Congratulations to Robert Dugoni on the release of Book 9 in his Tracy Crosswhite Series.
Welcome, everyone!
First, I want to thank Goodreads Giveaways and everyone who made it possible for me to receive an ARC of this book, I’m so grateful.
When I read the synopsis for What She Found I was immediately intrigued.. I wasn’t at all familiar with Dugoni’s work—and jumping so far into a series had me a bit nervous—but I’m happy I had the opportunity to read this.
Now, this book became available on August 23rd so do be sure to stop in, check it out, and get your own copy today!
Enjoy!
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What She Found by Robert Dugoni
Publication date: August 23, 2022
Pages: 343
Genre: Police Procedural, Mystery, Crime Fiction
Book 9 of 10: Tracy Crosswhite
Detective Tracy Crosswhite knows what it’s like to live with the loss of a family member.. so when Anita Childress walks through her door searching for answers about her mother, an investigative reporter who disappeared twenty-five years ago, Tracy can’t turn her away.
It’s not long before Tracy’s search begins to uncover a trail of criminal behavior that reaches further than she ever imagined.. and the deeper Tracy digs into the life of Lisa Childress, the more questions arise
Because twenty-five years ago someone was up to no good and they were willing to kill to keep it buried.
Three and a Half Stars
Characters: Interesting but lack depth.
Pace: Steady.
Storyline: Complex.
Writing: Intelligent. Absorbing.
Cover: 3/5
POVs
Lisa Childress. Tracy Crosswhite.
Lisa, as an investigative journalist, is used to meeting contacts at all hours and often in questionable places.. So when a resource to a potentially explosive story requests a meeting at 2a.m. in Seattle’s industrial district, she’s not surprised, especially if the information he has is the real deal.
Lisa never worries about deadlines and she’s good enough that her editors have given up trying to reign her in, she does her stories in her own time.. But the downside here is that no one ever knew where she was going to be or what she was working on. So if something should go wrong, like it will, no one would even know to be concerned. Careless.
Her husband, Larry, who she married soon after they found she was pregnant their now two year old daughter, Anita, would rather she be more cautious.. but he knows who he married. Disorganized and with a short attention span, Lisa was tested and diagnosed with autism as a girl, a reason used many times to explain away some of her quirks.
I’m still not entirely sure if half of this information was necessary or even relevant to the story.
After making it to her contact’s meeting spot and following his instructions to wait until his signal for like.. two seconds.. she leaves her car and approaches the only other vehicle present. Too bad she finds the man inside dead, a hole in the head, before being attacked by what must be the murderer.. After taking several blows to the head she manages to fend him off but was it enough?
She loses consciousness.
I haven’t read the other books but this certainly has me curious enough to.. Especially since it’s clear that you don’t have all the information about what happened in the previous books. Comments about other characters just sort of go over your head and connections to previous events are missing.
Back from maternity leave, Tracy’s still recovering from her last case, a serial killer horror show that left her with PTSD and a promotion to detective she doesn’t feel she deserves.
Then a young woman shows up searching for her mother, a woman who disappeared over twenty-five years ago.
It’s Tracy’s intention to gently turn the woman away, with all the publicity from her last case many families have sought her out to find their missing loved ones but the sad truth is, she can’t get to them all. This woman’s search for her mother, however, strikes a chord in her.. Her own sister, Sarah, disappeared when she was young, her body discovered twenty years later, and that loss has given her a connection to these people, this woman.
What Tracy discovers in her search for answers is a twisting, multi-faceted story full of lies, murder, and decades of corruption.
There was so much going on in this book and somehow.. There wasn’t.
The investigation into Lisa Childress’s disappearance sends Tracy (and the reader) down the rabbit hole, following piece after piece of a puzzle that makes little sense.. until it does. You’ll find yourself questioning everything, and everyone, as Dugoni encases you in this elaborate maze of secrets and lies.
Is everything connected? What was Lisa really looking into? And the bigger question.. Did it get her killed?
Well. You can, in fact, read this as a standalone.. but I probably should have started with book one anyway.
I’m one of those people who gets stuck on the details and with how many times a person, place, or thing connected to Tracy’s past was mentioned.. it drove me crazy not knowing what had taken place. Several times I even considered putting this book down and going back to the beginning but it can be read and enjoyed without doing so.
There are quite a few characters involved and what feels like a ton of information to absorb.. but it flows really well. The author’s writing style and clear talent for weaving a complex, but comprehensible, story keeps you turning pages. And despite a few bouts of confusion here and there I easily, no, happily, devoured this book.
As a first time reader of Robert Dugoni I was impressed and look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of crime fiction and police-related mysteries.
Thank you for stopping in and reading my review!
I hope it was helpful and enjoyable.. I’d settle for entertaining, even.
Are you familiar with this author?
Do you read books that aren’t the first in a series?
I just finished this last night, Sheri, and still need to write my review. But, yes, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It was a pretty good read, yea? I was surprised I had never heard of him or this series but I’ll happily read more.
Glad you enjoyed it too! 😊
Interesting review, Sheri. I get a little frustrated by books that load me up with puzzle pieces and more puzzle pieces without putting any of them together along the way. But 4 stars is good, so the book clearly has some redeeming qualities. Thanks for sharing your review!
The mistake really was mine.. I knew I should have read the others first but decided not to. I did enjoy Dugoni’s writing style so I will be interested in reading his other books.. but I’ll have more care when choosing standalones in a series from now on.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review, I really appreciate it!