Book: My Sister's Grave
Author: Robert Dugoni
Pages: 402
Read on: Kindle {via Kindle Unlimited}
Read in: 3 hours
Plot Summary: Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed.
She doesn’t believe that Edmund House—a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder—is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.
When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking.
As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past—and open the door to deadly danger.
Review: This book deals with a twenty year old cold case in a small, rural community in Washington state. Tracy Crosswhite is a cop, who is obsessed with the disappearance of her younger sister- Sarah. Then one day, remains matching Sarah's are found in an area that was previously submerged under water. This discovery, more than anything, reaffirms Tracy's faith that the wrong man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her sister.
Tracy sets in motion events that lead to the convicted killer getting to appeal his conviction and in doing so, Tracy unearths certain inconsistencies in the original investigation.
I really liked how this book moved effortlessly between the events of the past and the present. The writing is good and the depiction of police work and procedure seems well researched. There is also a nice little twist at the end of this book, which, though not fully shocking or surprising, is a good one.
This book is a quick read and I like that it deals with the impact of a heinous crime in a close-knit community and how it made people less trusting. The characters were also nicely etched, which helped me really connect with them- always a good thing, especially in a crime/thriller book!
Rating: 4/5
Book: Her Final Breath
Author: Robert Dugoni
Pages: 424
Read on: Kindle {via Kindle Unlimited}
Read in: ~4 hours
Plot Summary: Homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite has returned to the police force after the sensational retrial of her sister’s killer. Still scarred from that ordeal, Tracy is pulled into an investigation that threatens to end her career, if not her life.
A serial killer known as the Cowboy is killing young women in cheap motels in North Seattle. Even after a stalker leaves a menacing message for Crosswhite, suggesting the killer or a copycat could be targeting her personally, she is charged with bringing the murderer to justice. With clues scarce and more victims dying, Tracy realizes the key to solving the murders may lie in a decade-old homicide investigation that others, including her captain, Johnny Nolasco, would prefer to keep buried. With the Cowboy on the hunt, can Tracy find the evidence to stop him, or will she become his next victim?
Review: This is the second book in the Tracy Crosswhite series and this time we have a serial killer operating in Seattle, who is killing strippers in a ghastly, complicated manner.
Overall, this was an interesting book. The crimes themselves were quite unusual and ghastly. The investigation process was also nicely done, including the politics that cops have to deal with, especially, I guess, women cops.
I also liked the connection with a nine year old case and how it had a similar modus operandi.
However, what I was not a fan of was a similar overall narrative structure to the first book. There is someone, who is obsessed with Tracy and is stalking her, which I found so annoying!!! We get it, Tracy is a hot cop but is it always necessary to have someone stalking her? Or obsessed with her? I just hope this same trope is not there in the third book!
The killer does come as a bit of a surprise, but that's mostly because we meet him exactly once. Now, I am not complaining that the killer was difficult to guess but I like having some breadcrumbs, so that I can make an educated guess. Anyway, this book was not as good as the first one. It was missing a sense of urgency even though there was a serial killer at large with four killings under his belt!
Rating: 3/5
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