Book Review: A Steep Price (Tracy Crosswhite #6) by Robert Dugoni

After all the non-stop action in "Close to Home" Book 5, one has to wonder what next? Would the story take a breather back to the humdrum of solving homicides and other "routine" violent crimes?

Instead, in his easy reading style, the author fearlessly takes Tracy Crosswhite, Kins, Del and Faz to a bend in the journey to tackle a touchy subject: "Arranged Marriages in India and South Asia", an overwhelmingly popular tradition although not officially recognized, even in modern times.

He mixes in a dash of an even more controversial act of vengeance dealing the honor of such traditions; has a protagonist in dire straits and facing certain death; and adds an interesting "fifth wheel" to the team. Is it time for a change, a new "A Team"?

This review is based on an ARC (Advance Reading Copy), with many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Robert Dugoni for the privilege.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of A Steep Price.

Our favorite detective and her team are again split on two cases in the 6th book of the series. Two murders, one a grad student who is trying to find her way after being shunned by her family for refusing an arranged marriage; and the other a mother who has shaken things up in a neighborhood that's known for its drug scene.

Another brilliant novel from Robert Dugoni. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is such a great series. This book really showed us a more personal side of the characters, as well as two intense cases. Crosswhite has received an unusual missing persons case. She is also struggling with pregnancy and questions can she still be a cop after the baby is born. Faz and Del are on a bazaar shooting that is about to get crazier. Every character is fascinating, and this book is incredibly well written. Unputdownable!

#A Steep Price #NetGalley Thank you for the advance reader's copy

This is number six in the Tracy Crosswhite series. You can read this story first, but you will miss a lot of the history on each character.

Tracy Crosswhite is asked to help with a possible missing person case. A young Indian woman saving for medical school is very upset when her best friend returns from India and tells her she is married. The friend agreed to a arranged marriage, which is a custom in their culture. However, the two girls, best friends since childhood promised each other not to give in to their parents demands and agree to arranged marriages. Tracy has a bad feeling that this case will end badly.

A new detective, Gonzalez joins the team. Upon meeting, Gonzalez asks Tracy how far along she is in her pregnancy. This makes Tracy very uncomfortable, she has been keeping her pregnancy a secret. Her partner Kins is the only person at work that knows. Tracy feels that Chief Nolasco has hired Gonzalez to replace her. Tracy feels that since Gonzalez is female and Hispanic, Nolasco knows she can not argue that she is being discriminated against if she is replaced. Nolasco has had it in for Tracy since she joined the department, this having to do with a incident at the police academy while Tracy was a student and Nolasco her teacher.

Officers Del & Faz are investigating the murder of a local activist, Monique Rodgers in South Park. South Park is a area with a high crime rate, the neighborhood is overrun with drugs and gangs. Del is out with a back injury, so Faz and Gonzalez go to South Park to interview a possible suspect in the murder investigation. They believe Little Jimmy, a known drug dealer ordered the suspect Lopez to murder the activist Monique Rodgers. Little Jimmy is the son of Big Jimmy a major drug dealer that Faz sent to prison years earlier. The suspect is killed and both Faz and Gonzalez are being investigated, when Faz learns that Gonzalez is lying to the investigators and she is basically throwing Faz under the bus.

The detectives are working hard on both investigations, which both have surprising twists and turns.

I have read every book in the Tracy Crosswhite series, each one has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to more in this series. Thank you Robert Dugoni for another great book!

A good step up from Book 5 (Close to Home), but still doesn't have the magic of the earlier novels.

There are 2 cases in this one, which divides the 4 members of the A team into 2 groups. The first group is Faz and Del who are investigating the death of a local activist who was against the drug and gun culture in the community. Tracey gets a call to help look for Kavita Mukherjee, an Indian woman who is currently a medical student and has been missing for a day and haven't been responding to calls or texts.

I wasn't too impressed with the activist's death. The by far stand out is the relationship between Faz and Del. You can tell how much they love being partners and to them it is more than a job, they are family.

The missing person case was really interesting and I hated how the chapters alternated. I would of preferred the book to stay on this case. I was surprised the way that the case ended up and enjoyed the ride getting to the conclusion.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see." (Confucius)

And Robert Dugoni will keep that thread weaving throughout his storyline. We'll catch a glimpse of those who cherish every moment given and those who throw life away like yesterday's news. The goodies, the baddies, and those in-between.

Detectives Del Castigliano and Vic Fazzio of the Seattle Police Department A Team are called to a shooting in broad daylight in a city park. The victim is Monique Rogers, an African American community activist and mother of two small children. Was this a retaliatory shooting or was Mrs. Rogers just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Either way, mothers and children are sent running behind closed doors. Not a soul will offer any information whatsoever.

South Park is a rough neighborhood where the Cartel Sureno has secured a strong foothold. Maybe Little Jimmy, who runs the streets of South Park, knows more than he is saying. After all, his father had a hard-fisted grip on the heroin trade here before he was taken out by gang members vying for their piece of the pie. Del and Faz make their presence known as this case brews to the boiling point.

Detective Tracy Crosswhite is tied up in court as a witness these days. She still hasn't divulged her pregnancy yet. But strangely, a young woman detective, Andrea Gonzalez, shows up as a new member of the A Team. Gonzalez already crosses swords with Tracy by asking her about her secret pregnancy. Has Captain Nolasco set plans into motion for a replacement for Tracy?

But Tracy doesn't even have time to digest that when she receives a call about a missing woman, Kavita Mukherjee. According to her best friend, Aditi, both women had their eyes set on medical school and roomed together. As the days pass, all things point to a possible bad ending here.

A Steep Price, though #6 in this series, can definitely be read as a standalone. Robert Dugoni sets Del and Faz pretty much front and center in this one. Even Faz' lively wife, Vera, gets a thread of her own. This one is layered with crimes, brutality, and city gangs, but Dugoni has injected a heavy dose of relationships, family issues, and simply what matters most in life. Dugoni, as always, sets up his story with characters wearing false faces and speaking with jaded tongues. Not all is what it appears to be........

I received a copy of A Steep Price through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to the talented Robert Dugoni for the opportunity.

It involved two separate investigations. By the police, drugs and arranged marriages relating to the Indian culture.
Both investigations were well written and found hard to put the book down. Look forward to reading another book by Robert Dugoni.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this excellent thriller.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of A Steep Price, the sixth novel to feature Detective Tracy Crosswhite of the Seattle Major Crime Unit. It’s written extremely well, I would not recommend starting on this book since it’s a lot of previous character building from the others. There are two cases in this book, which divides the four members of the A team into two groups. There is equal book time for both cases, set a few months after the previous book. I actually liked seeing/learning more of the other member’s of the A team in action, but if you liked Tracy being the only star then you might not like it as much, but it is still amazing. The epilogue was amazing, it made me tear up a little! The epilogue has the moment a lot of people have been waiting for.
On a side note, maybe and maybe this is just me…but…I would love to see more Dan (Love him)

While this was not my favorite Tracy Crosswhite book, I still enjoyed it quite a lot. There are two competing story lines - Tracy is investigating the disappearance of a young Indian woman trying to gain independence from her family and Faz is caught in the center of a murder of an activist trying to clean up the streets of her neighborhood. Bill are great plots but I didn't enjoy the way the book bounced back and forth between them; I found it confusing. Still - Duponi gives us two compelling stories and I look forward to the next one.

I absolutely loved this book. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s written well enough to start here and not read the previous, but I definitely recommend starting with the first book. I love how the author is able to write from a police officers view point without it being too procedural. There are parts that made my mouth drop open, as I was not expecting it. I can’t wait until the next book in the series is released.

This book kept me reading till I couldn’t keeps my eyes open. There was always something going on in the storyline that kept me interested and wanting to read more. There was more than one thing going on at a time but the book was so well written that it was easy to keep track of the different plot lines going on. I will definately be reading more of this author.

This is the 6th in this series, but can easily be read alone. Tracy is back with her crew of detectives. This story involves girlfriends who want to abandon the ritual of arranged family marriages and go to school to become pediatricians. They both leave their families and become roommates. Both trying to save for college. But when one of the girls returns to her native country for a wedding, she gets married, changing the dynamic, since she will be going to London to live with her husband’s family, which is a tradition. But that evening, after being told about her friend's marriage and experiencing unhappiness and a small quarrel with her friend, she disappears. At the same time, another mystery ensues that involves a shooting. So the book goes back and forth between mysteries.

Cons: While Robert Dugoni is one of my favorite authors, this book was a little hard for me to get through. I like books to start with a reason for me to continue turning pages. With this story, I had to keep plugging away until I began to care.

Pros: The writing is good and the story interesting. If you haven’t read any of his books, definitely pick one up!

Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series is a must-read for me. This is the sixth book in the series, and it is going strong. This installment features two cases: the first a homocide that looks like a "warning" killing against a woman who was trying to reclaim her neighborhood from gangs and drugs; the second is a missing person case that Tracy gets involved in. Although this is in a series, it could easily be read alone. Looking forward, as always, to the next installment!

Seattle author Dugoni's series heroine Tracy C rosswhite is back in another case, her trusty crew of SPD detecgtives and her lawyer husband backing up her efforts to find a missing young woman - shades of the family tragedy that still haunts her, setting off an inner alarm that warns her this disappearance may turn out the same way..This sets off a somewhat clunky plot involving an arranged marriage, a quarrel between roommates over their now-aborted plans to go to medical school together and a body unearthed from a well that moves the case from missing persons to homicide.. It's up to Tracy to solve the case, but while she's trying, a new woman joins the department and tries to take it over, causing the plucky policewoman to wonder whether keeping her pregnancy secret while trying to juggle her professional as well as personal priorities will undermine her career. The author's prose and pacing are passable, but this isn't his best effort, and if he retires Tracy to focus on another, more interesting protagonist, his next book may be a better read.

Another excellent book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. Athough this is book #6 , like the others it can be read as a stand alone.

Tracy does what she does best; solves the crime, is compassionate and the team surrounding her with every novel you get to know them better and better.

There is mystery, there is murder, this relationships, and there is family. All come with twists and turns.

You love them all. You worry about some !!

Robert Dugoni never disappoints in his books.

In “A Steep Price” we once again see Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite doing what she does best – solve crimes. What starts out as a missing person’s report that falls on her friends’ desk, quickly turns into an investigation into a newly married best friend and a family marred with what they consider disrespect to their heritage.

What was different about “A Steep Price” was that Del and Faz (2 other homicide detectives on Tea m A that have been a part of all the books in this series) have a separate case they are working on – here we see Faz get himself in more trouble than he could ever had imagined. We are also given a glimpse into the life beyond the “Detective” Faz - which was a nice change.

As usual we are given the chance to fall more in love with Dan (Tracy’s husband) and the epilogue proves that we are not the only ones.

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley and this is my honest review.

‘A Steep Price’ is set around 4 months after the end of Book 5, and Tracey is trying to keep her pregnancy a secret for as long as possible, as she knows she’ll be put on desk duty as soon as she tells her supervisors. Adding to Tracey concern is the sudden appearance of a much younger, version of herself in Detective Gonzalez. Tracey is convinced the new detective is there to replace her while she goes on maternity leave.
In this book Tracey gets involved in the missing persons case of a young college student whose life isn’t what is seems. As the missing persons case becomes a homicide Tracey learns more about cultural differences and expectations required of women.
At the same time as we are following Tracey and her case, each alternative chapter in the book features Detectives Fazio and Del, the other set of partners in the Violent Crimes ‘A’ team.
Faz and Del are tasked with investigating the death of a high profile anti-crime activist. And while their case was interesting I was a little confused as to why we were getting so much more storyline featuring Faz and Del in this book.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the two knucklehead detectives, but this series is called the Tracey Crosswhite series for a reason. Why are we learning more about the other detectives? Is this a subtle nod that (if the series continues) Tracey will be taking more of a backseat in the future because she’s a mum? Guess we’ll have to wait and see if Robert Dugoni writes another book in the series to get that answer.
I'm a big fan of the Tracey Crosswhite series and this book didn’t disappoint.

Let me begin my saying that although this is book number six in the series, you do not need to have read the previous books in order for this story one to make sense plot-wise. Each of the novels in this series can be read as stand alone stories. However, if this is the first time you are picking up a Tracy Crosswhite novel - just know you will have missed out on some excellent story-telling and the intricate relationships between the main cast of characters.

I CANNOT get enough of this series! Each installment of this series manages to be better than the last. Mr. Dugoni manages to bring to life each of his novels in a way that seems very real. His characters are complex, his plots are engaging, and each book always contains at least one twist that I never expect. And always after I think I've figured things out. I am especially excited to see how he handles Tracy's pregnancy and how that particular story arc is going to play out. Will we see more from her in a main character role, or will some of her fellow detectives begin to take a more center stage roll going forward?

I would definitely recommend this novel to those who enjoy well written police and "whodunit" novels. I will be reading more from this author, and I can't wait for more of Tracy's adventures!

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

A Steep Price is two stories in one: one case involving Detective Tracy Crosswhite, who is now pregnant, and one case involving Detectives Vic Fazzio and Del Castigliano. Tracy gets a call from someone in Missing Persons about a young woman whose sudden disappearence has her best friend worried. As she and her partner Detective Rowe eventually discover, the woman was hiding things about her life that contributed to her disappearance. Detectives Fazzio and Castigliano work on a murder of a woman who was killed because of her opposition to her neighborhood's drug scene. Faz also has to deal with his wife's cancer diagnosis. The characters are well-written, as usual, and the overall story is solid. Hopefully book seven to come...

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest installment in the Tracey Crosswhite series. Crosswhite is struggling with the idea of having a baby and possibly not coming back to the force, while also investigating a missing person's case. Her partners, Del and Faz are investigating the murder of an activist, and there is also a new comer to the A-team. The stories all wove together beautifully,and made for a fast-paced novel that delved into the idea of arranged marriages in the Indian culture, and how that relates to some American-born women in this day and age, drugs, murder, and Faz faces some personal issues at home. Fans of the Crosswhite series will not be disappointed. Dugoni has once again done an excellent job.