In Her Tracks by Robert Dugoni is the eighth novel in Tracy Crosswhite series. The story is set in Seattle, around a crime detective who is resolved to find justice for a missing woman after going through twenty years searching for her younger sister. I’ve read all the novels in the series and certainly feel I get more out of them from knowing the characters. However, you do get all the history you need, and each novel is a different mystery story. Tracy is an awesome character – careful, compassionate and considerate, at the same time irreverent and cheeky particularly with her awful boss Nolasco.
Five years ago Police Officer Chin got late picking up his daughter, Elle, from his soon-to-be ex’s home. As his wife again criticizes him, he keeps down in light of the fact that he can not afford another domestic violence charge. It is October 30th, and Chin needs to take Elle to the Corn Maze. After a few delays, Chin and Elle entered the Corn Maze. Elle wants to play hide-and-seek. Chin counts for six seconds, but Elle is gone in those six seconds and has been missing ever since.
The story movements to present day when Terry Crosswhite gets back to work after a combined maturity leave and extended leave for counselings for her situational Post-traumatic stress disorder. She finds that another woman investigator has taken control over her work area. Her chief, Captain Nolasco had come up with a plan that he hope may make Terry leave without being able to file a discrimination complaint. He says that he needed to fill her position on the grounds that the group was so in need of help, he offers her the position of the Cold Case Investigator at a similar pay.
Incidentally, he needs an answer today as the current criminal investigator is retiring, and today was his last day. Terry accepts the position and chooses three cases to explore, the Elle case, and two missing women of the evening that DNA may help solve. Her old partner, Kins, requests help on a fresh missing person case. The tale continues from here.
Despite the fact that the fundamental storyline shuffles between different investigations, the storyline is very simple to follow. My attention was caught within a few chapters. The voice all through the novel is Terry. The following is a group of voices that belong to the perp and family. It is a story of overcoming challenges to get sufficient proof and for Terry and Kins to be able to arrest, and for Terry to keep her own cold case examinations moving to hold her chief away from her.
For new readers, a question might arise – Can “In Her Tracks by Robert Dugoni” be your first read in this series? YES. Actually I did not find any references from the previous Novels and short stories that did not have adequate background so that you can understand the reference. All in all, it caught my attention early and kept it right to the end. I was unable to quit reading. Finally, there were no remaining details toward the end.
Also Read: Malice: By Heather Walter
