I have read all the previous books in this series as audiobooks and have loved them! The narrator Chante McCormick was fabulous!

This book not only tied up the ends on a current mystery, but also on a mystery that Harry has been working on since the last book. Such a good series! I love the characters and I think about them long after finishing the story. I can't wait for the next book in this series, I hope Harry can get some peace in her personal life.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this story. I also bought the audiobook of this book so that I could read and listen to it.

Echo is the 3rd book in the Detective Harriet Foster series by Tracy Clark. I had not read any of the previous books in the series, but had no problem following along with the story line. Harri fights to prove her former partner was not bad, and did not kill herself. While attempting to solve a murder of a wealthy young college student. Overall I found this to be a good read and would recommend it to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I have loved all 3 of the books from the Harriet Foster series! Keep them coming! Suspense, intrigue and keeps me guessing- everything I want in a book.

Detective Harriet Foster has some years under her belt working to solve crimes in the City of Chicago. In her latest case, a well-connected college student turns up dead in a field near his family’s campus mansion. The scene and evidence point to alcohol poisoning. But the moments that passed between the time of death, when the body was found, and when authorities were notified raises suspicions. When Harri and her partner Vera begin digging deeper, they connect the dots to a case from 30 years ago in which a student’s body was found in the same field. With no leads and uncooperative witnesses, Harri and Vera have their work cut out for them. But Harri is still mourning the death of her previous partner. And also trying to catch whoever has been harassing her about the past. Echo by Tracy Clark is the third installment in the Detective Harriet Foster Thriller series in which Harri must open up to her team if she wants to catch a killer, and her stalker, before it’s too late.

Tracy Clark reminds readers why she is one of the best at writing detective/crime fiction stories with Echo. I’ve read the author’s Cass Raines series and Hide (Detective Harriet Foster #1). So I knew that this one wouldn’t disappoint. The story is well-paced and engaging. I was hooked from the first chapter when we see the crime unfold and later watch Harri and her colleagues connect the dots. While this book can be read as a standalone, I encourage readers to start with Hide so that they can see the progression of Harri’s character development, career, and her relationship with her team.

The author delivers authenticity and relevance by keeping up with changing policies and politics of law enforcement. Even though the story has a gritty and serious vibe, I appreciated the witty dialogue and commentary from supporting characters. This one is a must-read for lovers of thriller, suspense, and crime fiction.

A complex story of revenge and justice, but not really a police procedural. It must be nice to just randomly enter properties without search warrants or exigencies justifying that entry. But if you’re not seeking an accurate procedural, there is a fast moving edge of the seat dual killer hunts driving the stories forward and character backstories that keep you turning pages to see what’s next.

This is the last book in the Detective Harriet Foster series and I've enjoyed all of them. Tracy Clark's writing is good making for quick, easy reads. The wealthy Collier family is a major donor to Belverton College. When Brice Collier, the son of billionaire Sebastian, is found dead on campus behind his fraternity house, Detective Harriet Foster is brought in to investigate. Thirty years ago, a student was found dead in the same field, the victim of a hazing incident. Sebastian Collier was a student at Belverton at that time. Is this just a coincidence? Harriet and her partner Vera Li need to get to the bottom of this. At the same time, Harriet is wrestling with the death of her former partner which she does not believe was suicide. This is a continuing story from the first two books and we finally learn the truth. Harriet is easy to like and root for and I recommend reading this series. Thanks to #netgalley and #Thomas&Mercer for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 3rd book about Detective Harriet Foster. In my opinion, you need to read the other books to know what's happening. There were multiple storylines that continued from previous books.

I enjoyed this one, but it felt a little too wordy. I wanted the author to get to the point without so much extra detail. Harri frustrated me a few times with her stubborn attitude. The case itself was interesting, even though I figured out some major twists early on. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for my ARC. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I started this series when the first book, Hide, came out. It has been neat to see how Harriet has grown as a detective and person throughout these books. It’s interesting to see the way Harriet and Vera Li work together to solve crimes, along with the rest of their team. I am excited to see how the next book goes!

Tracy Clark’s latest book is Echo (Thomas & Mercer, December 2024). Set in a Chicago winter, her third story about police detective Harriet Foster has dual story lines of revenge and attempts to right long-ago wrongs.

Foster doesn’t have time to take her coat off one Sunday morning, she is called to a field on the edge of the Belverton College campus, where a student lies dead. Brice Collier is the only son of the fabulously wealthy Sebastian Collier, who owned the nearby house that Brice and some of his friends shared during the scholastic year. Brice was known for his over-the-top Saturday night parties. Because of his father’s money, the college took a hands-off stance on anything affecting Brice, giving him the illusion that he could do or say anything he wanted without repercussion. This time he seems to have gotten too drunk to realize he was outdoors and died of alcohol poisoning and hypothermia. The fact that another student living in the same house died in similar circumstances 30 years previously did not escape the police.

While Foster and her new partner, a certified badass named Vera Li, try to pin down the students that were at the party, all of whom are curiously evasive about who was where when, Foster is getting anonymous phone calls. The male caller is making vague threats about revenge for past misdeeds and claims the death of her former partner is a punishment for Foster. Her recently dead partner was determined to have committed suicide, Foster believes she was killed by this anonymous caller. That the police department refused to look into the calls and Foster’s suspicions noticeably strains her relationship with her manager.

Grieving for her dead partner, Foster works relentlessly on the Collier case, finding more and more parallels between the old case and the new, while she tries to identify her anonymous caller and his motives after hours. Her new partner confronts her on the brutal pace she is undertaking and insists on helping identify the anonymous tormentor to remove the distraction from Foster’s life.

Clark creates clear, well-defined, and credible characters. Even the background members of the Homicide group who don’t get much time on the page stand out distinctly from each other. The old school detective who antagonizes everyone but becomes an emotional basket case over his partner’s sick child is a perfect example. The cold distant Sebastian Collier and his troubleshooter Lange are two more. Vera Li is a fine invention, she and Foster make a powerhouse of a team. I look forward to seeing more of her. As always in Clark’s books, the city of Chicago is a powerful secondary character.

An inventive use of the revenge motive, a crisp narrative, and fine characters. This book made the Washington Post list of best 2024 mysteries for a good reason. Recommended.

An excellent, tense story. Harriet Foster is a really engaging detective to follow, with deep passion for and knowledge of her career. The crimes are effectively disturbing and there is a good balance between the one personal to her and professional in nature.

Each new book in this series is better than the last. We also continue to learn new things about Harriet and her family’s past. There are countless twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. I feverishly devoured the story until the very end and am excited for whatever comes next.

This book is being voluntarily reviewed after receiving a free copy courtesy of NetGalley, the Publisher, and Tracy Clark.

Echo, the third and newly released book ( December 3, 2024) in Tracy Clark's Detective Harriet Foster series is an excellent and captivating read. I read the previous books in the series, and each one is intriguing and more than satisfying. Each may be read as a stand-alone, however reading them in order does provide the background and more insights into the motivation and actions of Harri. She is a Chicago detective, still struggling to understand the deaths of her beloved son Reg, and her former partner's suicide, separated, and overly focused on her work, thinking it will drive her emptiness and sadness away.
In Echo Harri and her team are investigating the death of a young and very wealthy student, Brice Collier, at Belverton College. Was the death a suicide or was it murder? Ironically Brice's father, the very powerful Sebastian Collier, an alumni of Belverton, appeared to be involved in a similar death of a scholarship student, Michael Paget, 30 years prior to Brice' death, although he was never charged. Coincidence?
At the same time Harri is extremely upset that the Chicago PD did not conduct a full and intensive investigation into the suicide of Glynnis Thompson, her partner and friend. Despite being told to stand down, Harri is determined to uncover what really happened. This investigation opens a kettle of worms that puts Harri, her team and her family in danger. Echo is definitely a page turner! Harri and her team represent to me what and how police work in spite of personal challenges; they come alive on the pages. In closing, and with no spoilers, I think and hope that there may well be another book forthcoming. Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer Publishing and Tracy Clark for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Echo; my review reflects my honest opinion. 4.5 stars.

I’m really glad that I have been introduced to the character of Detective Harriet “Harri” Foster. Echo is Book 3 in Tracy Clark’s series featuring the detective and her partner, Detective Vera Li, tough Chicago police officers in this novel working a murder case with revenge as the motive. The setting is a mansion, Hardwicke House, exclusive home to the Minotaur Society, on the grounds of Belverton College. The body of a student is discovered in the field outside the mansion, the son of a billionaire who is owner of the house and whose family members were major contributors to the college and were members of the society. It was thirty years ago when another body of a student was found in the same field and whose death was attributed to alcohol and hazing. The two detectives must determine if there is a connection to the two deaths and find the killer, or possibly, the killers.
Detective Foster, Detective Li, Sergeant Sharon Griffin, and Detectives Lonergan, Bigelow, Kelley and Symansky make up a strong team with affection and loyalty toward each other. Chicago serves well as the backdrop with its tough streets as well as its affluent neighborhoods. Li is forthright, often telling her partner what she really doesn’t want to be told but always caring for her. Harri, with 15 years as a cop starting as a patrol officer, is strong willed with an ex-husband who is also a detective and the haunting memory of a former police partner whose death was determined a suicide. Her past also includes a 14 year old son who was murdered.
A second storyline develops around Foster’s stalker and the connection that she is able to make between him and her deceased father, also a cop, her deceased son and the death of her former partner.
Tracy Clark delivers a suspenseful, interesting plot that deals with the elite and privileged, settling old scores, family loyalty, and the question of how justice should be meted out. I always enjoy reading books with a complex female protagonist, especially in a police procedural and Detective Foster fits the bill. It was a good read even though I was disappointed and let down by not having the murderer in the subplot named. I do not know if that storyline will be continued in the next book in the series but I am not the detective in the story and would have appreciated closure.
I would like to thank Thomas & Mercer, Publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy of Echo. This is my honest review of the book.

A secret society that opens doors unatainable for the majority of people who were not born with money and therefore is one of the most coveted fraternities on campus. A crime in the past that comes back to haunt them in the present. A detective apparently commits suicide but her partner, Harri, does not accept it and as she starts to dig into the case she realizes that the motive is rather unexpected and she is one of the targets. Echo is an engaging and entertaining story that had all my attention from the beginning. It's well-written, fast-paced, and explores well how greed, desire for power, avarice takes hold of people.
I thank the author, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Echo is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Foster series by Tracy Clark.
I’m a big fan of detective Harriet Foster. And this title was just as great as the previous two.
A tense and engrossing police procedural that had me hooked from the very beginning.
Excellent book with plenty of twists and turns. Characters, all have depth and add to the story and this book will keep you guessing as to who is the murderer.

Tracy Clark’s Echo is a gritty and intense addition to the Detective Harriet Foster series, delivering a powerful narrative packed with suspense, action, and emotional depth. From the very first page, Clark grips the reader with a fast-paced plot that doesn’t let up until the final chapter.

At the heart of the novel is Detective Harriet Foster, a complex and compelling protagonist who continues to grow stronger with each installment. Foster’s determination, sharp instincts, and resilience in the face of danger make her a standout in the world of crime fiction. In Echo, she faces not only the physical and psychological demands of solving a chilling case but also navigates the personal challenges that make her such a relatable and well-rounded character.

The story is brimming with action and tension, keeping readers on edge as the stakes rise. Clark’s vivid descriptions and tight pacing immerse you in the dark and dangerous world Foster inhabits. The high body count and unrelenting danger add a sense of urgency that propels the narrative forward, ensuring there’s never a dull moment.

Clark also excels at crafting a vivid, atmospheric setting that enhances the gritty tone of the story. The city’s underbelly comes to life, providing a fitting backdrop for the intense action and complex investigation.

Verdict:

Echo is a gripping and action-packed detective thriller that showcases Tracy Clark’s mastery of the genre. With a strong, nuanced lead in Detective Harriet Foster and a relentless pace, this installment will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next chapter in her story. Fans of gritty crime fiction and complex female protagonists won’t want to miss this one.

Harriet Foster is back for the third time in Tracy Clark’s Chicago-based thriller Echo. The Chicago PD homicide detective is still dealing with the loss of her son and her work partner while also out solving the murders of people she doesn’t know.

Echo presents us with a two-pronged murder mystery. The first is a very measured, very well planned revenge killing. The second is far more personal to Harri and revolves around the suicide of Glynnis, her former partner.

Brice Collier is the son of a billionaire, living it up as the huge man on campus at the school mostly funded by his father. But 4 robed figures, calling themselves Justice, have a plan for his imminent death. And it’s all in retaliation for another man’s murder 30 years earlier. The case tends to tie in nicely with the issue of vigilante justice, its application and the question over the effectiveness of the legal system. It’s an issue that raises its head a number of times as the story unfolds.

From the first book in the series (Hide) we’ve witnessed Harriet working her way through the mental anguish and feelings of guilt over the death of her partner. In particular the circumstances surrounding the events leading up to it. Echo provides answers and something of a resolution and does so in dramatic fashion.

As with the earlier books, Echo also highlights the necessity of teamwork between fellow officers and this, more than the earlier books, reads as more of an ensemble effort. The characters introduced earlier in the series return and we’re provided with more of an insight into each, helping them become more 3-dimensional. The result is a richer and more coherent perspective from which the story is told.

I found Echo to be another enjoyable murder mystery that tackles real issues in a thoughtful and pragmatic way. The camaraderie between cops was engaging, the bad guys are suitably provocative and the ending, while not exactly satisfying, was entirely in keeping with the tone of the book.

My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC which enabled me to read, enjoy and review this book.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Detective Harriet Foster series is set in Chicago. Harri who has been on the force 17 years is adjusting to her new partner and team. She still struggles with the recent death of her partner, and her son five years ago. She has been getting phone calls from a man taunting her about them.

Harri and her new partner Vera Li, get a case where a billionaire donor's son has died at a mansion near the college campus. It becomes clear the incident is similar to one 30 years ago when the billionaire himself was there at the college. Harri and her team have a difficult time interviewing witnesses or suspects as many are wealthy and do what they can to avoid them. Eventually, information is collected and evidence to help them. But more bodies pile up first.

The taunts continue and finally based on the clues in the threats, Harri has a discussion with her mother. She learns about some things in her father's law enforcement career. The new information assists in narrowing down the suspects. Even after she is certain of the culprit, she has to follow the rules and evidence to stop him.

I found this a very satisfying conclusion to the series, although I would happily read more. It seemed very realistic that some evidence was hard to obtain or that it wasn't enough. The team had to keep working and also protect those being threatened. It was heartwarming to see Harri moving forward with her life as these cases were solved.

Echo: A Harriet Foster Thriller by Tracy Clark is a gripping police procedural that keeps you hooked from the first page. Set in an icy Chicago winter, the story begins with Detective Harriet Foster investigating the death of Bruce Collier, the son of a wealthy billionaire, found frozen in a field. What appears to be an unfortunate accident quickly turns into a complex murder investigation.
This third installment in the series delves deeper into Harriet’s character, showcasing her growth and resilience while tying up lingering questions from earlier books. The intricate plot weaves together college hazing, the shadowy Minotaur Society, and Harriet’s own personal challenges, creating a multilayered and suspenseful narrative.
The twists are unexpected, and the conclusion left me impressed. Tracy Clark masterfully balances character development with a compelling mystery. While it’s best to start the series from the beginning, Echo is a standout read for thriller fans. Highly recommended!

It is late February in a very cold and icy Chicago as Echo: A Harriet Foster Thriller by Tracy Clark begins. Ice pellets are failing hard this morning and Detective Foster’s day has already been nasty before she gets inside the station and to her desk. She doesn’t even have a chance to take off her coat before her and Detective Symansky are out the door and on the way to a frozen field outside Belverton College.

The field, located outside of Hardwicke House has a dead body. The Hardwick House, that goes back to the Gilded Age, is owned by the well-known billionaire, Sebestian Coller. As it happens, the body out in the frozen icy wasteland of a field is his young son, Bruce Collier. He is shirtless, reeking of alcohol and vomit, and clearly has been out in the field for hours.

Was it a party gone wrong? Did he get drunk and disoriented, wandered outside into the field, collapse, and freeze to death?

Or was it murder?

Before long, as readers already know from the first chapter, it most assuredly was murder. Not only was it murder, the people behind it are not done yet as they have a score to settle. Detective Harriet Foster and others have a complicated case to work while at the same time Foster is the target of another killer.

A complicated and very good police procedural, Echo is the latest installment of an excellent series that started with Hide, followed by Fall. Readers are encouraged to read in order, starting with Hide, as previous events are discussed.

My reading copy came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, by way of NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024