Amazon.com: Customer reviews: In Her Tracks: Tracy Crosswhite, Book 8

Top positive review

Tracy is back and better than ever!

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021

In this eighth outing in the Tracy Crosswhite series, Robert Dugoni nails it again. In Her Tracks has an interesting story line, is nicely plotted and no lags in the pacing. It held my interest from start to finish.

After an extended leave from the Seattle Police Department, Tracy finds herself assigned to cold case files. She digs in and a five-year old missing child case catches her attention. While pursuing this case, she is roped into helping her former partner in Violent Crimes with a current missing person case. A runner has gone missing in an area of Seattle that also has two missing prostitute cold cases. This gives Tracy the excuse to work the active case while not reneging on her duties to cold cases. The story then winds around all of these cases and the plot lines nicely dovetail into an intriguing story.

I love this series and the author's standalone novel The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. All are well written with great characters and interesting plots. I highly recommend this series and this writer.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for granting my wish for an Advance Reader's Copy of this book. I loved it.

32 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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johnverp

A good, rather than outstanding, read

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2021

There is good story-telling here, in that the novel flows well. There is a nice twist too, just as I thought things may be getting a little mundane. There are two story threads but, strangely, one goes into hibernation before re-appearing in the epilogue. I still haven't worked out what I think of our protagonist, who displays quite a bit of selfishness at times. I did wonder about a couple of the details too (e.g. do you really mow lawns during the snow season? Also, one character refers to evidence before she is even made aware of it). Overall, it was easy to turn the pages and stay interested, but I wouldn't call the effort mind-blowing. 7/10

11 people found this helpful

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From the United States

asarkar

More parenting, less crime solving

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Tracy Crosswhite series used to be good, but this and the previous couple of books are pretty boring due to constant mommy talk and Tracy’s husband pestering her to stay home to make sandwiches, be available for him and raise their daughter. I really can care less what the babysitter and daughter are doing, but unfortunately, it has become a version of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta“.

I don’t buy crime and thriller books for soap opera, there’s plenty of that on tv. I expect a good mystery and taut storyline, and the only thing taut in this book so far is Tracy’s abs (it’s mentioned in the book). In this book, she investigates a child abduction and a young woman’s disappearance, and most of the book is about the latter. In the end, the author puts together a “closure” for the former case, but it’s so rushed, ridiculous and concocted, that even the child who was abducted wouldn’t believe it for a second.

Don’t believe the one-liner 5-star reviews, they are planted. Less mommy issues, more crime solving, or my money back, please.

2 people found this helpful

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NLB

Enough already

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

Fairly good story, but several weaknesses. The writer indulges in one of my least favorite methods to end a story: A long, boring, repetitive explanation of "the rest of the story" (denouement). WHY do writers do this - end the story with a stall on any action, on and on and on.... Let it go!

There was violence that had no reason for being, as with one of the brothers. Such a heavy hand on this, and I really got tired of encountering it.

All characters are too much of the stock variety - all good or all bad. Once again, discretion and subtlety are in short supply. How about not churning out so many books and give more thought to the craft of writing for better quality instead of quantity?

Of course, as long as readers rave about superficial effort, most writers won't bother with deeper thought. This writer has better competency with written expression than many contemporary writers, so he could certainly do a better job with the telling of a story than this...

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Carol Stout

very clunky and poorly written

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

The writing was such poor quality it was hard to keep reading. Some of his sentances stopped me cold; they were written like a beginning writing student.
The plot was interesting. It could have been a good book if written by a professional.

4 people found this helpful

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Whitney Blackburn

Book seems to imply homelessness, mental illness, and drug addictions are crimes.

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

I was a little distracted by the political undertone in one of the first few chapters and its negative light of the City Council and “poor” treatment of the SPD. Not to mention the clearly classist view of the homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness (author vaguely suggests homelessness is a crime). It didn’t really fit Tracy’s character. And it’s also entirely inaccurate of current events regarding SPD and their excessive use of force. Seattle City Council, although not the best, is not whipping the SPD. SPD has a serious problem with excessive use of force and tear gassing innocent people.

I am disappointed that I will have to let go of this series, but the author could have used his book to address the serious failures of the SPD rather than paint them as innocent whipping boys.

4 people found this helpful

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jody blanchette

Slow moving thriller

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021

Detective Tracy Crosswhite has been reassigned to Seattle's Cold Case Unit. Though this new position will give her more time with her family, she isn't happy about it.
Digging through old files, Tracy finds the file for missing five year old girl. Personal feelings make her hit the ground running on a case that hasn't been touched in years. While searching for overlooked clues, Tracy is asked to help the current investigation of a missing woman. Now she is juggling both cases, and finding her new position isn't as boring as it had seemed.

This is the eight book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I have read a few of the other books in the series, not in order, and found that you really don't need to read them in order. Each book hints to past cases and relationships, but its not a huge factor in the plot. The one constant is Tracy, who is a determined detective and great main character.
Usually I like Robert Dugoni's creativity with each book, but I found this one lacking the usual hook. I wasn't super into the story line. It started too slow and never really picked up. I found it quite safe and predictable. A lot of cop chit chat, not a lot of deep digging. I really expected more.
This won't turn me off of the series. I like Dugoni's books, and will definitely keep reading him. This one just wasn't a win for me.

One person found this helpful

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These are wearing thin

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2021

The storylines have gotten predictable and the characters less believable. The main character doesn't even act normal. How old is your daughter? "About one." Uh no. Eleven months, one, thirteen months. A mother knows. Time for a new series.

2 people found this helpful

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