Member Reviews
Detective Tracy Crosswhite investigates cold cases for Seattle PD. Tracy is tasked with investigating a 20-year-old serial killer and finally put the case to rest, also while being partnered with her captain, who she doesn’t necessarily care for. Just when they think they’ve finally solved the case and have the killer behind bars, they are proven wrong. Tracy must continue her investigation and hope the killer doesn’t strike again before she does.
One Last Kill is another thriller in a series by Robert Dugoni. Tracy Crosswhite is determined to find a serial killer than murdered 13 people before disappearing. Follow the twists and turns as a decades old cold case is reopen with the hope that the killer will finally be revealed.
The storyline is engaging. Any person who enjoys cold case mystery thrillers will enjoy reading this book.
Robert Dugoni's ONE LAST KILL is another satisfying thriller in his long-running series. Detective Tracy Crosswhite's efforts to draw out a serial killer draw her deeper into the department's politicking and bureaucracy, putting her career on the line as she struggles to bring justice to victims. Fans will be pleased with this latest installment.
NYT bestselling author Robert Dugoni returns following Her Deadly Game with his popular Tracy Crosswhite Series #10, ONE LAST KILL —from murders past and present, a long-dormant serial killer is drawn out of hiding in this latest riveting crime thriller.
Detective Tracy Crosswhite is reopening the investigation into Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer. After thirteen victims, he stopped, and the trail went cold—thirteen families who wanted closure for their lost daughters and wives.
Now, decades after his first kill, Tracy wants to bring closure to the victim's families and redeem Seattle PD's standing. However, to do so, she must work with her nemesis, Captain Johnny Nolasco.
Johnny was the lead investigator 25 years ago and finally came to a dead end. The killings stopped, and the cases were sent to the Cold Case Unit. Tracy is the head of the unit under the Chief.
When they announce they are reopening the case, will the serial killer come out again?
Together, they revisit old leads and look at new evidence to unearth corruption and cover-ups. What is more dangerous, the killer or those wanting to bury their secrets?
Things have changed in 25 years with DNA evidence, and they hope to find the killer. They make good use of the advances that have changed significantly in 25 years, which they hope will help find the killer.
With many twists and turns, red herrings, suspense, and superb character development, fans of the series will enjoy catching up with characters from the past. However, this can be read as a standalone.
ONE LAST KILL is an excellent addition to the popular Tracy Crosswhite series! A blending of cop procedural and crime thriller for fans of Michael Connelly.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC for an honest review.
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My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 3, 2023
Oct 2023 Must-Read Books
4.5 stars rounded up
One Last Kill by Robert Dugoni is an excellent police procedural, and the 10th entry in his Tracy Crosswhite series. He is such a well-regarded, prolific writer, and unbelievably, this is the first of the series that I have read. I found it easy to follow as a stand-alone, but I would probably have understood more of the nuances of the characters’ relationships if I had read the previous books in this series first.
In this story, Tracy is a Seattle detective assigned to the cold case division, and she is very good at looking at such cases, since she has an ability to sympathize with families who need closure about their loved ones’ fates at the hands of criminals. It is the 25th anniversary of the unsolved Route 99 serial killer cases, and the police chief asks Tracy to reopen the investigation and to work side-by-side with her nemesis in the department, Johnny Nolasco (who had been part of the original police team investigating the murders in 1993).
The plot unfolds in dual timelines, 1993 and 2020, in early chapters, then the tension ramps up in all present time as Tracy and Nolasco close in on identifying the killer.
Dugoni is such a skillful writer the characters really come alive as he describes their physical attributes and personalities. It is interesting to see how the relationship between Tracy and Nolasco goes from adversarial to collegial, as they develop trust in each other and an easy repartee. The story line is engaging, and absolutely compelling as a serious criminal investigation. Accurate descriptions of the city of Seattle and its suburbs add to the realism and atmospheric setting for the action.
Now I understand why the Tracy Crosswhite novels are so popular, and I plan to go back to book one and immerse myself in this excellent detective series!
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.
This is an update to my original review from April 2023. I received my purchased ebook of this book as well as the Audible a week ago. Because I now had the Audible, I re-read the book this time with the Audible. It was even better with the wonderful Audible. This is definitely the best Tracy Cross white book. Can't wait for the next one. (Hint, hint!😁😁)
What an excellent book. This book continues the storyline started in the novella "The Last Line", and continued by popular demand by readers, in "What She Found (Tracy Crosswhite Book 9)". I have already preordered the book but it was hard waiting nearly a year to October 2023. Thankfully, due to Netgally, I didn't have to. This trio of books is the best of an already extremely well written series. I intend to read all three back to back as soon as I recuperate from this thrilling read.
I miss Tracy in Major Cases with Kin, Del and Faz but I do enjoy her in Cold Cases. In this book she is working to find the Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer, who has been quiet for the last 25 years. Until Chief Weber holds a press conference announcing that she has reopened the case with Crosswhite and Nolasco, yes, Nolasco, investigating it. This wakes up the long dormant killer. This book has so many twists and turns I nearly got whiplash. But I really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to rereading the book with the Audible. I really love the books but the Audible really makes it so much more enthralling.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title. I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series. Now begins another dry spell till the next book is released in 2024 or, sob, 2025.
If Robert Dugoni wrote it I am reading it - I look forward to each book and One Last Kill held my attention just as all the previous installments in the Tracy Crosswhite series. In this cold case investigation I have to wonder just how much crap she is willing to take and how the game playing and pettiness is becoming more than a distraction - but it is an honest look at what can happen when personalities clash in the workplace and Dugoni gets the politics just right. A strong police procedural that doesn’t turn away from how things get “handled” and twisted to fit the storyline while protecting the evil, powerful and “dirty” hierarchy.
I look forward to Dugoni’s next book about anything and while I am waiting I am going to reread “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell” and after that “The Wold Played Chess”. Thanks once again to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy of “One Last Kill”.
This is the second book in the Detective Tracy Crosswhite series I've read so far. I received a copy from Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley. It came out on the 3rd of October.
Detective Tracy Crosswhite is working cold cases. She is ordered from higher up to open the investigation into Seattle's Route 99 serial killer. This killer made 13 victims but suddenly stopped almost three decades ago. Now Detective Crosswhite needs to work together with her nemesis who worked this case three decades ago. Will she be able to solve this case, something that couldn't be done back then? Not getting any support from her higher ups and her nemesis, she has to work tirelessly to bring this case to an end.
Just like The previous book this one was also a fast-paced thriller. The dynamic between characters was really interesting and actually made for this book to work. The story itself is also well thought of and it's also something I enjoy because I like to read and watch about cold cases. Overall, this book was quite entertaining and a perfect follow up to the previous one.
4,5/5 ⭐
I enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next installment!
We begin with Detective Crosswhite being assigned to rework the still open case of the ‘Seattle Route 99’
killer, a decades old case with 13 victims- not exactly closed, but absolutely cold- and her partner on this
mess is not one of favorite people; it’s (now) Captain Johnny Nolasco.
(Side note: Because I’m.new to this series everything was new to me and the Author did an outstanding job
of bringing in parts of the backstory as needed while keeping the story in modules based on past and current
events. The story is narrated in past and current with mostly the same main players, which flows well)
While this was a massive embarrassment to the Seattle Police Department, Chief Weber was given a gift
because more precise and far more advanced DNA processes were possibly going to make headway in
clearing the murders of 13 women. When Captain Nolasco and Detective Crosswhite work to come to a
tentatively amicable working relationship, forces of evil are at work putting up roadblocks and planting
obstacles meant to discourage and hinder their efforts to solve these murders.
To avoid any spoilers, I’m going to say that this book had some pretty accurate descriptions and scenarios of
things that go on in certain situations. And, it’s not out of the realm of probability that the eventual outcome
was inevitable. The book is so well set and written that I ended up reading it more quickly than the budgeted
time, and thought about it overnight-to my mind, and remembering it is fiction, I enjoyed it fully, and cannot wait,
and hope there will be another installment forthcoming.
I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys Police thriller suspense or complicated whodunnit and
readers who enjoys series books. If you’re from the Seattle, Washington area, you will enjoy all of the references
as well.
My thanks to Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley, for providing the download copy of this book in exchange for
my honest review.
Tracy Crosswhite is now in charge of cold cases for the Seattle Police Department. Her task is to find the face behind the Route 99 serial killer. The 25th anniversary of the killings is coming up and victims’ family members are desperate for answers. Only problem? She has to team up with her old captain, Johnny Nolasco. Will they discover the killer?
I love the pace of these books and find myself hooked from the beginning. I found this series a few years ago on kindle unlimited and have been a Robert Dugoni fan ever since!
Thank you Net Galley, Thomas & Mercer, and Robert Dugoni for the ARC!
Tracy Crosswhite is back and how and this time with her arch nemesis Captain Nolasco as a partner. The small thread that popped up with Del in the Last Line (Tracy Crosswhite #8.5) and then continued to a central plot in What She Found (Tracy Crosswhite #9) finds its closure in this, One Last Kill, book #10 in the Tracy Crosswhite series.
Robert Dugoni is a master craftsman, each of the books in this series has been a revelation by itself. Except for a couple, I wouldn’t say that his works are the pulse pounding adrenaline kicking thrillers, they are all about the dogged police work, inquiries, checks and setbacks, and false trials, the emotions that these police officers are forced to face day in day out, the politics the corruption, the coverups, you get a lot more than you bargained for in Dugoni’s writing.
At first glance the basic plotline is simple, the cold case of a serial killer who stopped killing after strangling 13 women 25 years back. Captain Nolasco was the leading investigator of the task force that was formed then and is currently forced by Chief Weber to join forces and work alongside Tracy. I’m mighty glad that the author explored the dynamics of Nolasco and Tracy in this story, as the readers are given glimpses of the man and not the reptile that Captain Nolasco is, whom we have always seen as this instigator out for Tracy's blood for no fault of hers. The humanized version of Nolasco was portrayed admirably as a man seeking justice for the victims however long it takes.
I'm reiterating once again that I absolutely love the exploration of the relationship between the detectives and how Del and Faz are available at the right moments for Tracy to get going though I have started missing Kins. Here’s me hoping the next book has Tracy working together with Kins again and please get Moss and Weber to pay for all their wrongs, I can't stand them anymore. . the ending as expected was rooted in reality with Tracy having to agree to win some and lose some.
One Last Kill can be read as a stand alone, but as I always say the series is best read in order to understand Tracy and the family she has formed around her.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.
The remarkably successful police detective, Tracy Crosswhite finds herself once again balancing her investigative skills against the political games being played by the chief of police and the Seattle city mayor. Crosswhite, who is in charge of cold cases, is assigned to investigate a series of cold case killings never resolved and which are now some 25 years old, a difficult if not impossible task.
Fighting intense and even hostile pressure from within the police department and the Mayor's office, Crosswhite never takes her focus off the goal of identifying and arresting the perpetrator. Crosswhite's single-minded focus on determining the truth is challenged like never before. I could not put this book down and cannot wait until the next Crosswhite book. Robert Dugoni is one of the best writers out there, which he's proven once again!
I received an ARC for free, but leave my honest opinion voluntarily.
4 Stars
One Liner: A solid read
Chief Webber asks Tracy Crosswhite to reopen the Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer case. Tracy is expected to bring closure to the thirteen victims’ families almost twenty-five years later. When she has to work with Johnny Nolasco, Tracy knows it will be an uphill battle.
Nolasco was the lead detective working on the case back then, and somehow, he and Tracy manage to work together in the present time. However, Tracy follows her intuition, which yet again leads her to high-level corruption, cover-ups, and people in power who will do anything to prevent the news from coming out. Still, Tracy will not give up without a fight, especially when the killer strikes again.
The story comes in Tracy’s third-person POV, with a few chapters in the past timeline from Nolasco’s POV.
My Thoughts:
I haven’t read books 1 to 8 in the series but enjoyed the ninth installment. I even read #8.5, The Last Line (short story), which ties up with #9. This helped get a better picture of the context, as there are quite a few references to both in this one.
Tracy solves cold cases (by reopening the investigation and through DNA comparison). After being successful in three such cases, Chief Webber assigns her to another serial killer case. Tracy is a smart, capable, and efficient detective. She is thorough and knows when to follow her hunches.
Though this one doesn’t have much of Del and Faz, they do appear from time to time. Nolasco has a major role, given he was the chief of the investigation back then. I don’t know much about his animosity with Tracy, though there are enough hints to get an idea. Providing his POV from the past helped me consider things from his perspective. This made it easier to understand his actions and motivations.
The pacing is steady, neither slow nor fast. It may seem like not much happens in the first 50-60%, but that’s the thing with reopening cold cases. There is already enough information to go through before finding more. I like how Tracy uses different bits of information and various perspectives to bring everything together. Be it DNA advancement and profiling, she doesn’t ignore things that don’t align with her ideas. Instead, she thinks about how these perspectives can help her solve the case.
I’m waiting for Webber to get her due. Looks like I need to wait longer, and more names are being added to this list. Realistic endings are good, but I don’t mind if a touch of it is compromised to make the readers happy (we know it is not likely to happen in the real world; why not give us the satisfaction on-page). Still, I’m hopeful that justice will be served, one way or another. There will be more books in the series, so we’ll get to it (hopefully).
This should read well as a standalone. However, it will work better if you read at least the previous installment. Even the author calls books 8.5, 9, and 10 a sort of trilogy within the series.
To summarize, One Last Kill is a solid police procedural with relatively less action but a lot of problem-solving. There are enough twists to engage the reader. Looking forward to the next case!
Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Great book with amazing characters. I LOVED seeing back into Nolasco and what could be a contributing factor into why he was the way he was.
I think Tracey is such an amazing character - she is smart and capable but never obnoxious or obvious.
Robert Dugoni's mysteries are so simple to follow, and always hard to solve as you're reading, but they always fit together and are never far fetched.
Loved this book!
I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't my favourite. It had a good and thrilling storyline, but sometimes it was just a bit tedious.
I love this series! This installment was interesting, as Tracy was paired up with her nemesis Nolasco to continue the investigation of the Route 99 killer. We see a totally different side of a normally hated character and get some insight to his prickly demeanor.
I hope this series continues, because even though police/detective books aren't my favorite genre, I adore Tracy, her family and friends. I already can't wait for the next one!
If you haven’t been reading Robert Dugoni then you’ve been missing out, big time! And while he’s done a number of series the Tracy Crosswhite series is the first one I read and remains my favorite. One Last Kill is the 10th book and a worthy addition the series. As with all the books in the series it can certainly be read as a standalone, but there are some references to previous books and I also think you’ll appreciate it all the more if you’ve witnessed the growth of Crosswhite over the years. In One Last Kill Tracey is reopening an old cold case centered around the Route 99 killer, who terrorized Seattle in the 90s with a series of murders and then just disappeared. As with all the books in the series, the story is wonderfully complex and intensely gripping. And I loved the interaction between Crosswhite and Nolasco. I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of One Last Kill.
https://www.amazon.com/review/R1R9VTW97T54W3/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
Intriguing and gripping, this book by my favorite detective author delivers all the thrills a true mystery enthusiast craves. The seamless blend of past and present timelines keeps readers on the edge of their seats, unraveling a compelling narrative that delves into intricate interior conflicts at work and family dramas.
The author skillfully weaves a tale where power, politics, and human nature collide, leaving readers utterly captivated. With a keen eye for detail, the author brings the characters to life, making them relatable and believable. The exploration of political power adds an extra layer of depth to the story, highlighting the complexities of the human psyche and the lengths people will go to attain and maintain control.
I was thoroughly engrossed from start to finish, eagerly turning the pages to uncover the next twist and revelation. The skillful storytelling creates a perfect balance between suspense and emotional depth, making it a truly immersive experience. As the final pages turned, I found myself both satisfied and hungry for more, eagerly anticipating the next installment in this thrilling series.
A must-read for anyone who appreciates a masterfully crafted thriller, this book not only entertains but also challenges the reader to reflect on the intricate web of power, morality, and the choices we make. Bravo to the author for delivering yet another captivating tale, leaving readers like me eagerly waiting for the next chapter in this mesmerizing detective saga.
Look, man. I am ready for Johnny Nolasco to be 'dealt with', if you know what I am saying. By the end, though, I like the tide might turn on ole captain. I'm not sure I like Tracy working Cold Cases, but she sees what others don't. I'd LOVE it if she moved from the local PD, but I'm also ready for her to not have to deal with Captain anymore.
This story was OK. Both classic Dugoni and also...a little slow moving. The twist was eh, but it works. I'm looking forward to Weber digging her own grave, esp now that Nolasco knows they're not besties anymore.
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Tracy Crosswhite series is always a favorite. I can't wait for each book and savor every minute reading. While I appreciate her camaraderie and support with her old team and other co-workers, she also has some enemies. Because she knows about their corruption. And they are up the chain of command from her.
Tracy is now in cold cases where they have tried to sideline her. Hahaha they can try. So Chief Weber has found out that a newspaper is going to run articles on a serial killer case with 13 victims from 25 years ago which was never solved. Her captain, Johnny Nolasco, was head of the task force. He has tried to sideline Tracy or put her down or get rid of her ever since she beat his shooting record as a trainee.
Now Weber has assigned Tracy with no resources to solve a 25 year old case. Tracy knows she is being setup for failure and to take the blame rather than the department. Tracy makes a case for more resources and is assigned Nolasco as a partner for the case. Nolasco thinks Tracy is the Chief's favorite which is so far from the truth it's hilarious.
I've said before and will again, Tracy is a far better person than I am, and she's also the best detective. She, along with Nolasco, work the case and learn a great deal about each other. Their interactions and partnership are the foundation of One Last Kill. It's a character study not to be missed.
The working of the case is smart and detailed. Tracy makes the right calls and deductions. She also has the right instincts about when to publicize information or do press releases, not that they listen to her. There were some exciting moments with bombshell information or capturing suspects.
The last few books have had the cases solved. However, many of those in the police who are corrupt continue to get away with their crimes which is disappointing. They know Tracy has them tagged but just can't prove their crimes. Tracy had to stop from telling the whole truth about the motivation for the serial killer to protect innocent people from being hurt.