My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite Book 1)

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Anyway, so these remains were found by a mans dog while they were out in the woods. These remains were proven to be Tracy's sister Sarah. Tracy immediately goes to Cedar Grove from Seattle to be involved in what is going on. Sarah's remains were found in the woods, but something was weird about the findings....no.. I'm not saying what! I loved, loved, loved Tracy’s character and especially delighted in how she interacts with Johnny Nolasco. Tracy is actually nice! She has no issues relating to others, a positive change from many of the protagonists we see in crime fiction these days. Don’t misunderstand; she is not a wimp and definitely does not let anyone steamroll her. I am stoked to read more Tracy Crosswhite. Tracy's sister, Sarah, went missing 20 years ago and Edmund was convicted of her murder, but Tracy has never been satisfied with the evidence produced at trial. Then Sarah's body is found, throwing the storyline of events given at the trial into further doubt. Tracy persuades a former classmate Dan to file a court case attempting to overturn Edmund's conviction. The first half of this book concerned the inconsistencies in the evidence and the court case itself, and I enjoyed it. After that, things shifted and it became more of an action narrative, the protagonists thwarted by a storm and racing to prevent further bloodshed. It also became quite gory and upsetting - I skimmed it.Written in an easy to read style, I thought initially I was going to give this novel a higher grade, but once it shifted away from the legal/police procedural elements it lost me. It also reminded me of a romance novel with the "big misunderstanding" as the main plot device - SPOILERSif any one of the characters in on framing Edmund had told Tracy the truth at any point over the course of those 20 years, she would probably have let things go. Read more

Detective Tracy Crosswhite has agreed to look into the disappearance of investigative reporter Lisa Childress. Solving the cold case is an obsession for Lisa’s daughter, Anita. So is clearing the name of her father, a prime suspect who became a pariah. After twenty-five years, all Anita wants is the truth—no matter where it leads. New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s acclaimed series continues as Tracy Crosswhite is thrown headlong into the path of a killer conspiracy. It’s very readable and straightforward, and I did want to see what was going to happen. When the narrative slowed down, I began skimming (not a good sign), but I was still interested. Then, as the results of Tracy’s investigations came to light, the story took a macabre turn and an ending that was too far-fetched for me. A couple of things bugged me here. One, from the beginning, Dugoni intersperses chapters where old Cascade County townsfolk are conspiring to cover up the murder. The act of doing this puts the audience ahead of Tracy. So we know more than she does.

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I enjoyed Tracy sharing memories of her sister, learning how much they loved each other. Tracy never gave up looking for his sister and was very determined to learn the truth of what happened to her. Believing that Edmund, the man convicted of Sarah’s murder, had been framed for the crime, Tracy spent the twenty years since Sarah’s disappearance investigating the case. She had hit a dead end until her sister’s remains were discovered. At that point, Tracy asked Dan O’Leary, a childhood friend who had become a lawyer, to look over her investigation. Dan saw the same inconsistencies that Tracy had discovered and agreed to help Edmund get a hearing for post-conviction relief. The Hook - My Sister’s Grave has been on my TBR list for a long time. The price was right and so was my mood. But today, a call comes through to her supervisor about a body being found. Of course, that is not an unusual circumstance for a homicide unit, but this body is different. This body is only skeletal remains, partially unearthed from a shallow grave, and is located in the vicinity of where Sarah disappeared, an area that had been searched several times by both Tracy and the sheriff himself. It takes two things to make a great book (OK, that's oversimplified, but bear with me a sec): Being able to tell a good story, and being able to write well. This book has a pretty good grasp on the first part, but utterly fails on the second.

Totally alone, but with strength of purpose, Tracy is accepted into the Washington State police academy with the express goal of eventually becoming a Seattle homicide detective. Now, twenty years after Sarah’s disappearance, Tracy has achieved that goal. In fact, she achieved it six years ago. Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages. Various people, including the sheriff and Edmund’s previous lawyer, discouraged Tracy from pressing for a hearing for Edmund. George Bovine, the father of a girl who had been abducted and raped by Edmund, tried to convince Dan that even if Edmund was not guilty of killing Sarah, Edmund needed to be in prison to keep other women safe from him. The night before the hearing, someone shot out a window in Dan’s home. Every turn that Tracy and Dan make, they find more secrets and someone starts threatening their lives. I mean you have to have that right?

The name Harry Bosch is no stranger to thriller fans, and Michael Connelly’s “The Wrong Side of Goodbye” introduces readers to the 19 th book in the series. In this book, Bosch is hired to find the former lover of a dying reclusive billionaire. This book comes across as fresh, even though it’s part of a long-running series. MY SISTER’S GRAVE" by Robert Dugoni is a great legal thriller mixed with a classic police procedural. It is a gripping emotional and strong character-driven suspense legal thriller, of one woman’s mission to find her sister’s real killer. When Sarah disappeared, Tracy Crosswhite was a high school chemistry teacher. Three years later, Tracy is divorced from a man who wouldn’t or couldn’t give her time to work out her grief and self-imposed guilt. She is estranged from a mother who blames her for leaving Sarah alone. And her physician father has abandoned her also, having spiraled into the swirling pit of grief, alcoholism and self-termination. It all comes out in the end and it wasn't what I was expecting. Like I said before, some things you know right off the bat, but then the author just twists it around a little bit and your like.. REALLY!? Because of my father's circumstances, I had a sad commentary on life, but I now understood that he was offering me his own gift, one that only time can provide. He was offering me the gift of perspective. My father was telling me that while we tend to remember the dramatic incidents that change history---Armstrong's walk on the moon, Nixon's resignation, and the Loma Prieta earthquake---we live for the quiet, intimate moments that mark not our calendars, but our hearts: The day we marry. The days our children are born. Their first step. Their first word. Their first day of school. And when our children grow, we remember those moments with a touch of melancholy: the day they get their driver's license, the day we drive them to college, the day they marry, and the day they have their children.

Charlie soon finds himself in Russia in a cat and mouse game trying to uncover the identity of the 8th sister, the person responsible for the murder of several Russian spies. Soon things become so intense and Charlie past experience in the CIA is put to test.Solving the mystery behind the murder isn’t Tracy’s only challenge. The detective is keeping a secret of her own: she’s pregnant. And now her biggest fear seems to be coming true when a new detective arrives to replace her. Meanwhile, Tracy’s colleague Vic Fazzio is about to take a fall after his investigation into the murder of a local community activist turns violent and leaves an invaluable witness dead. Her investigations will also place her life and that of those she loves in a considerable amount of jeopardy. My Sister’s Grave is a brilliant start to a promising series and a compelling story that blends the best elements of legal thriller with that of police procedural.