Robert Dugoni effortlessly delivered a stirring, compelling story, one that kept me turning pages compulsively and even gave me a couple laughs, too, with some witty humor

The Tracy Crosswhite series is one of my favorites and this book did not disappoint. Dugoni is a master at weaving together mysteries and I cannot wait for the next one!

I really enjoy the Tracy Crosswhite series, and this book is not exception. Tracy has recently given birth and she and attorney husband, Dan are back in Cedar Grove where they both grew up. They are staying in Dan's parents house while their actual home is being renovated. She is approached by the Sheriff regarding a cold case, and as he planned, she gets the itch. He was retired and called back to work when the actual Sheriff is suspected of arson and the murder of his wife. Years earlier his girlfriend had been killed and he was the main suspect in that case as well, but the same man who killed Tracy's sister, was convicted of that crime as well. Now Tracy begins nosing around to find out if the cases are linked and who the actual killer really is.

I enjoyed the setting of this story. Cedar Grove is a town that had almost died out, but is undergoing a rejuvenation. Old businesses are bought out and being renovated. It seems that all is going well, except Dan's client does not want to sell his business and is getting pressured by the town. It was also interesting to see how Tracy is going to deal with being a working mother, and the inner turmoil she feels. This was a well written and plotted story. The case takes Tracy into areas that she was not expecting and her and Dan work together to solve the mystery. There are some new characters in this story, but they fit right into the story and family as if they had always been there. There are some nail-biting scenes, some tense and taut investigation and the story comes to a very satisfying conclusion. I had no idea how this was going to end or who the killer might have been, but when the reveal was made, it all fit together perfectly. Another great Tracy Crosswhite story.

Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite is back in the small town of Cedar Grove - hoping for a quiet life with husband Dan , whilst their new home in Seattle is being renovated - and being a stay at home mother for her new infant daughter .
But she is soon drawn into the cases of a murdered Police officer's wife and a that of a Reporter who was investigating a cold case of a dead young woman . Conflict and strain on her marriage soon becomes a problem - the move was supposed to have been a step back from police work for Tracy .
Why is the old Sherrif back in charge , what has happened to the new Sherrif - old memories surface not all of them good .
Attorney Dan meanwhile has taken on the case of a local business man - the Council seem to be forcing out businesses and buying up the land at great profit .
The conflict between Dan and Tracy runs behind the scenes throughout the book - whilst danger begins to stalk Tracy and her family , someone does not want her to investigate the cases .

This is a fast paced crime thriller with twists and turns throughout which i really enjoyed .

Iwas given an arc of the book by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review
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I would like to thank Thomas & Mercer and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book which is the seventh in the series: "Tracy Crosswhite".

It features Detective Tracy Crosswhite, who went to Cedar Grove just after her sister was murdered, and now she's back to start over, married to a lawyer and with a little girl, she's trying to forget the bad memories.

Cedar Grove's local police are going to call on Tracy to solve the murder of a police officer's wife, a local journalist who was investigating an unsolved murder. Tracy and her husband's cases will cross paths and this could be dangerous for the detective. She will have to stir up the past that ended in murder. Will Tracy risk her life and the lives of her loved ones to solve this case?

A book read in one go, so much so that I have hung on to the story, so moving at certain passages, captivating, addictive, full of suspense and twists and turns with characters that are still as endearing in this series.

Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite is back in the small town of Cedar Grove. This time she has her husband and infant daughter in tow. The last time she made sure to put her sister's killer behind bars.

Her husband, an attorney, is representing a local businessman while Tracy is being a stay-at-home mom ... for the moment. That lasts until the local law enforcement ask for her help on case.

The brutal murder of a police officer’s wife and local reporter who was investigating a cold-case slaying of a young woman has never been solved. Against her husband's wishes...she gets involved ... causing some at-home strain.

While investigating, Tracy finds evidence that her case and that of her husband are connected. Tracy’s trail becomes dangerous, stirring up her own haunted past and a decades-old conspiracy in Cedar Grove that has erupted in murder.

As with all books in this series, it is well-written, nicely paced, and swirling amid murder and lies and secrets. Characters are deftly written with several suspects to watch for. Although 7th in the series, it is easily read as a stand alone, and I highly recommend reading the books in order. They are filled with gems that should not be missed. The suspense starts at the very first page and holds steady until the conclusion.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This is the seventh and latest addition to Robert Dugoni's brilliant Seattle based series featuring homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite. I enjoyed this book and its fast paced action.I definitely recommend this book.

I am a huge fan of this series- and countdown to each new release.
Tracey tries to juggle new motherhood, marriage and a cold case screaming for her attention.
Excellent twists, surprising ending.
I enjoyed this new installment- and the characters, as always.

Another mystery as part of a series (of sorts) featuring the same main character. I'm not familiar with the other stories, but I did enjoy this one very much. It's an exciting story and well written.

Homicide Det Tracy Crosswhite is back in Cedar Cove for a rest and to get her life in order. The last time she was there she was to see her sisters killer locked up. Tracy is asked by the local PD to assist on a cold case. This is not your typical police procedural, it is filled with action and suspense but we also see the relationship between Tracy, her husband, and her struggles as a new mother. Thank you to net galley for a copy.

I got hooked on the Tracy Crosswhite series after reading “The Trapped Girl”. I have read about half of the series now and I enjoy that you can pick up any book in this series and understand what is happening even without reading the previous books in the series. This book was a little slower moving than the others, but I guess that is to be expected when the main character is supposed to be on maternity leave. Tracy returns to her home town while her husband is workin on a case locally. The local PD asks for her help on a cold case regarding the murder of a teenager who was one of her peers. She also needs to determine whether a recent house fire was really a homicide and if the cases are related. Her husband is nervous about her returning to work and Tracy worries about how she will manage motherhood and being back on the force.

I'm a big fan of this series and this newest addition did not disappoint. First and foremost, I love the characters. This one had mystery and suspense, with a good amount of police procedural thrown in too. I like when these all come together so well.

This next installment in the Tracy Crosswhite saga does not fail to live up to the standard established in the previous. A reader looking for an action-packed thriller have come to the wrong place. However, if you are looking for an intelligent intertwining of events and lives, weaving together an overall picture fills with human achievements, failures, joys and pains, this is the right book. Well written. Good story.

I have read every book in this series, and this one does not disappoint. It’s interesting how the character of Tracy has evolved now that she is a mother. I feel her inner battle of wondering if she has what it takes to be a mother and a detective added a strong element to the plot. Also a very interesting case!

Reuniting with the fan-favorite protagonist who earned him scores of new and voracious readers, author Robert Dugoni returns with the seventh(!) book in his Tracy Crosswhite series. Though fans have grown and developed with Tracy, A COLD TRAIL finds her tackling a new case altogether: motherhood. Adapting to parenthood is one thing, but doing so in the same town where her own sister was abducted and murdered is entirely another. Add to that a new case that throws the town’s entire history into question, and you have the makings of a perfect Robert Dugoni thriller: a fast-paced plot, a sensitive understory and a kick-ass main character who is ready to tackle it all.

When we reunite with Tracy, she and her husband, Dan, are staying in their hometown, Cedar Grove, while waiting for their Seattle home to be renovated to accommodate their growing family --- namely baby Daniella. The setting is not an easy one for Tracy; although she has good memories of her youth, they are all marred by the murder of her younger sister, Sarah, and the subsequent suicide of her beloved father. The man charged with killing Sarah never seemed like the best fit to Tracy, and although she was able to solve the case several years later in MY SISTER’S GRAVE, a lot of the town still sees Tracy as a nuisance, someone who left for a big city and only returns to stir up drama and chaos.

One of her only cheerleaders is Roy Calloway, the former sheriff who retired after a dangerous encounter with a criminal left him with a terrible limp. When Tracy and Dan run into Roy, she is shocked to see a five-pointed star fixed to his lapel. Why would he be back behind the sheriff’s desk, and what happened to the new sheriff, Finlay Armstrong? Though Roy is subtle enough, his message is clear: he has a case, and he wants Tracy’s assistance.

The next day, Tracy visits Roy at the police department and learns of three murders that once seemed random but now appear to be painfully connected: Heather Johansen, an 18-year-old who was murdered in 1993; Jason Matthews, a retired criminal defense lawyer hired to look into Heather's death who was killed in a mysterious “hunting accident”; and Kimberly Armstrong, a journalist who was writing a book about Heather’s murder and was killed in a sudden and shocking housefire. Even more stunning, Kimberly’s husband, Finlay, once dated Heather, leading locals to wonder if perhaps Heather stumbled onto a clue that would tie Finlay to the decades-old murder. Armed with an explanation for Roy’s return to the force and a case that seems eerily reminiscent of the one that cost her her sister, Tracy knows she cannot turn away from this investigation.

Back at home, Tracy and Dan are settling into parenthood smoothly, though they both suffer from control issues. Knowing full well the dangers of the world, Tracy is hesitant to hire a nanny and is testing out a young Irish woman named Therese. Dan is struggling with the knowledge that his wife and now mother of his child will eventually have to return to work, putting her life --- and his daughter’s future --- at stake every day. This only adds to their tension, with Dan refusing to support Tracy and Tracy unable to turn away from a case that so closely mirrors the one that changed her family forever.

Compounding Dan’s stress is a new case he is handling as a lawyer representing a local business owner in Cedar Grove. Dan believes that the current local government is abusing its constituents by forcing them to leave their businesses and buying up the land to turn absurd profits. Tracy argues that it's all for the greater good --- after all, downtown Cedar Grove looks better than ever --- but Dan worries about the honest, hardworking people he grew up with and the ways their town is changing around them.

As Tracy and Dan work on their seemingly disparate cases, odd ties begin cropping up between them, leading them to wonder if there is a conspiracy lurking beneath Cedar Grove’s wholesome exterior. As Tracy gets closer to the truth, it becomes obvious that someone out there does not want her investigating the case --- perhaps the same person who set up Finlay for his wife’s murder. With a new baby at home, Tracy must straddle the thin line between doing her job and protecting her own family. But how can she think of her loved ones when three bodies have stacked up and no one has paid the price? On the other hand, knowing what happened to her own sister, how can she let danger come so close to her family yet again?

Weaving pitch-perfect pacing with plenty of heart, Dugoni gives us yet another strong, thought-provoking installment in this series --- and perhaps one of my favorites yet. You may wonder how he keeps his plots fresh and maintains his readers’ love of Tracy. I don’t have the answer, but with his terrific writing, application of real-world issues and cases that seem ripped from the headlines, Dugoni makes it all seem easy. He effortlessly juggles police procedural themes with more heartfelt ones like motherhood and grief, all the while managing to push Tracy to new limits in every book --- both emotionally and professionally. Another major plus is that readers get to see much more of Dan than ever before. Although his case does eventually dovetail into Tracy’s, Dugoni lets him carry a large portion of the book on his own, and I was delighted to see more of their relationship and the traits that make him such a good match for one of my favorite ladies in literature.

While these books technically can be read as stand-alones, I recommend reading at least A STEEP PRICE before delving into A COLD TRAIL. Tracy has grown so much in these last two books that it would seem a disservice not to go on this journey with her, even though it isn't required. I must admit that when Tracy began thinking of motherhood, I worried that Dugoni was being too ambitious. How could he write police procedurals so well and then turn to something as intimate and inherently feminine as motherhood? I am beyond glad to admit that I was wrong; Dugoni can truly do it all, and A COLD TRAIL is him at the height of his talents. I have a renewed excitement for this series, and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.

I have loved every book I've read by Robert Dugoni. A Cold Trail is no exception.

"The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars. Now she’s returned for a respite and the chance to put her life back in order for herself, her attorney husband, Dan, and their new daughter. But tragic memories soon prove impossible to escape."

This book was riveting and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was amazing and I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book for an honest review.

Tracy Crosswhite for the Win.

I have to say Robert Dugoni feels like a new friend to me. I say that loosely of course because after reading all six of the books that come before this one, I feel like I know him or at least his writing style. In this 7th installment to author Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series, Tracy & Dan return to their hometown of Cedar Grove, but this time, it’s as a family, with baby Daniella in tow. I love that they have a strong family unit that added so much to the story for me. Especially since so much of Tracy’s life and career have been shaped by the murder of her younger sister. I can tell you that the books stand up well as a standalone but if you haven’t at least read book one I would stop here and go do that. One this book gives a few spoilers about past books and two it will give you a better understanding of the story.

Representing a local merchant, Dan becomes entrenched in a legal battle with the City, while Tracy—who is on maternity leave—tries to adjust to her new role as a stay-at-home mom. But when past meets present, linking a cold murder case to a new investigation into two suspicious deaths, Tracy is pulled back into the fold, causing tension between her and Dan as she struggles to find a balance between motherhood and career.

“A Cold Trail” showcases Tracy’s softer side while still offering up a very compelling mystery. As with each book in this series, Robert Dugoni weaves an intricate web of secrets, suspense, and intrigue. But unlike the previous books, “A Cold Trail” has a heavier emphasis on the personal, showcasing Tracy and Dan’s relationship and their newly formed family. I like a few readers who find that I forget how much I enjoy this series and Tracy as a character until I get an alert saying a NEW book is available. Thank you to Netgalley and all parties involved for my arc of this book my delay with this review is no reflection on the author and more on the circumstances of life. I was able to finish this in one sitting in one day that is how well written it is.

A Cold Trail is the seventh book in the wonderful Tracy Crosswhite series about a Seattle Homicide detective whose life and career have been shaped by the murder of her younger sister. While in general the mysteries stand alone, if you have not read the first, My Sister’s Grave, I strongly recommend starting there even if you’re not going to get through them all, as not only does this plot refer frequently to the events and characters introduced there, but this one also has major spoilers if you later decided to go back to it.

As it happens, I had bought most of the series when it was on special last year, but not got round to starting them, until the impending publication deadline of this ARC. Having loved MSG, I was then torn between wanting to continue them in order, and my guilt over the review being late, so emailed the author who was lovely enough to write back personally and tell me to read them in order and not worry about the deadline - and how nice it was to hear that someone in New Zealand was enjoying his books! Well that was over two months ago and I’ve finally caught up - but am definitely glad I followed his advice as it’s a brilliant series and I adore the characters he’s created.

Tracy and Dan have brought their two-month old baby Daniella to their home town of Cedar Grove, Washington, while their house is being renovated. Tracy is still struggling with the decision about whether or not to go back to work after her maternity leave ends. When she learns that retired Chief of Police Roy Calloway has stepped back into the role, following the suspicious death in a fire of his successor’s wife Kimberley, a journalist, Tracy can’t resist his request for help. Kimberley was investigating the murder of a young woman killed only a few months before Tracy’s sister’s murder, on the same stretch of road, which had been attributed to the same man, but what if someone else was responsible? Meanwhile lawyer Dan is suing the town in behalf of a small business owner tricked into selling his property at a loss as part of a redevelopment project.

Some authors are so clever. Dugoni has seeded various innocuous characters and events throughout the previous six books, that all now fit effortlessly into this plot - like ballsy Leah Battles who’s now running Dan’s practice in Seattle and avuncular Faz who, still recovering from his injuries from the last book, is free to come help Tracy out when things start to get dangerous. Even Cedar Grove’s geography and history are all worked masterfully into the story. We see old events in a new light and get a completely different insight into some of the recurring characters from Book One. There are also some good new characters like Therese the hilarious Irish nanny.

The other aspect that Dugoni always does brilliantly is work the weather into the narrative - in this case the snowstorms that threaten and trap our characters and shape every decision they make. Winter has just arrived here, after an unexpectedly lovely Lockdown Indian summer, and I felt decidedly wussy huddling under a fleece blanket at 10C when he’s showing us what cold can really be like.

As ever, the mystery part was intriguing but not the most important part of the book: I was sure I’d figured out who the guilty party was, only to be wrong-footed once again. I particularly liked the flashback scenes revealing what really happened to the various victims, but that don’t go into excessive gory details or descriptions of suffering. I struggled a bit with the legal subplot which was important but somewhat confusing, I suspect it would make more sense if you’re from the US.

The relationship between Tracy and Dan is an important backbone to this series, and feels very realistic as it has evolved (well OK, Dan is almost too adorable to be true - my new favourite book-husband) but it never gets in the way of the story. Tracy’s insecurities as a new mother make her ever more human as she grapples with the same issues they all face - guilt, tiredness, body image, anxiety about the future, but she’s still as tough as they come.

While this ends in a perfect place, I hope it’s not the last in the series, as I’d hate to say goodbye to these characters. The down side is of course that it could be at least a year before we get to meet them again - being able to read one instalment every couple of weeks has been a rare treat!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review and apologies once again to Robert Dugoni that it’s so late, but I’m glad I followed your advice!

I always forget how much I enjoy Tracy Crosswhite until I pick up the next book and can't bear to put it down. This one was especially interesting because Tracy has become a mother and I was very curious to see how this was going to impact her work. I think the author did a very good job of exploring that through Tracy's inner dialogue as she investigates the case and in her interactions with Dan. This story also has some very intricate plotting, complicated by the fact that it takes place in Cedar Grove, where Tracy grew up and where her sister was also murdered. I think the setting of the story also gave some insight into how Tracy became the person she is as the reader gets to see her through the eyes of the townspeople, many of whom remember her from her childhood.

I particularly enjoy a series where you get to see the character develop, change and mature with time and the situations that they find themselves in. This is one of those series. I really enjoyed this installment and look forward to many more books in this series.

EXCERPT: '... have you really not yet figured out why I invited you to this party? You thought Tracy was getting too close to those answers, that she had pieced all this together, that she had concluded you were the killer. So you stalked her. . . That's something that will be easy enough for (them) to believe, and you waited until she was alone. You came here to kill her, but you forgot one thing. You forgot that Tracy was always fast with a gun and she, too, managed to get off a shot. It wasn't fast enough to save her, but it was fast enough to kill you. Everyone will believe that, won't they, Tracy? They'll be talking about how fast you and your sister always were with a pistol, at your funeral.'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars. Now she’s returned for a respite and the chance to put her life back in order for herself, her attorney husband, Dan, and their new daughter. But tragic memories soon prove impossible to escape.

Dan is drawn into representing a local merchant whose business is jeopardized by the town’s revitalization. And Tracy is urged by the local PD to put her own skills to work on a new case: the brutal murder of a police officer’s wife and local reporter who was investigating a cold-case slaying of a young woman. As Tracy’s and Dan’s cases crisscross, Tracy’s trail becomes dangerous. It’s stirring up her own haunted past and a decades-old conspiracy in Cedar Grove that has erupted in murder. Getting to the truth is all that matters. But what’s Tracy willing to risk as a killer gets closer to her and threatens everyone she loves?

MY THOUGHTS: I love this series. It's believable and interesting. Cedar Grove faces all the same problems as many small towns: falling population that migrates to bigger centres for educational and work opportunities; small businesses failing. But the town of Cedar Grove is undergoing an unexplained rejuvenation. An old family business resisting being bought out and facing pressure from the building regulators is what has brought Dan, and by extension Tracy and baby daughter Daniella, back to Cedar Grove while their main home is being remodelled.

Even though Tracy is still on maternity leave, she can't resist the lure of a mystery and Cedar Grove certainly has a mystery. In fact, more than one.

I love the way Tracy's facing a dilemma now that she is a mother. She is torn between solving two murders, decades apart, and maintaining her own and her family's safety.

Robert Dugoni is great at characterisation. This is his description of one of the characters, a childhood friend of Tracy's: 'Sunnie hadn't changed much since they'd been kids, at least not her personality. Sunnie could talk to a dead body for an hour before she'd notice the person wasn't breathing, and likely finish her story even after she had.'

The plot of A Cold Trail is well thought out, as are all Dugoni's plots. Although this is #7 in a series, it is able to be read as a stand-alone. The back story is cleverly woven into this storyline. But I am certain that if you do read A Cold Trail as a stand-alone, you will want to read the back titles. And me? I am eagerly awaiting Tracy Crosswhite #8.

❤❤❤❤

#AColdTrail #NetGalley

'He's so crooked he couldn't put on a straight pair of jeans.'

THE AUTHOR: Robert Dugoni is the New York Times, #1 Amazon, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of the Tracy Crosswhite series: My Sister's Grave, Her Last Breath, In the Clearing, The Trapped Girl and Close to Home, A Steep Price and A Cold Trail as well as the short prequels The Academy and Third Watch. The police procedural featuring Seattle Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite has kept Dugoni in the Amazon top 10 for more than three years and sold more than 5 million copies. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, released April 2018 and soon to be a major motion picture. He is also the author of the Charles Jenkin's International spy series, The Eighth Sister and The Last Agent, soon to be a television series. Dugoni's first series featured attorney David Sloane and CIA agent Charles Jenkins.
He is the winner of the Nancy Pearl Award for fiction, a two-time nominee for the Harper Lee Award for Legal Fiction, A two-time nominee for the Mystery Writer's of America Edgar Award and a two-time nominee for the International Thriller of the year. His non-fiction expose, The Cyanide Canary, was a 2004 Best Book of the Year. He is published in more than 30 countries and two dozen languages.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas and Mercer via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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