My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite Book 1)

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Tracy Crosswhite has spent 20 years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. The characters here were all, for the most part (aside from the "bad guys") really likable and believable. Characters could use some work too--I'm not sure any of them rose above stereotypes (but, this seems to be another standard of the genre).

My three stars should really be directed to Audible, who didn't let that be known in advance about the book--not intended to say anything against the author. Part one, starting with the finding of Sarah's remains and with ever increasing flashbacks to Tracy and Sarah's childhood and her subsequent disappearance. Tracy is now a detective with the Violent Crimes team in Seattle, and she’s headed back to Cedar Grove, their hometown, to find out what happened to Sarah. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. And since I like police procedurals and mysteries, there is always the chance that that there will be more violence than I'm comfortable reading.Twenty years ago Tracy Crosswhite’s sister disappeared, her body was never found, but a man was convicted of her murder due to circumstancial evidence, Tracy knew that the evidence didn’t add up. The plot contains twists that will capture the attention of the reader, though I’ll admit I did figure out a few of the plot’s mysteries before they were revealed. A cold case preoccupies Tracy Crosswhite in Dugoni’s well-plotted third crime novel featuring the Seattle homicide detective (after 2015’s Her Final Breath). To be honest, I didn't really think I was going to like this book, but I've been burning out on epic fantasy and wanted something completely different.

The main aspects of this novel that impressed me are (1) its writing - a real page turner of a story that is easy to read and follow; (2) the characterisation - all the characters are totally believable, including the bad guys and (3) the plot - very dramatic and increasingly so as it nears its dramatic climax. Tracy never gave up looking for his sister and was very determined to learn the truth of what happened to her.It would have been far better if she was just helped out by an honourable old mate than by someone who was obviously trying to get her into bed. Sarah’s disappearance and presumed death not only changed the course of her family’s life but the character of the whole town. My Sister's Grave has a really interesting plot and grabbed me from the word go, I read up to the 80% mark in one sitting, then sadly had to sleep, but finished it when I woke up. I was really drawn to Tracy while reading The Academy, set during Tracy’s Police Academy days, and knew after reading Third Watch, set during her days as a beat cop in Seattle, that I wanted more of this detective. This first one addresses nearly exclusively what is a backdrop for the rest of the books, the murder of Tracy Crosswhites younger sister and the effect it has on her family.