A Dead Draw

An interrogation with suspect Erik Schmidt haunts Detective Tracy Crosswhite, and his connection to her sister’s killer brings back painful memories in Dugoni’s latest thriller. Tracy’s reaction to Schmidt triggers her PTSD, and when she makes a mistake during a training session, the detective realizes she needs to destress. When Schmidt is released on a technicality, Tracy convinces her family to spend some time in her hometown of Cedar Grove so she can step away, relax, and put Schmidt out of her mind. But Schmidt has other ideas. A thriller author can rarely take an obvious cat-and-mouse game with the established final battle setup and turn it on its head to create a tense and unexpected confrontation, but Dugoni (Beyond Reasonable Doubt, A Killing on the Hill) pulls it off. He realizes his characters are first-rate and readers will follow them anywhere, so he amps up the suspense and crafts a page-turner that will cause carpal tunnel from tight gripping of the book. This eleventh entry is one of the best in the series, and Dugoni continues to tell great stories while expanding our love of Tracy and her world. Whether Tracy’s new or a regular addition to your reading pile, sketch out some time for this.