An Amazon Influencer sent this to me originally and the title archived before I could download it. However, I was able to listen to it via Audible and loved it. This is my second title by Robert Dugoni and I love his writing. It was an added bonus that he also read the story in the audio version. I was hooked right off the bat and flew through this short story. The Last Line is the perfect title. I highly recommend this author and this story.

I read this book for a blog tour.

http://ramblingmads.com/2021/10/25/blog-tour-the-last-line-robert-dugoni/

Blog tour: http://lianareads.home.blog/2021/10/22/the-last-line-by-robert-dugoni-blog-tour/


I love police procedural stories and this short story was just the perfect incentive to start reading this new to me author and his backlog catalog. Especially since The Last Line is focusing on the secondary characters of his well known series Tracy Crosswhite.
Fast paced, intriguing story and great character development ( yes it can be done in a short story as well) this book is the perfect escape for a quick read that leaves you wanting more and more with all the intricate details and investigations.

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy

I read the first book of the Tracy Crosswhite series a number of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've always meant to continue with the series, but have never gotten back to it. When the opportunity presented itself for me to read this short story, I had no trouble accepting because at last I could revisit Mr. Dugoni's writing.

This was a great short story and quite frankly the ending left me wanting a lot more. The characters were well developed, it was atmospheric and interesting. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Dugoni's work in the future. Perfect for a quick commute read or something to tie you over if you're waiting for his next book!

Review Date: 10/19/2021
Publication Date: 10/21/2021

The Last Line by Robert Dugoni is a short suspense/thriller story featuring Detective Del Castigliano working his first case as a homicide detective in Seattle, WA. I have read an earlier short story as well as the first book in the Tracy Crosswhite series, but it has been about 7 years since I read them. Still, you can absolutely read this as a standalone short story/prequel. This story takes place before Tracy arrives at the Seattle PD. It will definitely whet your appetite for the series!

The Last Line hooks you right from the beginning – the mystery of two bodies that appeared to be drowning victims coupled with Del attempting to build a new life in Seattle and move on from his failed relationship. When I started reading this, I didn’t want to stop. I had to know how in the world Del was going to move forward with the case with so little to go on. If you enjoy police procedurals, this is an enjoyable quick read. I appreciated how well Mr. Dugoni developed the plot and characters in such a short story.

Wow, what a way to whet a reader's appetite for more!

Police Detective Del Castigliano has left Madison, Wisconsin for Seattle, ostensibly to pursue opportunities in Homicide, but really to get away from a failed engagement and memories of his ex. He's partnered with hotshot veteran detective Moss Gunderson, who's generously given him the lead on his first case in Seattle. A man living on a houseboat had spotted two objects floating in the marina the night before. Thinking they were logs that could damage several of the anchored boats, he'd gone out to investigate, and discovered that the logs were actually two waterlogged corpses. Moss has plenty of other cases to work on, so hands this one off to Del, intimating that it's likely a case of a border crossing gone wrong.

Del plunges into the work but finds himself quickly stumped for leads. As he works every possible angle in his new position at his new precinct, he slowly uncovers a criminal conspiracy that could have dire consequences if exposed, for both himself and the few friends he's made in Seattle so far. Del doesn't know who to trust as he must struggle to balance the demands of truth with survival in this riveting novelette.

For such a short read, this story packs a punch, quickly filling readers in on Del's background and surroundings, and investing us deeply in his future. I really want to know what happens next! Even tho I'd never read any Robert Dugoni before this, I'm very much interested in reading more now.

We've been lucky enough to participate in the blog tour for The Last Line, so find below an excerpt from the story, as well as a <a href="https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/07c2363f272/">giveaway</a>, our first! Click on the link or the widget at the bottom of the page to enter to win a copy of The Last Line, as well as a $20 Amazon gift card.

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The Last Line Excerpt

Del drove from the parking garage into a blustery and cold November morning—cold being relative. In Madison, anything above freezing was balmy for November, though Del was starting to understand what Seattleites meant when they said it wasn’t the temperature that chills you; it’s the dampness. He could feel the cold in his bones. A stiff wind rocked his metallic-blue Oldsmobile Cutlass. The wind had started blowing late the prior evening; branches of a tree scraping against Del’s bedroom window had kept him awake half the night.

He drove from Capitol Hill with the defroster on high and worked his way around the southern edge of Lake Union, noting marinas and water-based businesses. He pulled into a parking lot where Moss stood beside a black Buick LeSabre, sipping coffee and towering over a patrol officer. Moss was almost as big as Del, who stood six foot five and weighed 250 pounds.

Del pulled up the collar of his coat against the howling wind as he approached the two men. He recognized the green logo on Moss’s Starbucks coffee cup, the company name taken from Captain Ahab’s first mate on the Pequod, the whaling ship Moby Dick sent to the bottom of the ocean. The logo, a green siren, tempted sailors to jump overboard and drown. Neither was a good omen.

“Look what the cat dragged out. Did we wake you, Elmo?”

“Funny.” Del had heard iterations of Elmo since his teens, when the beloved puppet first appeared on Sesame Street. Moss introduced Del to Mike Nuccitelli, the patrol sergeant. “How’d you get here so quick?” Del asked Moss. He understood Moss lived in West Seattle, twenty minutes farther from the marina than Del’s apartment.

“I didn’t take time to do my hair.” Moss rubbed the bristles of a crew cut. “I’m like my name. You know. A rolling stone.”

Del knew. More than once, Moss had told him his parents bequeathed him the moniker because as a child he never remained still. Vic Fazzio had said it was more likely Moss gave himself the nickname. His Norwegian first name was Asbjorn.

“Halloway here?” Del asked.

“At this hour of the morning?” Moss scoffed. “Stayaway doesn’t come out this early on a cold morning unless he thinks the brass might show up and he can shine their badges with his nose.”

“What do we got?” Del asked.

“Two grown men. Looks like they drowned,” Nuccitelli said. “We’re waiting for the ME.”

“What more do we know about the victims; anything?” Del asked.

Nuccitelli raised the fur collar of his duty jacket against the wind. “Hispanic is my guess, though the bodies are pretty bloated and their skin the color of soot. I’m guessing roughly late twenties to early thirties, but again . . .”

“They didn’t have any ID?” Del asked.

“Not on them,” Nuccitelli said.

“That strike you as odd—they didn’t have ID?”

Nuccitelli smiled. “Not my job. That’s your job.”

“How far out is the ME?” Moss looked and sounded disinterested.

Nuccitelli checked his watch. “Should be here in ten.”

“We’ll take it from here.”

~~~~~~~

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A great addition to the Tracy Crosswhite series with a focus on Del, one of the detectives working with Tracy and the gang. Fans of the Crosswhite series will not want to miss this great short story!

Del Castigliano has left his life and work in Wisconsin after a failed relationship and other problems and decides to head to Seattle and work as a detective in his new city. He goes to work under veteran detective Moss Gunderson who hands him his first big case, two bodies are found in Lake Union and Del is tasked with finding out who they are and what happened to them. The more he digs into the case, the more questions he has. Del pulls in another rookie, Vic Fazzio, to help him answer he many questions he is acquiring. Together they work to find the missing pieces of information and determine if the answer were kept from him on purpose and who he can trust in the department.

Robert Dugoni is my favorite author for a reason, he is one of the only writers I know that can whip out a 53-page short story and have it read as a novel and keep me aching for more. His Tracy Crosswhite series is my favorite and this was a fun look into the lives and history of some of the secondary characters we don’t know as much about. There is so much more to develop with this series and these characters and Dugoni is just the guy to give us the stories we want. Del is seen throughout the series but this look into how he came to be at Seattle PD helped me understand him better and why he acts the way he does with Tracy and the others in the beginning novels of the series. If you are a fan of the Crosswhite series or Dugoni in general, I highly recommend you adding this to your collection

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Yup, today is my lucky day to join the BLOG TOUR for Robert Dugoni’s latest addition to the much loved Tracy Crosswhite series.

The Last Line by Robert Dugoni is the perfect sampler to the writing style of the author. Featuring Del Castigliano as the central character, the author takes us to the days Del joins the Seattle PD before he teams up with Faz and Tracy’s A-team.

Del is asked to be the lead detective in a case of drowning involving two guys, but little does he know that the investigation is gonna lead him into a quagmire with the potential of career ending jeopardy.

I have read all the books in the Tracy Crosswhite series, so it does feel like returning to one’s beloved family of police detectives when reading about Del. The short story tackles the subject of drug menace and the corruption rampant among the police forces, the ending would probably dissatisfy many but I liked how the author has shown a real portrayal of events rather than a complete fictional underdog winning the day story though I am hoping that Robert Dugoni would develop the thread into a full-fledged novel with the whole A-team involved.

If you have not read any of the works by Robert Dugoni, I would recommend reading this short story coz in just 50 pages, the author brilliantly makes you sit up and take notice, the writing giving a claustrophobic effect with the description of the unruly weather in Seattle. Ever since the first Tracy Crosswhite book, I have been hooked in completely and can surely say, this is one of the few series that I have followed religiously and read in order which many of you know, is totally a feat for me😊.

Many thanks to Net Galley, the Publishers, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Crime short stories have a long history. In the days of Conan Doyle they’re all about logic puzzles making the impossible possible; with Christie the guessing of the likely suspects with motive and as crime evolves today perhaps also the ability to tell wider tales about today’s social issues. In Robert Dugoni’s great short story The Last Line we get a mystery wrapped in a darker blanket of secrets set in the freezing winter of Seattle.

I’ve not read any of Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite novels so went in literally cold, but this tale set in the 1990s made me want to read more and the first book in the main series has been bought already. What I enjoyed about this is it’s a tale that very quickly goes from new detective on the block to a darker and in some ways bleaker tale of someone arriving in a city where many secrets live.

Helping achieve this is Del a bright but personally bruised new Detective seeking a fresh start. He comes across as honest and bright and initially the group he joins seems welcoming but the potential murder/drowning of two unnamed men seems a little too convenient to wrap up. We see him meet another officer Vic Fazzio and they bond with a common sense of doing the right thing and also a shared Italian american upbringings. This initial friendship gives some warmth in a story that is often cold not just through Dugoni’s great description of Seattle in a shivering winter but the wider story where it suddenly feels we are in deeper waters as the facts get unearthed by Del’s patient examination of witnesses and clues. That feeling in particular really makes the story work and always impressed when a crime author also turns the attend to the issue of the police service itself not always making a place better.

This made a perfect taster for the quality of Dugoni’s writing and I’ll be very interested to see what else I can find in this series and what happened next to this interesting duo of detectives!

In this short story, Det. Del Castigliano is the new guy on Seattle PD’s homicide squad. Needing a change of scenery after the breakup of a long term relationship, Del moved from Wisconsin to Seattle to begin anew. Del is partnered with Moss Gunderson, one of the department’s best and most popular detectives. Their first case together involves two unidentified bodies fished out of Lake Union. Moss generously lets Del take the lead in the investigation. Del wants to prove himself and relentlessly works the case from every angle possible. Del discovers the victims were involved in running drugs, but there’s more to the story than a simple drug deal gone bad. Del has stumbled into minefield of corruption that could derail his entire new career.

Dugoni, author of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, certainly know how to tell a story. This is a sharply written and intense. It’s easy to root for new guy Del to succeed. But his single-minded determination puts him in the crosshairs. I could easily see this story expanding into a full length novel. If you’re looking for a quick hit of crime fiction, look no further than The Last Line.

The Last Line is a new short story from Robert Dugoni

"Del Castigliano is a new Homicide detective in Seattle. He picks up a case right away - two unknown males are found floating in Lake Union. He chases leads which all end up at a dead end. Until he discovers that information was hidden from him. And he's not sure who to trust..."

This is an unusual short story because the resolution was unexpected. It almost feels like it's a setup for a future book or story. It'll be interesting to see where Dugoni takes it.

Del can be a good character - it all hinges on his decision.

Intersting take from Dugoni.

The Story: Looking for a fresh start, Del Castigliano leaves Wisconsin to work for Seattle Police Department Homicide Unit. When two unidentified bodies were found at a marina at Lake Union, he is assigned as the lead detective in this case. But the more he investigates, the more he realizes that he is getting nowhere with the investigation and it seems that someone does not want him to solve this case.

My thoughts: I usually steer away from short stories as they are usually a miss for me. But I am glad that I took a chance on this book! It was good! For a short story, the plot and character development were good! I liked the fast pace, suspense and the investigation part in this story. The writing was engaging too! Although the ending did leave me wanting more, I am totally okay with that! I am hoping that this is a prequel to a new series as I really like the main character Del.

Pub. Date: Oct 21st, 2021

***Thank you Amazon Original Stories for this gifted reading copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

I was informed that The Last Line was a short story and man, was that the truth! It was short, sweet, to the point, but left me wanting so much more! I am definitely going to have to look more into this author and see if I can continue this storyline because it definitely has me wanting more!

This is the first I have read Robert Dugoni, and while it was a short story, it definitely held the aspects of a mystery that I enjoy the most and can see it being quite a thrill if it were a full story.

The Last Line gives more mystery than what meets the eye and has us leading into corruption.

The main character seemed to be someone I would like and definitely feel like I would enjoy reading more about him and what he found himself tangled in.

If you are looking for a quick story – short, attention grabbing, and mysterious – or wanting to check out a new author, The Last Line is definitely one to check out.