Fans of Tracy Clark's Chicago Mysteries will be thrilled by her newest installment. Filled with icy descriptions of Chicago winter juxtaposed with the tentative life of foster kids, especially Black and Brown kids in tenuous circumstances, Clark writes about found family and what home means, even if it is fleeting.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-preview!

Runner
Tracy Clark
June 29, 2021

Clark gives us number 4 in the Chicago Mystery/Cass Raines series. Cassidy Raines is an ex-cop. She was so tired of seeing the people hurt, the children left by their parents on the street or abandoned apartments. She’s become a Private Investigator. She handles all sorts of cases but prefers to search for those who are missing. Parents or family paying to have her help find their loved ones. Leesa Evans is a mother who loved her daughter, Ramona. Trying to keep her safe while also leaving the drug addiction behind. Ramona was placed in foster care with a family she loved. They cared for her. The day came, as it does often in foster care, that a counselor from Child Support Services turned up at the door. The time had come to transfer Ramona to a new home. There are never reasons why the child is moved, it just happens. She was placed with Delores Poole, a woman who likes to say wonderful things about her home and the girls that live there. Unfortunately Delores is not as honest as she appears. In this case Ramona disappeared after a short while at the Poole household. Although the police were contacted, Evans never heard about the progress, if any that they were making on the case. Leesa contacted Cassidy Raines for help in locating her 15 year old daughter.
Runner takes place in winter in Chicago. Our protagonist, Raines, finds the weather nasty and life difficult. Her tone is honest yet humorous. Living in the midwest will do that to you. I appreciate Clark’s writing style. Cass Raines lives where the people live - apartments that have to be buzzed into and restaurants are underneath or next to many. The mystery is well written and easy to read. I enjoyed this one and must look into more of Tracy Clark’s novels.
Runner will be published by Kensington Publishing Corporation on June 29, 2021. I appreciate their allowing me to read and review Clark’s newest book. The Chicago Mystery series is a good one to follow. Not into a series? Runner is a good read as a single. Do pick up this one and by all means - Enjoy!

This is the fourth book in this PI mystery series. But, it’s not necessary to read the others before diving into this one. A briskly paced procedural with a good character in the PI, Cass Raines.

I ended up liking this book quite a bit, The main character, a PI looking for a missing girl, is very likeable, stubborn, set in her ways, funny, caring, and at times a big risk taker. The main story explores issues of race, poverty, homeless kids, addiction and even some very original nuns. Her descriptions were very real, we felt with her the cold of chicago winters and the places she saw.

Cass former police officer turned private eye is asked by the Mother of a teenager who has run away from her foster home to try and find her. The more Cass gets into the case the more she begins to wonder if it is a simple case of a runaway or is there something more going on. There appear to be more missing girls that are all connected to the same agency. Cass doesn’t know who she can trust. This book is a mystery with a slow build to the conclusion. I had guessed most of it but still enjoyed the book. There are some good characters, clever dialogue and occasional humor. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

In this fast-paced and well-written story, the author set the tone of this suspenseful and intriguing tale with visually descriptive narrative and engaging dialogue that put me in the middle of all the action, standing tall with Cass Raines. With a savvy sidekick and her own gumption, Cass is on the trail and the author takes us step by step in the search with a few surprises thrown in to keep us in the game. The author knows how to deliver an excellent foray into societal woes and dysfunctional families and the drama that entails. This is a solid addition to a terrific series and the best one yet.

Is this just a simple a case of a teenager running away from home? Cassandra Raines knows that she needs to help Leesa Evans find her daughter but she just doesn't know if there will be a happy ending. Leesa hasn't had the best of luck in her life but she isn't going to give up on finding her daughter Ramona. They were just getting back on track with their relationship and she will give everything that she has to Cassandra just to find her.
Cassandra knows that she can't just walk away and she hopes that she can give Leesa that second chance with her daughter. The Police have no leads but then again she is a chronic runaway and they think that she will just come back as before. But this time there is something different going on.
The more Cassandra digs into Ramona's foster life the more she knows that there is something going on with the system and that more girls have disappeared and no one is willing to talk. But that won't stop her from finding out where Ramona is and what is really going on. But now one of the suspects is dead and she just doesn't know how she can trust expect Detective Hogan who has been giving her a hard time.
Will they be able to find out the truth about all the missing girls?
A good solid read.
I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Leesa daughter Ramona who is in foster care has runaway. Le1esa is afraid something has happened to her even though she has runaway before. Cass is hired to try and find her. This book kept me guessing.

It is great to read a story that features a Black woman as the main character and staying true to what her experiences are as a PI while making her relatable in every possible way. I like Cass Raines as a main character because she is multifaceted. She has a sense of humor, is passionate about what she does, and (at times) can be reckless for the sake of justice…all things that would make sense for her line of work.

This was a decently paced story with enough subplots to keep things interesting without feeling like they are unnecessary to the main plot. It was easy to get equally sucked into Ramona’s story (the missing teenager who is the focus of the main plot) while also being concerned about the motives of Ramona’s case worker and mother.

Clark’s exploration of “family” in its many forms (whether it is one’s biological family, chosen family, or family that is forced on you) is what really drew me into the story. From Ramona’s mother, the case worker in Ramona’s life, and Raines trying to reconcile her own feelings with her father/brother while trying to maintain her relationship with her childhood friends (as well as other examples in the story), Clark does a great job of demonstrating what family means depending on our circumstances. Sometimes it can be the one thing that saves us as well as the thing that could very well cause us harm.

While this title is the fourth in the Cass Raines series, it reads like a standalone (although I would recommend reading the others titles...they're great!) A solid addition to the series!

Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of Runner.

Runner is the fourth book in the Cass Reines series. The book is fast paced, funny and well-written but unfortunately I didn't care much about the characters. I'm sure a lot of people will love this book but for me it's a solid crime thriller without that wow-feeling.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Kensington for this ARC..

At two in the morning during another unforgiving Chicago winter, private investigator Cass Raines would much rather be cozied up at home than sitting in an over-heated burger joint waiting for a potential client. When the woman arrives, Cass learns that Leesa Evans has had a hard life, one of her own making through a series of bad decisions. Her drug addiction caused her to lose her daughter to foster care. Now clean, her road to recovery is still a work-in-progress, but she desperately wants to get her daughter back and she needs Cass to help.

But like all things requiring the services of a private investigator, there is no straight line from the start of a new case to its conclusion. This case is no different. Fifteen-year-old Ramona has gone missing from her current foster home and the police believe she’s simply run away. But Ramona is no ordinary runaway. Fearing for her life, she’s gone underground. As events unfold, Cass soon learns that all is not as it appears to be with Ramona’s foster mother. Or the man who placed her in the home. With the clock ticking, Cass needs to find Ramona and learn her secrets before they both end up dead. In “Runner,” Book 4 in the “A Chicago Mystery Series,” Tracy Clark provides readers with a layered mystery for fans—both old and new—of former homicide detective turned private investigator, Cass Raines.

Small stones cause big ripples.

Tracy Clark shifts scenes rapidly in Runnerand provides a panoramic view of Chicagoland with P.I. Cass Raines slipping in and out of dark corners and tight entry ways. Cass, a former police officer in the CPD, is a private detective who is good at her job and solid in her word.

Cass meets up with Leesa Evans in one of Chicago's famous fast food icons, White Castle. With a sack of burgers in hand, Cass sits across from Leesa. Leesa nervously tells her that her fifteen year old daughter, Ramona, has run away. Ramona has been in foster care while Leesa tries to stay ahead of drugs and a wayward life. She's saving for an apartment when she and Ramona can be reunited.

With little to go on, Cass hits the streets and follows leads in the limited life of a fifteen year old. Ramona has no friends to speak of and a part-time job. To complicate things, Ramona is a chronic runaway and the police seem to think that Ramona will turn up on her own. Cass isn't so sure when two weeks go by and no sign of Ramona. To add to even more doubt in the case, Ramona left everything behind. Too quick of a departure in Cass' mind. And a clue from one of Ramona's co-workers leads Cass to believe that this is a situation far bigger than a runaway girl.

Not to worry if you've not read any of the prior Cass Raines Series. Runner reads as a fast-paced standalone. Tracy Clark insures her readers that they can hit the ground running right alongside Cass from the get-go. Clark has a winner in the likes of Cass who is a thirty-six year old black woman with amazing analytical skills and Chicago street smarts. Cass is highly driven when she takes on a case and highly compassionate to those who keep getting rained on in life.

Runner incorporates snappy dialogue spoken boldly by those who find the streets as their home. It has niches of humor as well in an unlikely duo of nuns who give Cass hell around every corner. These nuns minister to the homeless and the runaways and are as tough as nails. And Tracy Clark takes us to Cass' stompin' grounds involving a bevy of her friends and neighbors. The investigations are top drawer and complicated with an excellent storyline taken from big city life. Seriously sayin', Tracy Clark can't write fast enough for her many, many fans. Bravo, just bravo.

I received a copy of Runner through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Kensington Books and to Tracy Clark for the opportunity.

Tracy Clark has done it again. Runner is another funny, exciting, wild ride with private investigator Cass Raines. When Cass is asked to find a runaway teenaged girl named Ramona it seems like a straight forward case. But as she digs deeper she finds that several people involved in Ramona's life are lying about what happened: her case manager from the foster agency, the retired cop looking into her disappearance, even her foster mother. The case becomes more dire as Cass discovers that Ramona ran because she had discovered something disturbing about the people she thought she could trust. I enjoy this series because Cass is complex, engaging character. She takes care of her friends and cares about helping people, even at the risk of her own safety. I hope there are more to come in the series, especially after how this one ended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I don't give too many 5 star reviews. So far, every book Tracy Clark has written has deserved one. Runner might deserve more. Cass and her entire supporting cast rock. Every character is well written, and multi-faceted. The sense of camaraderie is strong and real. I can't wait for the next in the series.