing is a slippery slope for me. His writing moves me from reality, into the land of fiction. I could not be more pleased.

It is not everyday that an author can spellbind with words. While at it, dealing with the everyday world of homicide in a small town. Cold cases, new murders; intelligence hard at work.

This is #3 in a series, and stands alone. I have not read the first two yet, but I will be reading them soon. I am cruising over to Amazon to see what is available now. Robert Dugoni has a new constant reader.

I will recommend this author and his books for our library collection. show less

Tracy Crosswhite and her Violent Crime Unit team are called to the scene where a wife has shot her husband in the back, after he hit her with a statue. The wife is a son of a notorious criminal defense attorney, and the team is puzzled by a 21-minute gap between the shooting and the 911 call. Then, the son comes in to confess he was the shooter. Meanwhile, most of Tracy's energy is devoted to reviewing a 40-year old cold case at the request of her academy friend, who is now Sheriff in a small town, following in her father's footsteps. An old file was hidden in his desk about a young female native American, whose dream of college ended in a drowning death, ruled a suicide in the shadows of the town's football team winning a state show more championship. With advances in forensics, Tracy consults with several experts and figures out that she was thrown from the bridge, leaving her with the difficult task of bring the perpetrator(s) to justice. Solid effort! show less

In the Clearing is a two-investigation, two-timeline mystery that held my interest from beginning to end. One investigation involves the death of a man in Seattle. Most of the police officers believe that the man's wife killed him and that her father's high-powered, expensive lawyer is going to get her off scotfree. The second investigation involves the forty-year-old cold case in southern Washington, and it takes center stage.

Throughout Tracy's investigation of the cold case, it is shown how difficult it is to prosecute cases in which so much time has passed. Flashbacks to 1976 give readers insight into the characters. And as far as difficulties go, Tracy shows once again how hard it is for someone as dedicated as she is to have any show more sort of personal life.

For me, the character of Tracy Crosswhite makes this series. I really enjoy watching her work. Her dedication to both the person lost and to those left behind. Her unwillingness to stop until justice is done. The special insight she has into the mindset of victims' families because of her own history. No one can endure the disappearance of a sibling and not knowing what happened for almost twenty years without being changed. Since this is a road Tracy has been down, she's especially suited to talking to the bereaved and often getting information from them that no one else has.

Yes, In the Clearing has Tracy saving the day once again. It's a strong performance even though I found the solution to both cold case and new rather easy to deduce. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. show less

In The Clearing by Robert Dugoni
Tracy Crosswhite series Book #3
4★'s

From The Book:
Detective Tracy Crosswhite has a skill, and a soft spot, for tackling unsolved crimes. Having lost her own sister to murder at a young age, Tracy has dedicated her career to bringing justice and closure to the families and friends of victims of crime.

So when Jenny, a former police academy classmate and protégé, asks Tracy to help solve a cold case that involves the suspicious suicide of a Native American high school girl forty years earlier, Tracy agrees. Following up on evidence Jenny’s detective father collected when he was the investigating deputy, Tracy probes one small town’s memory and finds dark, well-concealed secrets hidden within the show more community’s fabric. Can Tracy uphold the promise she’s made to the dead girl’s family and deliver the truth of what happened to their daughter? Or will she become the next victim?

My Thoughts:
Most of the book deals with a forty year old cold case involving the apparent suicide of Kimi Kanasket, a Native American teenager in Klickitat County, Washington. The former sheriff who is now deceased...was just a young deputy when he answered the call that Kami hadn't come home from her waitress job. He began to keep a file on the case as he couldn't get the investigating detectives to listen to him that there was something very wrong. He had taken dozens of pictures of the crime scene that showed that there had been several people and a truck in the clearing the night that she was supposed to have jumped into the river and drowned that said it had not happened this way. Forty years later we find his daughter is now sheriff and she has found her father's file. Since it's a small town and may be considered a conflict of interest she asks Tracy Crosswhite...A Seattle detective to work on the case in her spare time.

What actually happened and who the killer is is fairly obvious early on but the way that Tracy follows the evidence that is brought to light by technology that wasn't available forty years ago is amazing as well as fascinating. Knowing how Tracy Crosswhite works the crime scene and how she digs deep for all the unknowns is what I love about her character. Overall this is a great series and well worth the time to meet Tracy and her friends. show less

These Tracy Crosswhite books just keep getting better and better. This time Detective Tracy Crosswhite is working on two cases. One, a cold case involving a young Native American high school student with a bright future ahead of her who's death 40 years prior was ruled a suicide. The young deputy, Buzz Almond, who worked on the case never agreed with the findings and had kept a file hidden at home. After serving as Sherriff and passing away, his daughter, Jenny becomes the new Sherriff and discovers the file. Jenny senses her father was right and calls in her friend, homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite to take a look at the case. What she discovers is a secret that has ruined the lives of nearly everyone involved. As with previous show more Crosswhite novels, the characters are well developed, you can easily relate to each of them and become engrossed in each of their stories, the end is a surprise worth waiting for, in the other case, a good upstanding man and father going through a bitter divorce is killed while coming to pickup his fragile son for the weekend. Both the son and the materialistic, self-centered, soon to be ex-wife admit to shooting the Tom, the father and estranged husband and things just don't add up. With both of them admitting to shooting Tom, there's reasonable doubt to convict either of them. The fact that the wife's father is a talented and successful defense attorney only adds to the problem. Tracy and her team have to bring all of their experience and their sometimes non- traditional methods of detective work they can to bare as they work to unwind the mystery of what happened to Tom Collins. Another page turner that I didn't want to end. Keeps you engrossed throughout. I've already started reading the next one. show less

In The Clearing is book 3 in the Tracy Crosswhite series. Tracy, a Seattle homicide detective, is asked by a friend to take a look at one of her father’s police files, a case he worked 40 years earlier in a small town in Washington state. In the file were descriptions, observations, photographs, and other evidence of the death of a high school senior, Kimi Kanosket. Tracy agrees to research the case, and uncovers secrets about a town that valued their football championship more than they felt concern over the death of a Native American teen. As Tracy digs deeper into the case, she discovers similarities to the case she and her partner, Kins, are working on in Seattle.
I like how Robert Dugoni makes his characters come alive. None of show more them are perfect, they all have their flaws, including his heroine. The amount of research he does to tell a story is also evident. I look forward to the next book in the series!
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