BOOK REVIEW: In The Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite, #3) by Robert Dugoni

This is the third book in the Tracy Crosswhite series by Robert Dugoni. In The Clearing was a nice change of pace from the previous entries, which involved a serial killer in Book 2 (Her Final Breath) and the solving of her own sister’s decades-old did appearance in the excellent Book 1 (My Sister's Grave).

Here we again have a cold case which is central, about a young Native American girl whose body was found floating in the river forty years ago but the young deputy who investigated the case never believed was a suicide. His daughter becomes sheriff and brings the case to Tracy. This is after Tracy catches a complicated case where both the estranged wife and the troubled son admit to shooting the husband/father in a domestic disputes during a bitter divorce.

Surprisingly, it is the cold case which occupies more of Tracy’s time in In The Clearing. The girl who died was well-liked and was loosely connected to four star football players who despite playing for a small-town high school team had gone on to win the state championship the next day. Tracy pounds the pavement and finds leads and clues left by the original investigator.
Eventually Tracy solves both mysteries, using insights gained by seeing how relationships in families (especially parents and children) can be warped by self-interest and ego.

Overall, I’d say this third book was a bit more formulaic of a police procedural than the first two entries in the series, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the first two books the story lines are so emotionally charged and Tracy endangers herself do recklessly that it became a little exhausting to read. The romance/relationship with Tracy’s boyfriend Dan is nice and realistic. One drawback in the structure of Book 3 that there is much less interaction between Tracy and her Seattle Police Department detective colleagues, which is a shame. However, as a solid, suspenseful, nicely plotted and well-executed mystery, In The Clearing lives up to this description.

Title: In The Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite, #3).
Author: Robert Dugoni.
Paperback: 479 pages.
Publisher: Orbit.
Date Published: May 17, 2016.
Date Read: September 7, 2019.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.

BOOK REVIEW: Her Final Breath (Tracy Crosswhite, #2) by Robert Dugoni

Her Final Breath is the second book in Robert Dugoni's police procedural/murder-mystery series featuring Detective Tracy Crosswhite. I enjoyed the first book, My Sister's Grave, quite a lot. Crosswhite a Seattle-based police detective who investigates murders. In My Sister's Grave, Tracy investigated the disappearance (and presumed murder) of her sister from 20-plus years before in their small hometown. There she re-connected with a former high school classmate named Dan who is now a lawyer who helps her re-open the case of the man who was wrongly convicted of killing her sister.

In Her Final Breath Tracy returns to Seattle and gets assigned to be the lead detective tracking a serial killer nicknamed the Cowboy who has claimed the lives of several female strippers by tying them up in positions in cheap motels which lead to deaths by strangulation. Tracy is the only female detective in her squad and her boss is also her enemy. It's pretty clear he only gave her the high-stakes job of leading the serial killer task force because he thinks that there's a good chance Tracy will fail and suffer significant career consequences.

Tracy is a great character and Dugoni does an excellent job portraying both her and Dan (who becomes her boyfriend). Dugoni uses the common device of letting the reader see what the suspect is up to while his protagonist is tracking them down. This heightens the suspense, because it makes it clearer how close (or not) the police are to solving the case.  In Her Final Breath the information about the suspect is provided in such a way that we also do not their identity.

Overall I enjoyed Her Final Breath but I don't see the Tracy Crosswhite series as becoming one of my favorites in the genre. It doesn't jave the biting humor of Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae or the brilliant word-smithing of Tana French or the heart-pounding thrills of Karin Slaughter.

Title: Her Final Breath.
Author: Robert Dugoni.
Paperback: 426 pages.
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer.
Date Published: September 15, 2015.
Date Read: January 5, 2019.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: B+ (3.3/4.0).

PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: B.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A-.

GRAPHIC: 50% Of All Economic Activity Is In Urban Centers

Via Kevin Drum is this interesting picture demonstrating the outsized impact of urban centers on America's economic activity.

Seattle Elects Openly Gay (Married) Mayor

Openly gay Washington state senator Ed Murray has been elected Mayor of Seattle. Murray, 58, is the first openly gay person to be elected to run Washington's largest city and the 22nd largest city in the United States.

Washington votes by mail so results are not final but the current tally has Murray ahead of the incumbent mayor, Mike McGinn, 56 to 43 percent.

SEATTLE MAYORMike McGinn 43 percentEd Murray 56 percent

Murray is well-known as one of the architects of marriage equality in the Evergreen state and is himself married to a man, Michael Shiosaki, who appeared in his husband's television ads.

Congratulations, Seattle!

LOOK: Openly Gay Man Running for Mayor of Seattle

Openly gay state senator Ed Murray is running to become the next mayor of the great city of Seattle, Washington. Watch his first ad, which features his husband and also includes him taking credit for writing "Washington's marriage equality law."

You know things are going our way when politicians are using winning battles for gay rights to help get them elected to higher office!